Tag Archives: Matt Cain

San Francisco Giants: Their Optimal Second-Half Starting Rotation

 

The fact that the San Francisco Giants finished the first half 12 games above .500 is no fluke.

Despite having the third-worst offense in the league based on runs scored and the second-worst offense based on OPS, the defending world champs went into the All-Star break in first place in the NL West, with a healthy three-game lead over the upstart Arizona Diamondbacks.

Three of the Giants’ five All-Stars came from the pitching rotation, which was well-deserved. Through Wednesday’s game, the rotation has a 3.19 ERA and has earned quality starts in 65 out of their 99 starts.

Still, with the Ryan Vogelsong far outperforming expectations and the uncertainty of Jonathan Sanchez and Barry Zito, the rotation is in a bit of flux.

Here is how I see the ideal starting rotation coming out of the All-Star break. Continue reading →

Brian Wilson and the 5 San Francisco Giants All-Stars: 2nd-Half Projections

The All-Star festivities and merrymaking continue in Arizona, and the San Francisco Giantsare well represented. Just a year after winning the World Series, the defending champs sent five players to the Midsummer Classic, and for good reason.

While only closer Brian Wilson made it through fan votes alone, all five Giants have had first halves worth celebrating.

Starting pitchers Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong lead the stellar pitching staff that has kept the Giants in first place, and nobody can deny how essential their contributions have been. The Giants pitchers as a whole have a 3.20 ERA, third-best in the National League, and lead the league in strikeouts with a whopping 775 (8.1 K/9). 

Wilson, whose personality is as big as his beard, has laid down another season of ninth-inning dominance. While his 3.14 ERA falls short of his numbers last year, he is still tied for second in the league with 26 saves, and he remains a terror on the mound. 

Third baseman Pablo Sandoval, the Kung Fu Panda, was a late addition to the team, replacing the injured Placido Polanco on the All-Star roster. Despite missing six weeks when he broke a bone in his hand, Sandoval has emerged as the Giants’ most destructive and reliable hitter, running a 21-game hitting streak into the All-Star break.

While these All-Stars have led their team to a three-game lead going into the break, it remains to be seen at what level they’ll perform for the rest of the year. Here are my projections for their second-half performances. Continue reading →

Off-Day Giants Blues

 

I think the Rally Rags failed.

I got about halfway through a blog post last week, in which I detailed the Giants’ four consecutive series wins, surprising offense, excellent pitching, lights-out bullpen, and optimistic prospects on the young season.

Well, suffice it to say that a bit has changed between then and now.

Getting swept by the Braves hurt. Not as much as it would hurt to get beaten so soundly by the Padres or the Dodgers, but seeing each and every part of what made your team good break down in systematic fashion can have something of a deflating effect. The pitching staff, which was supposed to prevent losing streaks, collapsed. The bullpen, which was supposed to preserve the leads that seem so few and far between, imploded. The offense, which so far this season has looked like a TV set on loud with some kid playing with the mute button, basically forgot what game they were playing. On the rare instance that they got a lead, well, see above for what happened.

That sucked, and now it’s over, and there’s a lot of baseball left.

Continue reading →