Marty Lurie Talks San Francisco Giants Baseball
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A Look at the Giants' Past Fifteen Games by Ed Stern

Marty, This is being written before the Giants’ Sunday game with the A’s. When we looked in mid-June at the Giants’ upcoming schedule, with games to be played against the Red Sox, the Dodgers and the A’s, the thought expressed was that if they broke even against these clubs it could be considered a successful trip. They have done much better than that.

Note: Since Ed wrote this analysis of the Giants they have lost two games, one to the A’s and one to the Rockies.
They are in first place today, one and a half games in front of the Padres and two and a half ahead of the Dodgers. Between now and the All Star break, in addition to a tough game today with the A’s, they face, at home, the D’backs four times and the Rockies three times. They should be able to pad their present first place edge when play resumes mid-July.

Fortunes have a way of changing significantly, within a very short time, in the baseball world. When we looked at the Giants mid-June, most concern was expressed with respect to the starting pitching. One, or even two, starting pitchers seemed to be a crying need. The bullpen, without a proven closer, although Herges had been doing as well as could have been expected, was measuring up to the job, with some reservation concerning the eighth inning set-up man.

Today the emphasis has changed. Hermanson and Tomko have each had strong outings recently. pitching well into the late innings. Rueter is his same old self. You get five innings out of him, wondering all the time how he manages to throw slop and get away with it. He keeps the team in the ball game, usually giving up two or three runs in that short stretch. This accounts for his five run ERA.

Williams pitches today. There is much interest in how he does since the health of his arm has become an issue. Assuming he is healthy, this is an acceptable five man rotation. This is not to say that your suggestion today that the Giants give consideration to acquiring Russ Ortiz, if they can work out a deal with Atlanta, is not well taken. Ortiz is a proven quantity. The team would be feeling a great deal more secure with an inning eater such as Ortiz in the rotation.

It is the bullpen, today, which is causing the uneasiness. Herges had a bad outing yesterday. The hope is that it was an aberration. Where they have undeniable problems is in the setup man in the eighth inning.

This is not a situation which should come as a surprise to any interested observer. It didn’t develop overnight. Rodriguez hasn’t pitched well for the better half of the past three years. In today’s newspaper, Alou was quoted as saying that he didn’t understand why a pitcher throwing ninety- five miles an hour should be having as much difficulty as Rodriguez is having.

Alou is simply avoiding being critical of one of his players. He knows, as surely as any of us, why Felix is having such difficulty getting batters out. Throwing strikes that a batter has trouble hitting, in situations that call for such strikes, namely, the eighth inning of a close game, has been a task that is beyond this pitcher’s ability for some time.

At the close of last season, Rodriguez’ contract was at an end save for the options which the club, on the one hand, and the pitcher, on the other hand, still had. The Giants had the option to rehire Rodriguez for 2004 if they were willing to pay him five million dollars for the year. This they wisely turned down. With such refusal, the option reverted to Rodriguez. He could opt for another year at three million dollars. Knowing that his recent performances would not intrigue other teams to the extent that they would be amenable to paying him anything like three million dollars, Rodriguez execised his option. The Giants were stuck with him for the year 2004. No other team was deluded concerning Rodriguez’ value.

The Giants, today, should be in the market for one or two, helpful, bullpen pitchers. It is unlikely that Aardsma is the answer.

Other than the pitching problems above noted, the team has been playing well. Bonds is doing everything Barry does well. He is hitting for an average, he is hitting home runs, he is driving the opposition out of their reasonable minds. Should they walk him or pitch to him? The option has become more difficult in the past month. The hitting behind Bonds has been considerably stronger, with Alfonzo and Pierzynski improving dramatically over their earlier year performances. Cruz has been a welcome addition to the lineup. The appearances of Perez, in the starting role, should be severely limited. Feliz, and not Snow, should be playing first regularly. Snow’s fielding prowess is not enough to overcome his lack of hitting. Feliz has shown that if he is played regularly he has the ability to hit with power.

This is a three team race. The Giants have as good a shot at it as the others two contenders. With some pitching help, they would be a favorite for the playoffs. Of course, one could say that about a number of clubs.

Ed

0 comments

1 Anonymous { 07.06.04 at 12:02 am }

Ed the bullpen needs a reliable closer and set up man. I’m not convinced the pitching will hold up once August rolls around. Take a look at the teams the Giants play in August. Now, the opposition is in no better shape so you are right the Giants should be the favorite to win the division if they add to the staff. Problem is everyone wants pitching and there isn’t much out there.
Marty

2 Anonymous { 07.06.04 at 5:09 pm }

Marty, You are absolutely correct, as usual. They need a closer and a setup man. The closer is more important. Herges could possibly be used as a decent eighth inning pitcher. Anyone but Rodriguez. Closers are hard to come by. The Giants do have a few trade options. Torrealba might be attractive to a club needing a catcher but I don’t know where the closer is living. Feliz would be a large price to pay but if it was an exceptional opportunity they might be willing to pay it. Once again, I don’t know where the closer is coming from. Ed

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