Friday, July 08, 2011

Cy Zito: So Far So Good

When Barry Zito returned to action, it was noted in an article that one of the big changes he has made was to drop the slider out of his repertoire because that had to be thrown from a different slot than his other pitches, which affected his command for his other pitches, and that this slider was added after his Cy Young season, and, it was implied, was partly to blame for his decline from that great season.  Suggesting, of course, that we will see a new Barry the rest of this season.  So far, so good, though as noted before, he had a similar great stretch to start 2010 and everything declined from there.


Still, can't ask for much better.  Zito is having - dare I say it :^) - a Vogelsongian re-birth season?

Right when Jonathan Sanchez implodes again, with some sort of arm ailment, which probably makes him untradeable for the value we should be able to get for him, Zito was ready to come back into the rotation.  In fact, it was pretty inconvenient still because a Cubs rainout forced a double-header and a six game stretch in five days, and even with Zito, the Giants either had to push a pitcher to pitch on short rest or bring up somebody for one start or have a bullpen start.  That made Sanchez's sudden DL - after saying he was fine the day before - appear to be truthful and not one of those phantom ailments, because it would have been much better if Sanchez had pitched his next start and THEN have a sudden arm ailment that he needed to be DLed.  In any cases, none of them were good choices, somebody would have to suck it up.

Zito Game 1:  Saves Bullpen, Continue Win Streak

Zito comes out, first game of the double-header, and he really needed to pitch deep into the game, as there was still the night game plus the six games in five days, and the potential for a bullpen start.  He goes 7.0 innings, only gave up 4 hits and 2 walks, though only 3 strikeouts, for 2 R/ER.  Saves the bullpen and he was one more strikeout or one less walk away from a DOM start; personally, for pitchers who can control BABIP like Zito does, I would allow the conversion of one walk into one hit for the purposes of PQS calculations, which in this case would give him a DOM start.  He also contributed to the Giants extending their win streak to 6 games.

Zito Game 2:  Mans Up, Saves Bullpen Twice, Help Avoid Losing Streak

Now that was pretty good, but, while the numbers don't look good on the surface, I think he outdoes his first start in the second start.  He jumps on the grenade and offers to pitch on short rest, 3 days.  He had never done that before in his career in the regular season, and did it once in the playoffs.  But he said it was no big deal, as he normally threw a lot between starts anyway, so he cancelled one day of throwing so that he could take that start against the Tigers.

On the surface, he only pitched 6.0 innings against Detroit, giving up 5 hits and 2 walks, but only one strikeout, and despite the lacking of strikeouts, he gives up no runs.  Not a DOM start, not really close, but that's what happens when you only have one strikeout, you can't really have a DOM start.  But it was a 3 PQS, so it was OK.

What the boxscore doesn't show is that he pitched two innings before a freak thunderstorm roared into the area FOR THE NEXT 2-3 HOURS.  Most starters would have called it a day and let the bullpen take over. But in this case, that would have made this into a bullpen game that the Giants were trying to avoid with Zito starting, in the first place.

Instead, Zito kept himself ready and focused during the delay, then when play resumed, the Giants scored some more runs, on a Tejada grandslam running up the score to 10-0 by the middle of the third inning.  So now, not only does he need to keep pitching, but he has to speed things up a little in order to make the game official and not risk the chance of the game being cancelled (vs. suspended; I've never understood the arcane rules on how baseball does it, except other than it does not seem consistent nor right).  He pitches another four innings, and while he didn't strike out many, he didn't walk many either and he got a lot of weak contact that sped up the game and got easy outs.  That was an amazing pitching performance, in light of all this context.

Zito Game 3:  Great DOM Game, Saves Bullpen Again, Help Avoid Losing Streak Again

Now, in his latest start, his third since returning, he outdoes his first two starts.  He goes 8.0 innings, gives up only 4 hits plus ZERO walks (first since 2007, reported by Baggarly, and only 7th in his career, with 3 with Giants, 2 in 2007, and now this one), while striking out 7 and giving up 1 R/ER on a Ludwick homer that kept things close, another one-run win for the Giants.  That is a DOM start with an exclamation point, as he rarely strikes out as many innings he pitch, being one away, especially with so many innings, is rare for him.  When he is going good, he does that regularly.  Of course, as with everything in his career, he needs to do it again, but first you got to do it.

