Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Pitching in the News

Part of being a Giants fan is worrying about pitching. Since the program over the last few years has been to build a solid rotation and lock it up, we constantly worry about one of the starters getting away or having a disastrous season. Only yesterday, part of this worry was abated when the Giants signed a deal with Madison Bumgarner that keeps him on the team (or, perhaps, lets him stay with the team?) through at least 2017, if not 2018 or 2019. Let that sink in. Two-fifths of the rotation will be pitching for the Giants through 2017.

Two other things of note:
  • Last night's game against the Phillies was a classic pitcher's duel...if you don't count that first inning, in which Lincecum gave up four earned runs. No, that's not how it happened. How about: though they knocked Lincecum around during the first inning, the Phillies aren't nearly as dangerous without Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. That said, I really hope that Bumgarner and Cain prove me right over the next two. I get a feeling these claims rise or fall on the strength of the Giants' offense...which isn't the worst in the NL (that would be the Pirates with 19 runs scored in 10 games), but which has struggled to drive in runners in scoring position over the past few games.
  • Brian Wilson is likely out for the season. Perhaps it speaks to the short life of this blog that if I hadn't just mentioned him, there wouldn't have been a 'Brian Wilson' tag on the sidebar until 2013. By the time it gets put to use in 2013, it might just be outnumbered by 'Heath Hembree.'

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