Back to Back Wins

Ok I'm going to start this post off talking about the Giants recent flaying at the hands of our good friends across the bay. The final game of that series was possibly the most embarassing game I've ever witnessed so starting now, I'm going to forget it ever existed. Ok. The Giant's season now started 2 games ago against the Diamondbacks and now they're 2-0. The "game that shall not be mentioned" will act as a turning point for this season. The last two games a different Giants team has taken the field compared to the one who showed up through the first few games. Today they came away with a 4-2 victory over the Diamondbacks as a result of timely hitting, a solid start, and clutch relief pitching. Ok reality check here. I'm going to be honest here and admit that I havent been able to say that about the Giants in almost a month and now finally i can. The last two games though all the elements have been there which has been their main problem this year. Schmidt got the ball rolling and now let's hope it doesn't stop. Personally I expected a typical 3 inning 10 run outing from Woody but today he pitched like the player who won 16 games in '98 and 15 in '97. Now we have Schmidt and Rueter both on track, and tonight the bullpen tossed 4 scoreless innings. The one issue that still has me queezy is the Giant's defense. Today they made another 2 errors but with the pending firesale maybe Durham won't be a problem anymore.


Speaking of Firesale...

So rumors have been a-flying and Giants fans everywhere are jumping ship. There recently was an article in the SF Chronicle talking about which Giants are likely to be traded and among them were Schmidt, Matheny, Vizquel, Durham, Alfonzo, and a pair of shoes. In my opinion this is all rumors without much truth behind it. Sabean has enough of a head on him where he won't sell off players for prospects without a second thought. It's against everything Sabean's nature as a general manager to trade away certain experienced players coughschmidtcough for minor leaguers. The past two seasons there has been at least one team that's made a turnaround after a horrific first half and now the first 3 months of the season are almost over and we're approaching the halfway mark. A couple years ago it was the Marlins. Last year, it was the Astros. And both times it was a result of a managerial change. So how about stopping all this talk about dumping our ace pitcher, and let's send Felipe Alou off to a remote island is the middle of the Pacific. Schmidt isn't the problem here. The problem is the elder Alou has no clue how to handle a bullpen without working them into the ground. The Giants have talented arms in the bullpen. The only problem is that more often than not misused or used in situations where they're not necessary at all. An example: The first game of the 4 game set at home against the Diamondbacks. Giants are leading 4-0 going into the 9th inning. Up until now, Jason Schmidt has tossed 8 innings of scoreless baseball. First hitter in the 9th gets a hit, and Alou decides to yank Schmitty. Alou takes him out to a flurry of boos from the hometown faithfuls, my own among the rest. They end up using 2 more pitchers who are already overworked on a regular basis. Yes, they end up winning but Schmidt didn't get the complete game, and the bullpen was used in an unneccessary situation. Food for thought.


Tomko to the Bullpen

Is this a hint of things to come for Tomko? Rumors are floating around that he may be traded along with everybody who lives in the Sunset District. The Giants don't need a firesale right now. What they need is a change in team dynamic that will start with a new manager. Tomko isn't the problem. Good starting pitching is contagious. I have the utmost confidence in Brett's ability to turn things around on the dime based on what he did the 2nd half last season.


In short, the Giants may be starting to turn things around, Felipe Alou should be sacked, Schmidt shouldnt be traded, and Tomko should be in the rotation. American League All-Star post coming next.