The San Francisco Giants lost their first series of 2010. It is a statement that was bound to happen, but it's especially tough when you lose a series while facing the Dodgers.
The suffered another huge loss in the series besides the two games they lost. Aaron Rowand, the team's center fielder got hit in the head by a Vincente Padilla pitch. He suffered two small fractures in his left cheekbone and a mild concussion. Rowand has since been placed on the 15 Day DL. In his place it seems like a platoon of Eugenio Velez, Andres Torres, and Nate Schierholtz will play. Schierholtz would seem as the best option to take over an everyday role, however he is not a Center Fielder. Current starting outfielders, John Bowker and Mark DeRosa don't play Center Field, so an outfield with all three playing would not go smoothly.
The Giants also found out that they have to worry about the 5th spot in their rotation. In the opening game of the series, Todd Wellemeyer pitched poorly. He allowed 7 earned runs, all of which came of homeruns, in 4 innings. Combined with his other start of the year, he now has a 9.58 ERA. Wellemeyer won the job out of spring training, but he will have to improve over the next 3-4 starts or he will be sent to the bullpen. The Giants have many options for the #5 spot in rotation in the Minor Leagues. Most notably Madison Bumgarner, Kevin Pucetas, and Joe Martinez. Any of these three pitchers could fill in the rotation if Wellemeyer doesn't improve. Still though, he only has 2 starts, and deserves more chances to prove himself.
Lincecum, and Zito pitched wonderfully in their starts during the series. Timmy picked up the lone victory of the series against the Dodgers, while Zito got a no decision, but deserved a win. An interesting stat I saw was that Tim Lincecum is the first Giants pitcher since 2007(when Noah Lowry did it) to record three RBI's in a game.
San Francisco also found out some good news while playing the Dodgers. Unlike some recent years, this team is going to fight late in games. In game 1 of the series, the Giants entered the top of the 9th inning losing the game 3-10. They could have easily gave up, and thrown in the towel. However, they managed to rally and score 5 runs in the ninth. This is a good sign for the team, and hopefully this effort will continue for the entire season.
Even though it is early in the season, the Giants offense has improved drastically. This season they rank 3rd in the NL in Batting Average, Runs, On Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, and OPS. This is incredibly impressive. Just last season the Giants were lower than 10th in all of these offensive categories. What hasn't changed from last season is the pitching, and to follow suit, the pitching statistics. The Giants are at least 2nd in the NL for all major team pitching stats.
The Giants are currently tied for the best record in the National League, and hold a 2 game edge in the National League West. San Francisco will now play the San Diego Padres in their next series. In 2009 the Giants were 2-7 in PetCo Park.
Good blog, I'll try to remember it's here, with so much content on the web.
ReplyDeleteVelez: mind games? He was on fire until he got a starting job via Rowand's injury. He's flailing.
Torres: not enough AB's to judge, caught off base in a no steal situation though, yikes!
Sanchez: I see on facebook someone complained about him, Seems like a more than adequate #4.
Minors: If it wasn't for Conor Gilaspie, we'd have no bats coming up.
Warning: I'm a huge B. Bonds fan.