Tim Lincecum takes his final turn in April, trying to both sustain the Giants recent run of success, and cement his status as the best pitcher in the NL. Multiple pitchers are looking super so far this season, including Ubaldo Jimenez, Roy Halladay, Livan Hernandez(!), Mike Pelfrey, and of course, Lincecum.
Jimenez won his fifth last night, and combined with his earlier no-hitter, hasn’t allowed a run in 22.3 innings. Pelfrey hasn’t allowed a run in 24 straight innings. Due to his loss to the Giants, Halladay is out of the running, and so is Livan, mostly due to his low strikeout totals. No, the battle for pitcher of the month is between these two and Timmy, so a strong showing tonight could/should be the difference. As of (Thursday) morning, here’s a quick comp:
Jimenez 34 IP 22 H 3 ER 31 SO 14 BB 0.79 ERA 1.05 WHIP
Pelfrey 26 IP 18 H 2 ER 19 SO 13 BB 0.69 ERA 1.19 WHIP
Timmy 35 IP 22 H 5 ER 43 SO 7 BB 1.27 ERA 0.82 WHIP
I think 7 innings, 8 strikeouts, and no earned runs will lock it up for the Savior.
As for the Giants, lots of hitting the last two games makes everyone happy, but there’s no getting around the fact that this level of inconsistency is here to stay. We still need power and walks. Still.
UPDATE: 8.3 innings, 2 earned runs, 11 strikeouts, no decision. I updated the above comparison. We’ll see.
UPDATE, Part II: I think Bochy should’ve started the ninth with Wilson, should’ve pinch-hit for Lincecum in the 8th, and avoided, not only the loss, but all of this bullshit.
“We felt like (Lincecum) was close (to being tired), and, once he walked (Shane) Victorino on four pitches, I went to one of the best closers in the game,” Bochy said.
Yeah, well, if you thought he was tired, then you should’ve told him to stay in the dugout for the ninth. Either that, or let him finish the game. Why bother having him go out there at all, if you’re not gonna let him finish the game. Oh, he walked a guy? Please. That kind of indecisive bullshit is infuriating. And it’s just one more example of how poorly this team is run.
I’d like to point out that the Giants have the best runs scored differential in the NL (+33 runs), and the second best in baseball. Accordingly, they should be more like 15-6, instead of 12-9. Not a huge difference, but something to keep an eye on. The reason for the difference is pretty obvious. The 1-0 loss when Sanchez gave up the one hit, last night’s blown 3-run lead, and Manny’s home run game. It’s also worth mentioning that that makes three excruciating losses in the first month of the season.
Intimately, the submit is definitely the very best on this precious topic. I concur with your conclusions and will eagerly look forward in your coming updates!
Great post! I’ll subscribe proper now wth my feedreader computer software!
Your point is valueble for me. Thanks!
You Always go with Your Best Closer
Which is not Brian Wilson.
It is Tim Lincecum.
Fuck you Bochy. You’re an imbecile. Everytime you do something on the field, its like watching one of those tiresome ball-doods blow his colostomy bag up while falling down avoiding a line drive.
And why do I say that? Here. This is Lincecum’s splits for his career in late innings and with 2 outs runners in scoring position. He is amongst the best in all of MLB. His best stuff is late in close games. More K/BB. Fewer hits. Lower OPS. In every category, Lincecum pitches stronger late in games than earlier.
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR SB CS BB SO SO/BB BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip tOPS+
2 outs, RISP 88 266 237 59 49 10 1 2 4 0 28 88 3.14 .207 .293 .283 .576 67 0 1 0 0 3 2 .320 93
Late & Close 52 221 199 16 39 8 1 2 5 0 16 60 3.75 .196 .255 .276 .531 55 1 0 5 1 0 0 .268 77
Bochy and Sabean are idiots. The beat writers and cocksuckers on Comcast are the worst kind of reporters. They are either stupid, ignorant, lazy, all three or just lying sacks of shit.
john,
forget the diff between being 12-9 and 15-6….think of how the team wouldve been pumped to have swept the reigning nl champs
that is what bochy shoulda been thinking
timmy got throught the 8th on 8 pitches….8 PITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i watched timmy pitch a gem last week with only 2 pitches
is bochy saying that a trip by raggs to talk to the kid about his arm position wouldnt have been enough? if so…he isnt an ace
and ya, wilson is great…but he is better entering the game with no one on
baggs and schulman are attempting to excuse the move…but it is inexcusable
what is even worse is how bochy did the double switch
worse than that is how he and sabean have been treating nate
if this team ends up a winner…it will be despite sabean and bochy…not because of them
now the word has come down that sabean went out and picked up berroa for fresno
and here is what that means
on sunday, downs is not going down….furthermore, as berroa has been assigned to extended st to get into playing shape, and that should take a good 2 weeks, freddie is not making his triumphant return when the team says he is.
