Thoughts on Martinez as #5 once his head clears?

Amen about Sanchez. I’ve posted a couple times in the past “if only Sanchez could turn it around”….If only…and you’re spot on about Howry. Medders for the most part is a B…and Valdez a B-….and Romo will only get better with time.

I must thank you for getting back to watching the Gigantes…as with MLB Extra’s…there’s just too many good games to choose from. Watching so many other teams gives me a good perspective on how good the Gigantes are. With so many teams playing pooly…and parity in the NL Central and East(Nats excluded) the Gigantes have the inside track to the Wild Card. Agree with your assessment on Torre chewing up the pen, and there’s an outside chance at the division if the Dodgers come back to earth.

Good match-up tonight(Cain vs Gallardo). Getting jacked up again on the Gigantes…it’s been a while since I felt this good in June about baseball.

Stay hot Gigantes.

And I would rank the pen an A except for Howry, Medders and Valdez. They account for about 40% of the Bullpen innings (79 out of 197) They’re C and bring Wilson, Affeldt, Romo, Miller down. Thats why I considered them a B overall. Granted the top guys are getting the higher stress innings, but thats is as it should be. If Valdez and particularly Howry can catch fire, than the bullpen can turn these games into 6+ inning affairs. Which is what I recall the White Sox did in 2005 when they surprised everybody. They got a ton out of their number 5 starter(s) El Duque/Brandon McCarthy 197 innings of 15/32 Quality Starts.

I think this is why it so important for Sanchez(or his replacement) to get his act turned around. He is the key since it appears highly unlikely that the Giants will be able to come up with impactful bats to add from the outside. If Sanchez can find his command/mound deportment, or at least enough to allow the Giants to break even in the remainder of his possible 20 starts this year, then the Giants could possibly continue to exploit superior pitching to their advantage and hide thier offensive and defensive deficiencies…at least during the regular season.

Zito’s contract is a major problem for sure. Just as long as he can pitch enough quality starts this year to keep us in the race…that’s all we can ask for. Let’s keep winning and deal with that situation later. Maybe he can pitch well enough to be trade bait in the future. I realize this is a pipe dream…because his contract must eat away at guys like Cain and Lincecum.

Totally agree about Romo. Another diamond in the rough. He will be our set-up guy with Affeldt…and brings a nice change of pace with Wilson. You’re right about Mesa State….used to be a JC years ago…but is a powerhouse baseball program. The JUCO(Junior College) world series is played at Mesa State. Grand Junction is a good baseball town.

Romo too valuable in the pen…and the 3rd time through would diminish his effectiveness.

I’ll give Zito a C+…but waiting for you to upgrade our pen to an A. Only the Red Sox have as good a pen as ours.

I’m predicting a collapse of the Phils…and the Mets are too beat up(even with Santana) to stay in the race. I feel the Marlins should take the East…if they can quit kicking the ball around.

Winning can erase many bad memories….Sabean and all.

He is primarily a two pitch pitcher and that frisbee-cutter whatever the hell that thing is he throws is NASTY. He has the stamina and strength even though he is not much bigger than Lincecum..but I don’t think he has more than those two pitches and second time through the order, not to mention third time would be problematical.

I really like him where he is. His command and k/bb (5.00) and k/9 (9.35/ in 43.1 innings over 38 games in his limited career beginning at the end of last year is stellar. His pitches must have some sort of cock-shot repellent because everything he puts up there hits a corner. The one that did not the other night got sent out to the right field cheap seats in Oakland.

In The NL, there are 42 Starting Pitchers who have pitched 80 or more innings this year. About 1.1 innings per scheduled game as of yesterday. Core starters. Here is where Zito ranks amongst his peers in the National League.

Rank
28/42 in OPS against.761
22/42 in BAA .259
30/42 in ERA .4.54
20/42 in K/9 6.80
31/42 in K/BB 1.70
36/42 in WHIP 1.44
3/42 in pitches per inning at 17.2. And people wonder why the defense goes to sleep behind him?

So how does this compare to this guy?

Rank
14/42 in OPS against–.699
14/42 in BAA .248
26/42 in ERA 4.26
19/42 in K/9 6.83
19/42 in K/BB 2.26
14/42 in WHIP 1/26 (Matt Cain is 13/42 at 1.21 just for comparison)
16/42 in pitches per inning at 16.2

I don’t think anybody would classify Kevin Corriea a B pitcher and thats what you would have to do to classify Zito a C.

Zito’s nice little effort here in the past few weeks is appreciated for sure. And I hope he continues. But it would take two years of Cy Young type work to offset the huge problem his contract and massive underachievement has cost this franchise. Frankly the sight of his deer in the headlights look whenever he has a runner on base makes me want to punch something.

They could be writing themselves one hell of a story.

btw, anyone here know if Romo can start?