So far we're 2-0. Lincecum dealt last game only to have Medders fugg it up in the 9th. Zito was solid today and the pen did great to finish off the shutout. Brian Wilson got saves both nights. So far Renteria and DeRosa have been great offensively. DeRosa hit a homer in his first game in a G's uni. Both have walked twice. Huff, Molina, and Uribe have also been solid. Bowker has looked solid as well but only started the first game, Torres started tonight (went 0-3 with a walk). Rowand is 0-10 with 0 walks, 0 RBIs, and 3 K's. I want to stay patient with him as its only been two games but FUCK hes bad. He did well in the leadoff spot for a while last season so I'll give him some more time but I'm also eager to start running Schierholtz/Torres out at CF.
Nice job by the team to take 2 of 3 from Atlanta. Lincecum looked great despite the 2 run homer in the first and got the win. Panda had a great game today, his first really good game of the season. Affeldt pitched two innings and allowed a solo shot to Jason Heyward with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning but never let the Braves threaten our lead. Didn't have to use anyone else from our pen which is very nice. Despite Huff and DeRosa being so-so to this point in the season our offense is certainly more effective with them in the middle of the lineup. Renteria and Bowker emerging also has been a nice boost. Overall we're still a below average offensive team but I think we're more capable of driving in some runs and Huff and DeRosa both seem quite capable of drawing walks. Rowand continues to be terrible at the leadoff spot. His average is up but he never gives us hits when we desperately need them (he did get an infield single to end the game the other night but that was probably his 4th opportunity to win the game). Can't draw a walk to save his life. Continually gets 1 or 2 pitch at bats. Also have to call out Whiteside for being awful with the bat. Atlanta repeatedly walked and pitched around Bowker and Uribe last night to get to Whiteside and he never made them pay. At one point they intentionally walked both Bowker and Uribe to load the bases with one out just to get to Whiteside at the 7 slot. Meanwhile Posey is killing it at AAA. I think the G's will keep Posey in the minors for however long it takes to get that extra year of arbitration for him but will eventually call him up and use him as our backup catcher.
Nice start to the season but I am a little concerned about all the double-plays they've hit into. At the same time, it's good they have guys on base, but I think they've grounded into like 12 double-plays in 6 games.
Now 7-2. Got two of three from the Pirates. Sanchez pitched a great 3 hit shutout with 11 K's through 8 innings. Brian Wilson closed it. Whiteside had a great bouceback game offensively with a homerun and a double for 3 RBIs. I would imagine he'll continue to catch every Sanchez start. Rowand also got a homerun and Huff got an inside the park homerun.
We've cooled off considerably but taken two out of three from both the Cards and Phillies consecutively. Should have swept the Phils but they came back in the 9th from down 4-1 (fucking Wilson) and won 7-6 in extra innings. Spoiled another beautiful Lincecum effort. Wile Rowand is out with injury I think we have to start experimenting with Renteria at leadoff and Schierholtz batting second (or even vice versa). Both are hitting well and getting on base. Schierholtz could benefit from hitting in front of Panda. Wellemeyer saved his own ass the other night.
Very interesting season so far. Who would have thunk that Zito, Renteria, and Rowand all play up to their contracts simultaneously? Not to mention Huff is producing very well for the money we gave him (not pounding it like a traditional cleanup hitter but hes been great at getting on base, situational hitting, solid RBI producing, showing a little pop, and has a nice average...oh and very respectable defense at 1B), Schierholtz is killing it, Matt Downs has proven to be a stud. Nearly everything is going better than we planned for- the one exception being DeRosa sucking ass so far. There's concern that hes not fully back from his injury yet. We are presented with a problem with Freddy Sanchez returning from injury soon. Uribe has been great thus far (not hitting well the last few games though) leading us in RBIs and generally being one of the more potent bats we have in addition to his very solid defense. Renteria has had a very good start as well though. We could roll with Renteria at SS, Sanchez at 2B, Uribe at 3B with Pablo sliding to 1B and Huff going into the outfield. But then we would need to sit either DeRosa or Schierholtz. Schierholtz is too hot to sit and with Huff in RF we would need Schierholtz' D in LF. DeRosa has sucked so far but its hard to give up on a guy as proven with the bat as he is this early into his big contract. Maybe with some extra rest and recovery time he could get the wrist 100% and get back to swinging well? Bochy does seem to use any possible excuse to sit Nate but I would lean toward him moving Uribe back into super sub role. Just seems like a shame as we really need his RBI production. Keep in mind this isn't even mentioning Downs who seemingly gets a walk or and RBI every time hes at the plate.
After getting cold for a while the club is hot again. No coincidence that we start hammering off wins after Sanchez comes back RAKING, Posey comes up RAKING, and Burrell is doing quite well to boot (won't say RAKING yet). Rowand is getting squeezed out of the lineup more and more and now Benjie is even sitting more. Cain has been money lately as Lincecum is struggling but all in all pretty solid pitching. DeRosa is likely done for the year.
Just read an interesting stat that we're putting up 5 runs a game since calling up Buster Posey and 5 and a half runs a game in the ten games Burrell has played thus far. Between those two and Sanchez returning and Torres playing like an elite leadoff man we've been on a huge roll. Pitching continues to be solid. There was a lot to like about last night's game but one thing that I think went under the radar was that Jeremy Affeldt got some good work in to close the game out in the 9th. Our bullpen has been falling apart lately and the 8th inning especially has been nightmarish in recent games. If Affeldt returns to form having him be a shut down set up guy will be HUGE. It also gives guys like Mota and Casilla- who were doing very well but have been overworked- a lot more rest.
Giants has had the pitching the last year or so, and it's nice to see them finally get some run production. It's a shame DeRosa has been a bust, or else he'd be a good utility man right about now.
