Sunday, October 22, 2006
The Season in Review- San Francisco Giants
Though their final record might not show it, the San Francisco Giants were in the playoff race for a while until the end of September. They had a decent 74-73 record on September 15th, which put them 4 games out in the NL West and 2.5 games behind in the Wild Card race. Over the last 2 weeks, however, they went 2-12 to end the season at 76-85, 11.5 games back in both the Wild Card and the NL West.
Their main problem in the last 2 weeks of the season was pitching. Over the last 14 games, they were outscored 108-63, an average of nearly 8 runs allowed per game. It wasn’t just the last 2 weeks that their pitching fell apart, as pitching was a problem for them for most of the season, though not quite as bad. They had a team ERA of 4.63, 12th in the National League and 22nd in the majors.
Eight different pitchers made starts for the Giants throughout the season:
Matt Morris: 10-15, 4.98, 117 strikeouts in 33 starts
Jason Schmidt: 11-9, 3.59, 180 strikeouts in 32 starts
Matt Cain: 13-12, 4.15, 179 strikeouts in 31 starts and 1 relief appearance
Noah Lowry: 7-10, 4.74, 84 strikeouts in 27 starts
Jamey Wright: 6-10, 5.19, 79 strikeouts in 21 starts and 13 relief appearances
Brad Hennessey: 5-6, 4.26, 42 strikeouts in 12 starts and 22 relief appearances
Jonathan Sanchez: 3-1, 4.95, 33 strikeouts in 4 starts and 23 relief appearances
Jeff Fassero: 1-1, 7.80, 7 strikeouts in 1 start and 9 relief appearances
Jason Schmidt was the obvious leader of the rotation, but after him, it was ugly. Rookie Matt Cain was decent with a 4.15 ERA in his 31 starts, and the Giants are hoping he will improve greatly from there. Finding a 5th starter was also a problem for the Giants. Jamey Wright seemed to have filled that spot, but with a 6-10 record and a 5.19 ERA.
The offense could be in trouble over the next few years as well, as most of their big hitters, including Barry Bonds, a free agent after the season, Moises Alou, and Steve Finley. They have some minor league talent in Kevin Frandsen, Todd Linden, and Chad Santos, but not enough to rebuild the offense without going to free agency and trades.
Nobody on the team hit more than 30 home runs. Ray Durham (also getting older) and Barry Bonds led the team with 26, followed by Moises Alou and Pedro Feliz who hit 22 each. Also, nobody on the team had more than 100 RBI. Pedro Feliz led with 98 runs driven in.
Overall, the Giants were a below average team and could continue to be a losing team until they either go to free agency soon for good offense and pitching, or build up a good minor league system.
Read or Post a Comment
<< Home