The Giants suffered a bit of a hangover last year after all of the commotion that followed Barry Bonds and the all-time homerun record in 2007. In 2008, the Bonds-less Giants had an overall disappointing season which can be attributed to their lack of impact bats, now that the homerun king is gone. Last year did have it's bright spots though, Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young award and established himself as one of the NL's top pitchers despite being just 24 years old.
Projected Lineup:
C - Bengie Molina
1B - Travis Ishikawa
2B - Emmanuel Burris
SS - Edgar Renteria
3B - Pablo Sandovial
LF - Fred Lewis
CF - Aaron Rowand
RF - Randy Winn
Projected Rotation:
#1 - Tim Lincecum
#2 - Matt Cain
#3 - Randy Johnson
#4 - Jonathan Sanchez
#5 - Barry Zito
Closer - Brian Wilson
Position Battles:
2B - Really the only position up for grabs in spring training; right now Burris is the front runner for the starting job, but Kevin Frandson or Eugenio Velez could win some playing time with steady play in spring training or if Burris falters.
2009 Outlook: The Giants had a fantastic off-season, signing veteran shortstop Edgar Rentaria, future hall-of-famer Randy Johnson, and star set-up man Jeremy Affeldt to help sure up their bullpen. Both Pablo Sandovial and Travis Ishikawa should produce solid numbers from the corner infield positions and should be immediate steps up from Rich Aurellia and Jose Castillo who occupied first and third base respectively in 2008.
With the added offensive talent, and the extremely underrated pitching staff the Giants could be poised to make a run at the playoffs in 2008, though with the lack of a true impact bat in the lineup it seems like 2010 is more reasonable.
Projected Finish: 3rd Place, NL West
Showing posts with label San Fransisco Giants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Fransisco Giants. Show all posts
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, December 29, 2008
Randy Johnson's Impact on the Giants Staff
Over the weekend Randy Johnson signed a 1 year deal with the San Francisco Giants. It now seems that Brian Seaban has put together a pretty good rotation anchored by home grown talent.
#1 Starter - Tim Lincecum: 18-5 2.62 ERA 10.5 K/9 3.2 K/BB
#2 Starter - Matt Cain: 8-14 3.76 ERA 7.7 K/9 3.8 K/BB
#3 Starter - Randy Johnson: 11-10 3.91 ERA 8.5 K/9 3.9 K/BB
#4 Starter - Jonathan Sanchez: 9-12 5.01 ERA 8.9 K/9 2.1 K/BB
#5 Starter - Noah Lowry - DNP(Injured)
Tim Lincecum is the best pitcher in the NL, maybe in all of baseball. Despite being just 24, Lincecum has already won a Cy Young award and should be expected to have another successful year.
Over the past two years Matt Cain has gotten virtually no run support at all, bringing down his win totals. Make no mistake about it, Matt Cain is a stud. He should get better run support this year which hopefully will lead to more wins.
Though he is 45 years old, Randy Johnson is still an above average NL pitcher who will strike out almost a batter per inning and keep a low ERA. No longer an ace, but still very good.
Sanchez should improve on his rookie season. like Johnson he strikes out almost a batter per inning, however he struggles with his control. If he can keep his walks down, Jonathan Sanchez should be at least average this year.
Noah Lowry was injured all of last year, he is expected to be ready by opening day. His skills have started to decline, but with a healthy elbow he could have a resurgence. He and Johnson will provide excellent stopgaps until the Giants two stud pitching prospects, Tim Alderson and Madison Bumgarner, are ready.
As you can see Randy Johnson helps sure up the Giants rotation, hopefully pushing Barry Zito to middle relief (or better yet the minor leagues). At this point in his career, Johnson is no longer capable of being an ace, however he can be still be an above average innings eater for San Francisco this year and provide veteran leadership for an otherwise young rotation. Add in Jeremy Affeldt to help sure up the bullpen and you have one of the better pitching staffs in the National League. Now if they only had offense...
#1 Starter - Tim Lincecum: 18-5 2.62 ERA 10.5 K/9 3.2 K/BB
#2 Starter - Matt Cain: 8-14 3.76 ERA 7.7 K/9 3.8 K/BB
#3 Starter - Randy Johnson: 11-10 3.91 ERA 8.5 K/9 3.9 K/BB
#4 Starter - Jonathan Sanchez: 9-12 5.01 ERA 8.9 K/9 2.1 K/BB
#5 Starter - Noah Lowry - DNP(Injured)
Tim Lincecum is the best pitcher in the NL, maybe in all of baseball. Despite being just 24, Lincecum has already won a Cy Young award and should be expected to have another successful year.
Over the past two years Matt Cain has gotten virtually no run support at all, bringing down his win totals. Make no mistake about it, Matt Cain is a stud. He should get better run support this year which hopefully will lead to more wins.
Though he is 45 years old, Randy Johnson is still an above average NL pitcher who will strike out almost a batter per inning and keep a low ERA. No longer an ace, but still very good.
Sanchez should improve on his rookie season. like Johnson he strikes out almost a batter per inning, however he struggles with his control. If he can keep his walks down, Jonathan Sanchez should be at least average this year.
Noah Lowry was injured all of last year, he is expected to be ready by opening day. His skills have started to decline, but with a healthy elbow he could have a resurgence. He and Johnson will provide excellent stopgaps until the Giants two stud pitching prospects, Tim Alderson and Madison Bumgarner, are ready.
As you can see Randy Johnson helps sure up the Giants rotation, hopefully pushing Barry Zito to middle relief (or better yet the minor leagues). At this point in his career, Johnson is no longer capable of being an ace, however he can be still be an above average innings eater for San Francisco this year and provide veteran leadership for an otherwise young rotation. Add in Jeremy Affeldt to help sure up the bullpen and you have one of the better pitching staffs in the National League. Now if they only had offense...
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