Postgame Wrap: Padres Defeat Giants in Split-Squad Game
Tim Lincecum is officially back. No, not Back, with a capital B, like he was in his 2008-09 years, or even his pretty good 2010 and really good 2011. No, he’s back to being bad, like he was before he was good, like he was after he was bad again. Because he was good for two games. Now he’s bad again. He’s the old new Timmy, not the new old Timmy or the new new Timmy.
God, I feel like I’m talking about Ryan Vogelsong. Because man, Lincecum had one of the best terrible performances I’ve ever seen. He struck three  in the first, aside from a Chase Headley home run and a HBP to Carlos Quentin, fanned two in the second, one in the third and, yep, BLASTOFF. Timmy grooved an 89 MPH fastball down the middle to Jesus “Giant-Killer” Guzman, and he did what he was supposed to do: launch it into the seats. Per Andrew “Buzz-In” Baggarly:
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/CSNBaggs/status/228234681865355264″]
Let’s look again at that at-bat with Guzman. Continue reading
Fun With Numbers: The G-Minus and Clayton Kershaw
Clayton Kershaw is a fantastic pitcher. He pitched his ass off last year, and beat out Roy Halladay for the National League Cy Young, winning 27 of the 32 first place votes. As a Giants fan, I feared starts against him more than any other pitcher, and for good reason. Still, it’s interesting to think about how much Kershaw’s starts against the Giants contributed to his Cy Young win, as he had the benefit of pitching against an awful Giants lineup.
How would he have done if he hadn’t gotten to pitch against the Giants? Let’s examine his stats with those starts removed, or as I like to call it, the G-.