So reading a Sports Illustrated article about how walks are the enemy with Pablo Sandoval as exhibit A, an interesting quote from our infield coach Shawon Dunston came up...

"You want to see a walk? Then go watch the mailman."

This man is in the dugout during games, mentoring young players, giving advice about NOT taking walks.  We all thought it was Carney's fault, but it's pretty glaringly clear that the problem here might be Dunston's philosophy (and his .296 career OBP).  Thoughts?

Watching Timmy's mastery of the changeup in last night's shutout got me thinking--how does his compare to the next best change we've ever seen (Jason Schmidt).  So I went and found this game to compare the two.  After watching video of Schmidt's 16 K performance against Florida, I was reminded how insanely nasty his changeup was at 90 mph with sharp bite down and in to a righty.  So that all said, I thought I'd ask everyone about their list of the nastiest Giants pitches of the last couple decades.  Here's my list:

 

• Jason Schmidt's changeup
• Robb Nen's slider
• Russ Ortiz' cutter
• Felix Rodriguez' fastball
• Shawn Estes' curveball
• Timmy's everything

Let's open this up...thoughts?

 

The RPI rankings on ESPN.com are showing something very interesting.  For those of you who don't know, RPI is a measurement of a team's strength based on opponent's opponents.  Officially:

"The basic formula is 25% team winning percentage, 50% opponents' average winning percentage, and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage."

Based on this ranking system, the Giants are ranked 6th in the Major Leagues.  The top 5 teams in order are the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Royals, Cubs, and Tigers, and then our very own Giants follow, ranked right ahead of the Cardinals and Brewers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rpi

And of course this is also with our Giants having the fewest runs scored AND fewest runs allowed in the Major Leagues.  

For the last couple seasons I've complained just as much as the next Giants fan about inaction on the trade front, gone through the rosterbation fantasies, and wondered why the front office isn't more proactive in wheeling and dealing.

I just joined a 30 team fantasy league in which we're given the team and farm system of our choice, and I of course chose the Giants.  We put up a trading block and a list of our untouchable players, and of course my untouchable list consisted of Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner, Alderson, Posey, and Villalona, while Sanchez is advertised as available for the right price.  Now, every time I get into a trade discussion with another GM, I get the following line:

"Are Bumgarner, Alderson, or Cain available?"

I can't discuss a trade involving any other Giants without those guys being brought up.  The White Sox GM (who just acquired a smattering of Mariners prospects) offered me Aaron Poreda, Phillipe Aumont, Carlos Triunfel, Tyler Flowers, and pitcher Dexter Carter for MadBum and Alderson, and I find myself seriously considering a lucrative offer like that.

That said, I have newfound respect for the Giants front office for having to deal with every team inquiring about players they've made clear they're not interesting in trading. 

The last post on the Fire Joe Morgan blog states that they're bring FJM to an abrupt end.  Personally, I've found their site to be hilarious and entertaining, and it will be missed.  If you too are FJM fans, feel free to post your condolences as well.

My thoughts:

FJM has been the best source (and maybe only?) for criticism of the establishment of hack sports journalism.  I'll miss the tearing apart of Joe Morgan chats on ESPN.com, and the dismantling of inane Bill Plashke articles.  

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the D-Bags have just acquired Adam Dunn, which hopefully will shoot them ahead of the Bums in the NL West "race."

Dunn pretty much balances out Manny going to LA, as he's sporting a line of .233/.373/.528 this year with 32 bombs.

Ugh.  And now I need like 20 more words.  Let's see if I have enough now.  Nope, so I'll keep going like this until I have the correct number of words.  

MLB Trade Rumors says the Giants have interest in 27 year old Rangers 3B Hank Blalock.  I say why not if they'll take Winn/Taschner/PTBNL (which I'm willing to bet is a little bit of a pipe dream).

seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words seventy five words 

Poll

How about some Hank Blalock?

46%

Hellz yes

61 votes

26%

Hellz no

35 votes

26%

I like kittenz

34 votes

130 votes | Poll has closed

In light of Tim Lincecum's greatness against the A's in his last start, I propose an open thread devoted to him-- post your best photoshops, and I think it's appropriate that someone post the Tim Lincecum Gameday Photo that Grant made awhile back.  Ready set go!

 

seventy five words! seventy five words! seventy five words! seventy five words! seventy five words! seventy five words! seventy five words! seventy five words! seventy five words!

Per the Giants website:

"After posting a 1-3 record in his first four June starts, Zito flashed his 2002 AL Cy Young form on Wednesday at Cleveland, surrendering one run and four hits in a season-high 6 2/3 innings as the Giants prevailed, 4-1. Zito's employing a slightly lower arm slot and using a two-seam fastball to his advantage. Zito was 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts against Chicago last year. But he has struggled at AT&T Park, where he's 0-7 with a 7.34 ERA"

Let's take a look at the symptoms of Barry Zito:

1. 4-5 mph off his fastball from last year to this year
2. Inability to hit the strike zone with any pitch
3. Arm slot out of wack, front side flying open
4. A seemingly healthy arm unable to top 84-85 MPH at the age of 29

Now keeping this all in mind, the "workhorse" Barry Zito has thrown 200+ innings in 6 of the last 7 seasons, while averaging 218 IP a season starting from the age of 23.  In his 22 year old season he threw 92 IP.  The very next year he jumped up to 214 IP, and stayed there ever since, not missing a start for 7 seasons.
My big bad theory is Dead Arm Syndrome.  Put simply, the wearing away of the muscles of the rotator cuff, and a partial or even full tear of the labrum (rim of cartilage that holds the upper joint in the shoulder) which causes the condition known as Dead Arm Syndrome in which a pitcher loses miles off their fastball, arm slot gets thrown out of wack, and very often a pitcher doesn't know about it until an MRI is taken, as all they feel is a lack of "zip" in their delivery.  
Mark Prior threw his first 200+ IP season at the age of 22, and we all know how his career turned out.  While Zito hasn't had exactly the same amount of problems Prior has had, one can think that all those innings without missing a single start would begin to wear away at the arm of even the most durable pitcher.  I say get this guy an freakin' MRI before he tears something and needs surgery.  Just my two cents.