And, of course, any team can use a DOM start that goes 8 innings, but the Giants especially needed it in this game again.  First of all, the Giants bullpen saved, nay, won the game before with 8 splendid innings after Bumgarner had a bad BABIP game.  They were pretty much spent by doing that, but did it they did, retiring the last 17 'Dres in a row, almost 6 no-hit innings.

Second of all, the Giants needed to split the series with the 'Dres, San Diego has had a kind of a hex on the Giants in recent seasons, particularly last season when they went 12-6, which was the only reason that they were even in contention at the end, based on both teams production, the season's series should have been around .500, and the Giants would have won it going away, no Naysayer talk about "luck".  This Zito win split the series instead of having it ending 1-3 and giving SD some hope of coming back up into contention by beating the Giants, as they have 8 games against the Giants in two weeks.

Third of all, Zito's great start helped the Giants avoid an extended losing streak.  After Zito's great win against Detroit, the Giants then lost the next three games, including both Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain hiccups and losses.  While Bumgarner is the one who broke that losing streak, Zito's win was also important as it prevented it from becoming a 4 losses in 5 games streak.

Zito's Stats

All in all, Zito and the team has been 3-0 in three starts since he came off the DL.  As noted above, all his wins have been crucial to the team in a number of ways.  He has a 1.29 ERA over 21.0 IP, giving up only 13 hits and, more amazingly, only 4 walks (he usually does that in one start), with 11 strikeouts.

There is a lot of luck, as his BABIP in that stretch was .190, but while that is far from the .300 mean most pitchers regress to, early in his career, it was not unusual for him to have a BABIP around .240, which is not as far away.  Of course, that presumes that he has reverted back to his earlier career with him dropping his slider, though it should be noted that he accomplished a couple of those low BABIP seasons when he had the slider.  It was just his ERA rose in those seasons relative to before.

Over a 6 IP game, where he don't strike out as much as other pitchers, and thus have more BIP, at .240 BABIP, he gives up roughly 1.5 hits less than the average pitcher, while walking about 0.5 hitters than what a good pitcher does.  That is a good tradeoff of hits and walks, allowing him to do what he can do, which is minimize damage via hits.  During this good streak, he is giving up roughly 3.0 hits less than the average pitcher, lucky to the tune of 1.5 hits.  Looking at the games he pitched, as long as those hits were not at crucial RISP situations, even had he given up those hits, the results would not have been much different from what he did.

As much as the low BABIP is very helpful, I think the key in this streak has been his much reduced number of walks.  4 walks in three starts is incredible for him, more so because he pitched more innings than he usually does for us.  That is 1.7 BB/9, minuscule for any pitcher, let alone Zito.  He would usually be around 9-10 walks in that many innings, so that's 5-6 less baserunners with the potential of moving into scoring position, along with less hits to drive them in.  When BABIP worsens for him, those hits won't be as costly still because the odds of there being a runner to drive in would be less, assuming he can continue to walk so few.

Giants Thoughts

He has had similar enough streaks of lack of walks, though nothing this low, nor with this high a K/BB:  11 K/4 BB = excellent 2.75 ratio where the best pitchers are over 2.40.  Still, he has around three such 3-game streaks in the past two seasons, and even a 4-game streak in his first season with the Giants, so it is not horribly unlikely for this to happen, it is just good that it did happen, especially when the team needed it for the reasons noted above.

The key, as usual, much like Ryan Vogelsong, is for him to keep this going beyond 3 starts.  Each game is an adventure that he has to conquer and perform in.  For him to earn similar talk to what Vogelsong is doing, it will be a start by start acceptance, earning his reputation back, start by start.  Of course, it is way better that he did this than to do his usual.  Now it is a matter of doing it more than over a 3 or 4 start period, but doing it consistently over the rest of the season, as Vogelsong has so far.