furthermore, that leaves the team with the option of dfa’ing either velez or bowker
velez is out of options, bowker is not
so they are within 3 days of sending down their supposed starting right fielder
please tell me how this is not a fuckup of epic proportions?
please tell me why the fo should not be terminating sabean’s contract for the fuckup that is freddy sanchez
C’mon John, what is this nonsense? Good strategy? A game plan? Common sense? Logic?
The Wall Street Journal has got an article that claims we are the most popular team in baseball
I don’t want to imagine how happy this makes the idiots that run the club.
Bochy snatched defeat from the jaws of victory today for sure. Timmy was cruising, phils could hardly sniff his stuff, why would you let him bat in the 8th if you had him on that short of a leash in the 9th? UGH, maddening.
Sorry John: Its going to be Ubaldo Jimenez. The difference was Tracy vs Bochy.
Fuckhead lifts him after 106 pitches with one on and one out after a 4 pitch walk-around to rectum face Victorino. When you’re cruising with Lincecum and a 3 run lead, you don’t fucking meddle with that. Lincecum gave and gives this piece of shit pathetic stranding runners Velez in the lineup team the best chance to win. Just like skipping Wellemeyer’s turn.
Bochy’s blatantly ignoramus-tortise-like stupid line up moves have cost the Giants 3 fucking wins this year (the two Wellemeyer starts in the first week and half of the season which should have been skipped over for Lincecum and his meddling removal of Lincecum in the B9. Lincecu was fucking steamed and had every right to be steamed. He may be 15 ways of flaked, but he is no hummbaby mound hog hero and will let you know when he’s losing it. A couple of pitches to Victorinio looked shitty, but you do not do what Bochy did.
Unless your name is Felipe Alou or Clint Hurdle.
Squandered Opportunity. Again
this is how teams end up barely missing the playoffs. just fucking incredible. two sad efforts at the plate in the 11th. you gotta win that game, or at least tie it. bring home uribe. my god.
question: forget about posey’s potential super-two status for a minute. does anyone know the earliest we can bring him up without 2010 counting as a full season of service time? in other words, what’s the earliest date he may be called up so that he will still be under team control in 2016, as opposed to entering FA after 2015. thanks.
We could bring him up now as far as I know. To delay free agency you only have to delay a player coming up by around 11-14 days so we should be fine now but obviously he would probably qualify for Super-Two. The Rays only delayed Longoria by two weeks a couple years ago and that was enough.
boy, bochy and sabea sure love fucking with the kids…dont they
in this regime, ever see a vet lose his spot because of the st play of a kid?
that shoulda happened, as bowker out hit both derosa and huff
instead, they decided that nate hadnt shown enough…so they “announced” bowker as the right fielder
however, they had no intention of giving him that position full time…and then lied about it
of course, nate starts hitting, while they end up being forced to play of musical chairs due to the hbp sustained by rowand
ok…so first you fuck with nates head (although he is used to it, and stands tall) and then you totally fuck with bowkers head
and it happened again today
bowker is a better lf than pharoh…i know it, the fans know it, and fucking bochy should know it…not only that, but bowker has much more power than pharoh, despite the latter 2 ph dingers
yet, he pulls the double switch with pharoh…and then with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out…needing a fly ball to tie…does he ph for pharoh (who is either seeing double after hitting the wall or belongs back in little league after dropping that can o corn) nope…he lets pharoh bat.
not only that….but he calls on ti to put down a sac bunt against a pitcher who is known for throwing high strikes….very hard to lay down that bunt
not only that…but he fucks with his ace
who doesnt he fuck with? derosa and huff…neither who is really hitting well enough to be batting in the 4-5 slot
not really pissed at this loss….the phillys are what they are…but im pissed at a manager and a gm who cant see long term
awful ninth inning, now we’ll lose
Its Jimenez, unless Timmy can go 8 innings of shutout ball with 8+ strikeouts. A no-no is a no-no, and even with the above proposed performance, Jiminez should take it easily.
Great pitching month, pitching appears to be overtaking hitting once again, as the dominant force in baseball. As quality pitching gets more available, hitting becomes even more critical, and I fear the Giants will continue to just miss the playoffs with their “dominant pitching staff” good enough to put fans in the seats, but not flags over the park.