Tim Lincecum was hammered by the Rockies offense and the Giants offense sputtered in a Coors Field blowout. Key Lines:
Marco Scutaro- 2 for 4, BB. BA= .331. Not much left to say. Dude keeps banging out the hits and has an outside chance to break the Giants 1 month record for hits of 51 set just last year by Melky Cabrera.
Brandon Belt- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .248. Belt continues to steadily improve his numbers.
Brandon Crawford- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .282. Crawford is becoming another hit machine.
Tim Lincecum- 5 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.70. Another ugly line from Timmy. I didn't see it, so cannot comment further. I was out watching Clayton Blackburn put up another ugly line. Maybe you can tell I'm not in a great mood tonight?
The Loss dropped the Giants into second place, 1 game behind the D'Backs who blanked the Marlins 1-0 behind Brandon McCarthy. The Rockies are in 3'rd place, 2 games behind. The Pesky Padres edged the Nationals 2-1 to remain 5.5 games back while the Dodgers lost to the Braves 3-1 to fall 7 games off the pace.
Barry Zito tries to salvage a split in the series tomorrow facing Juan Nicasio.
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Doc, Tim is done. His velocity has diminished and his control keeps getting worse. If he wants to be successful in the majors again he needs to move to the bullpen or he will end alas Beckett.
ReplyDeleteWe need Garza as soon as possible. The guy has nasty stuff and is a solid number three plus he is quite young. The Giants brass could work wonders with him.
I certainly wouldn't be signing Timmy to any 8 year contracts, but he was good his last time out and this is Coor's field.
DeleteLet's not write anybody or anything off based on 2 road games played on a billiards table and 4, that's right, 4 more played at 1 mile elevation.
I'm more concerned about the continued shoddy defense and seemingly contagious mental errors as well as Bochy's decision to leave Bumgarner in there at least 1 batter too long. I know Boch is worried about his bullpen, but my gosh! The GIants have bullpen arms stacked on bullpen arms down in the minors but there is no immediate help for the rotation.
Bochy will always err on the side of letting his starters get that last out.
Delete....er, I meant 2 road SERIES!
Delete...er, misread it again. I wrote it right the first time.
DeleteAs far as Timmy's concerned, it isn't the most recent outings that would get him written off. I'd think last year's performance set the stage for that.
DeleteLucky
I can see the Giants trade for a starter by the deadline. This year it seems like pitching is our problem which is quite funny.
ReplyDeleteIt might be funny, but it's not fun to watch. The problem is it's the entire rotation that is struggling. You can't trade for an entire rotation at the deadline. Unless they can narrow it down to 1 or 2 starters to replace, it might be better to just grin and bear it, realize just how crazy hard it is to repeat a championship run, and work on rebuilding the rotation in the offseason.
DeleteWell, we went from a big high for the Braves series to a total lowly road trip where we look like the keystone cops. Things will get better. Pitchers might be pressing, they might be tired, but there is underlying talent that will out.
DeleteIf not, gonna have to try to outslug opponents. Then you need a better hitting LF.
Some of the motivation to acquire a pitcher this year has to be for the purposes of solidifying next year's rotation. Yes, we need pitching to keep us on top this year, but currently we have Cain and Bumgarner as the only guaranteed SP's next year.
DeleteAs for this year: I think we have a good team and shouldn't be considering letting things roll how they roll with an eye on next year. We just need to tweak the pitching sid of things. One or both of Timmy/Vogelsong will not return to prior form. If it's both, we have to depend on Zito to stay sharp as the number three. That's not good. We have a good bullpen, though, and a surprisingly good offense. I think we'd still need to improve the rotation this year to go for it all. Trouble is, which pitchers would be available that are also under contract for next year or beyond? Garza seems like the most likely of targets, but he's a FA after this year. That's where the tradeoff becomes tricky.
In regards to the future: The fact that Cain and Bumgarner are the only two SP's guaranteed to come back is also a good thing—in the sense that they're formidable building blocks. I'm against resigning Timmy, and Vogelsong still has to show he has something left before considered for re-upping. That said, Zito's option (unless he falls apart) will probably be picked up. We'll need at least one more starter. None of our top pitching prospects will be ready next year, so we'd need at least one established SP. Garza would be nice, but would it make more sense to wait until the offseason and just sign him (instead of trading prospects for half a season and hope)? And the SP market in the offseason isn't mind-blowing. Seems like a trade is the best way to go regardless. If we could make that happen this year, it benefits us next year, too. Of the following pitching prospects, surely we'd have to be ok letting one or two go: Blackburn, Crick, Stratton, Agosta, Escobar. Who would it be?
Lucky
Well, even with all this implosion the Gints are 20th in ERA and 21st in the other categories across MLB. (Hey, and they're 9th in OBP, pretty good for a bunch of idiots who just don't understaaaaand OBP and read the backs of baseball cards).
DeleteGarza will be shopped til the very last second to get the best deal by their clever GM/President/whatever he is. That does not mesh well with Sabey Sabes style. Sabean identifies his need and then goes after it to get it done. I think the guy to look at might be Ricky Nolasco, because he does have a salary attached as well as being a FA at the end of the season. The Marlins won't be offering him qualifying and they most likely don't want to pay that salary all year. Bud Norris might thrive at the phone booth, he is more of a strikeout guy than Nolasco.
Lucky,
DeleteThat is certainly a viable perspective. I just hope you are not one of those still crying in their beer over the Zach Wheeler for Carlos Beltran deal. You just have to remember than big deadline deals often don't result in a championship and then you are out whatever prospects you gave up.
You can't have it both ways. If you want to make a deal to go for it, you have to live with the prospects you gave up thriving for the team you traded with.
No, not at all Doc. Sure, I wasn't a huge fan of the trade back then or, naturally, when it failed to get us into the postseason. But I got over it a lot quicker than most.
DeleteI'm not even proposing a big deal and go for broke. I'm thinking more about how we have most of the pieces in place to make another run this year (short a SP or two), and that we'll also have holes to fill next year since our prospects aren't ready. It's more of a matter of strengthening the team this year with an eye on next season's holes...a two-fer, really.
Although its early, the starting pitching may be showing signs that it needs to be rebuilt. Maybe a Bud Norris could be a good long term fit if the Giants like him. He is not elgible for FA until 2016 and would be a nice back end of rotation starter. I could live with giving up a decent prospect(s) for him because he's not a rental. He suffered back spasms in his last start that might diminish his trade value however. The other question is can he pitch effectively in the pressure of a potential pennent race..
ReplyDeleteLG