Yes, he has only thrown eight innings the whole season but i am a tad worried about Timmy Lincecum. Opening day he wasn't hit particularly hard at all though he did give up 3 runs in as many innings. I wasn't worried one but since his stuff looked great that day. His fastball was sitting 93-95 touching 97 a few times i believe with great tail from right handed batters it would explode before getting to the batter. The only problem was that he had a big problem locating it. When he did find the strike zone with the fastball it was down the heart of the plate and straight. Much like his fastball his curveball had similar problems. It was breaking 12 to 5 but he struggled to find the strike zone with it consistently so hitters would lay off. His change was his most reliable pitch and leaned on it heavily. Again his stuff was there his command wasn't and he had just struck out 8 Oakland A's albeit in an exhibition game a week prior. Then I watched his San Diego start yesterday and was generally concerned. It's true you never want to see back to back starts where your staff ace struggles but when it's your 24 year old reigning cy young award winner just coming off a career high in Innings last season you only get more paranoid. What I saw in yesterdays start was a flat fastball that continually sat 90-91 with no movement though he was able to locate it. His changeup was largely ineffective and had no depth/fade whatever you wish to call it. His curve was great however and was able to move in it and out of the strike zone effectively. Yes, he did have a better line and struck out 5 batters in 5 innings. And yes it's true that he should have only given up 2 earned runs. But it also scares me a tad that his stuff has been so insistent on this young season. If your looking for another bright spot he has struck out 10 batter in 8 innings. I'm not to worried but like anything there's room for concern. As for the Giants current record they haven't played terribly. Remember there has only been two series thus far and they played great at home against the Brew Crew I'm just praying the play from San Diego doesn't hop on the team plane to L.A.
The thing that is the most troubling however is the Giants starting five. I'm quickly starting to realize that their vastly over rated and resemble the 05 staff. Coming in the 2005 staff was supposed to be the rock of the team. But an injury riddled season by Jason Schimdt, a declining Kirk Reuter, a mediocre season by veteran Brett Tomko, A strong debut by Noah Lowry and spotty spot starters Brad Hennessy and Kevin Corriea led to the teams downfall. I'm a bit worried that after Lincecum And Cain the staff is quite underwhelming. Zito is a fifth starter at best, for the nationals at best. Johnson is still a very effective pitcher WHEN healthy but has battled injuries this whole spring and is showing a big dip in velocity thus far. For a pitcher than has always pitched up in the zone and relied on his fastball slider combination this is a HUGE problem. Sanchez is what he is, a wild card someone who can turn in a seven inning gem with his fair share of whiffs, but he could also turn in a 4 inning Zito job with more hits than Lil Wayne and more walks than a retirement home. I'm not saying the sky is falling but rather the sky is cloudy. Perhaps I need to step away from the T.V because I've never cared so much but I'm a tad worried. (P.S I plan to go to a S.J Giants game this week to hopefully see Bumgarner and make a post until tomorrow! cya)
