Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Inbox..

Hello all as I'm writing this Randy Winn just swung threw a Jake Peavy fastball for strike three. I'm displeased to announce I'm not publishing my article "How Ned Colleti" ruined the dodgers yet because I want to give myself enough time to do a job that makes the Dodgers organization look like well.....dare I say the Pirates? Without further ado I'm launching a new feature. For now on whenever Giants beat writer Chris Haft does a mailbag of questions I will answer the same questions. A to show I could do a better job and B I feel like it. I'm going to avoid dumb questions however such as what's Omar Visquel's future as a manager because frankly it's boring. Without further ado we have our first question!: 
To Summarize Duncan's question (who lives in San Francisco) will Barry Zito win 15 games?
Hello Duncan and thank you for submitting this question, the honest answer no. However I am somewhat optimistic about Zito going forward. In thursday bights start against LA he was sitting 87-89 for the vast majority of the game following a second inning walk of Casey Blake I believe he just constantly started throwing harder which also makes a world of difference because it distinguishes an actual gap or difference between his fastball and changeup. He was also able to find the strike zone constantly with his curve. Yes, the man had an era of ten but there are some very promising signs for one he has a ration of 8 k's per nine innings. And hitters on the young season are hitting an artifically high .365 off of him on balls in play.  For reference the major league average is .297. Another thing that is very encouraging is that he has a 46% ground ball rate so he is generally keeping the ball on the ground. Albeit a very small sample size. Going forward I would say Zito will pitch like more of a four starter than a 5th starter/long reliever but if the velocity bump is for real he could realistically put up an era under 4.2 in my opinion. 
Mike From Murphysboro Illinois wants my opinion on the possibility of seeing Madison Bumgarner  in the french vanilla at some point this year. Well Mike unlike our previous guest I would say there is a decent chance at seeing the lanky lefty gracing the mound at our beloved AT&T in my estimation he will be in double by the end of may early June give or take. I could see him coming up whether or not the Giants are in contention either to give him a glimpse of the majors if there in the cellar. Or to use him out of the pen if they are in contention similar to what the Devil Rays did with David Price last September (not saying he will have the same effect)
Well it looks like we have time for one more question......we turn to the locals where Chris from San Fran looks to beat a dead horse once again. Chris wants to know if I think we should trade Matt Cain given our staple of pitching at the major league level and soon to high minors. Well Chris once again given the time and circumstances I'm not sure why you would trade Matt Cain right now sure if offered Hanley Ramirez I would in a second but thats a pipe dream. I think we should keep the strength of our team intact especially since there all under team control the next three plus seasons. I would be more open to this if Bumgarner and Alderson established themselves at the big league level but thats at least two years away. (Not from being in the majors but making a firm impact) So it's premature to trade Cain because of their presence at the same token I'm we have a decent amount of positional talent in the organization that is only a year away in some cases. I think the best thing to do would be to stand pat with our talent. 

1 comment:

JTmcLEWIS said...

The guy who said trade Cain is on high on some cali-weed or something dude. The Cain-Train shant be leaving town anytime soon. Im looking for Cain to emerge as an incredilby good #2 starter, backing up Lincecum for years to come. Johnson is gone after this year so that should open up a spot for Madi-Bum, assuming Lowry never returns to his 15 win former self. The Giants pitching staff as a whole giving up 5 runs in 5 games is incredible and proves that good pitching is contagious, just as bad pitching is (exhibit A road-trip). Another observation is how well the Giants have been performing at ATT, both hitting and pitching, as opposed to on the road. Maybe its because they're so young, but I really dont have any logical reason besides that guess. Another good Bochy move this year, originally Aurilia was supposed to start today, but at game-time Boch said "fuck that" and put in the young slugger ishikawa. Hopefully it is a sign of things to come. Quick question for you Hen-Dog, what situation is the best to put Nate "killer" Sheirholtz in the starting lineup?? Who sits, where does he bat, do you wait for a good pitching match-up?