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Giants Slipping After Homestand

The Giants started out this 10 game home stand with a series win over a tough Phillies team that was playing well and it looked like things were improving. Vizquel was back and playing well and the team was getting solid pitching. Now after the home stand, the team stands at 4-12 in May and are a season low 11 games under .500. The solid pitching is becoming less of a regularity now especially in the bullpen. All the sudden Tyler Walker is becoming in-effective and with Walker not throwing well and Merkin Valdez on the shelf, the Giants pen is looking a little thin. Brian Wilson also had a rough outing in Sunday's game, but it was his first appearance in 5 days and the Giants were already down in the game. I'm not worried about Wilson or even Walker yet, but the fact that Walker is now sporting an era in the 7's shows that he's off right now. As a matter of fact, the bullpen's most reliable arm going lately has been Keichi Yabu. The Giants have gotten ok performances from call-ups Alex Hinshaw and Billy Sadler but it's still to early to determine exactly what roles they will have in the bullpen.

The Giants should be getting at least one arm back in the next week or so. Kevin Corriea and Noah Lowry are both being sent to Arizona to participate in extended spring training. Corriea has been throwing and could be one or 2 minor league starts away from being activated. Lowry is a little slower along in his recovery, but at least it's good to know that he's beginning to throw and if he can avoid any set-backs, a mid-June return may not be out of the question. The Giants rotation has been so inconsistent over the last month and this team will be helped out immensely if Corriea and Lowry can get back sooner than later. Brad Hennessey has also been throwing well down in Fresno as he's trying to find his way back to his pre-2008 form. Hennessey is 2-0 in 2 starts in Fresno as the Giants are getting him as many innings as they can by using him in the rotation. If he keeps winning down there, it's tough to imagine the Giants keeping him down for too long.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Having watched the $126M man Barry Zito live on Saturday makes me want to bring up anyone with a live arm to replace him. And that wasn't anywhere near his worst outing. 0-8 with a 6.25 ERA... Watching Matt Cain vs the Astros last Tuesday was MUCH better. 8 solid innings and a home run in support of his own pitching - give him more of Zito's money.
3:35 PM
Anonymous said…
Is there anyone in baseball who would take Zito, even if the Giants paid a chunk of his salary? They need to really explore that, time for a change of scenery.
11:14 PM
Anonymous said…
Walker is not a set up man and it's starting to show. Valdez should be used there as soon as he's back from the dl.
11:16 PM
Anonymous said…
Zito's ERA has gone down in his last 3 starts from 7.53 to 6.95 to 6.58 to 6.25. Giants have scored a total of 13 runs in his 9 starts. They scored 1 run in 4 of those games and zero runs in two of them. Still he can't blame anyone with that 6.25 ERA which explains why he is 0-8.
12:40 PM
Anonymous said…
The Giants are an old team who need to consider new methods in order to have a successful season. Considering that they only have around two shutout pitchers, they are doing better than what most people expected. However, signing Barry Zito for 126 million dollars was a huge mistake. Instead, they should have spent that money on fresh, young new players. If they were to do this, I beleive that they would begin to see some success.
1:17 PM
Anonymous said…
It is very sad to see the slow decrease in the Giant's success, however, if you take a second to consider the conditions under which they are playing you could then understand while their record is taking a drastic fall. With many of thier players constantly rotating in and out of the DL, it is extremely to maintain a a constant and successful rotation. However, I beleive that when the Giant's finally have all their players healthy such as Nowa Lowry, htey will have a very successful season.
1:20 PM
GiantsReport said…
I agree that it's been sad to watch the decline, but it seems to me that things are turning around. Sure, the record at the end of the season probably won't be much better, but right now it appears that going into next season, the Giants will have an ace, a good #2 starter, a closer, a setup man, and a decent lead off hitter in Lincecum, Cain, Wilson, Valdez and Lewis. Given that the Giants only had a handful of those at this point last year, I think we could see a turnaround sooner than some people think. All they need at this point is a pair of hitters.
4:12 PM
Anonymous said…
free bet

how about that lefty from Boston who exerted a no hitter to replace him
7:21 PM
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