If he is able to do it, that would bring up the question again when Dirty comes off the DL, what happens to the pitching staff?  Does a starter become a reliever?  Do we have a larger pitching staff or do we have to let someone go, probably via a trade (I would guess Mota)?  Will the Giants go with a 6 man rotation?

As unlikely a 6-man rotation is, there are some signs that is possible.  First of all, the Royals just did it, so the Giants would not be the first in recent memory.  Most important of all, though, Bochy said that they discussed it and dismissed it as an option.  So it is on their radar, and that means that should the situation change, they might implement it.

As I noted before, when the team gets into their post-ASG period, starting July 26th, there will be 26 games in 27 days, only one day of rest.  Then after a day off, there is another 15 games in 16 days.  That's 41 games in 44 days.  That is a period where the Giants should go with a 6-man rotation in order to keep the pitchers on regular rest, and give extra rest when there is a day off.

I think that is important given a number of factors.  One is that the Giants starters did throw a lot more innings than they had last season.  Taking away some of those innings during the regular season would give him more in the tank for the playoffs, should they make it.  As long as the Giants are leading the division, they can take this different (and thus risky) move, as they can always go back at any time that they don't think that it is working.

Second, as great as the rotation looks, both Sanchez and Zito had DL time this season and for pitchers, that has to be a warning sign of troubles down the line.  Zito not as much due to the fact that the auto accident most probably caused damage that he wasn't aware of until he injured himself (but which was evident by how poorly he was doing up to then), but still, once injured, I think that raises the odds of recurrence.

Third, as great as the Vogelsong story is, he hasn't really pitched a full season for a number of seasons now.  He will be stretched in terms of endurance sometime in August, and unless he threw every day, as apparently Zito has and Madison Bumgarner had and maybe still does (just not as much), he should start to tire and his performance will go drastically downward.  At that point, with a 6-man rotation, he could be the pitcher we skip when there is a day off, to give him extra rest between starts.  Dirty might also need rest as well, we don't know what shape he will be in once he gets off the DL.

But first, Zito has to perform.  So far, so good.  Now do it again.

2 comments:

  1. Good stuff, OGC. Thanks for doing the research and presenting the facts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great insight on Zito OGC. You make a compelling arguement for a 6-man roatation in the upcoming months. With your analyitics background I hope you find these tools useful. http://experience.sap.com/baseball/index.htm

    Here is an article in a simialr vein: http://experiencesap.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/is-barry-zito-returning-to-form/

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete

Labels

1984 Draft (1) 2007 Draft (15) 2007 Giants (52) 2008 Draft (22) 2008 Giants (53) 2008 season (6) 2009 Draft (18) 2009 Giants (87) 2009 season (24) 2010 Decade (12) 2010 Draft (11) 2010 Giants (137) 2010 NL ROY award (1) 2010 season (19) 2010's (3) 2011 Draft (9) 2011 Giants (84) 2011 season (8) 2012 Draft (11) 2012 Giants (93) 2012 season (11) 2013 Draft (3) 2013 Giants (39) 2013 season (5) 2014 (1) 2014 draft (5) 2014 Giants (79) 2014 season (16) 2015 Draft (4) 2015 Giants (50) 2015 season (10) 2016 Draft (1) 2016 Giants (45) 2016 season (6) 2017 Draft (3) 2017 Giants (27) 2018 Draft (8) 2018 Giants (50) 2018 Season (8) 2019 Draft (1) 2019 Giants (27) 2019 season (2) 2020 Decade (1) 2020 Giants (9) 20201 Draft (1) 2021 Giants (3) 2022 Giants (2) 2023 Giants (14) 2023 season (1) 2024 Giants (8) 25 man roster (11) 25th man fallacy (1) 26 man roster (1) 3B (1) 40 Man Roster (11) 49ers (1) 5-day rotation (1) 51/49 decisions (1) 6-man rotation (5) 89 Quake (1) 89 World Series (1) A-Ball (1) A-Gon (1) A-Rod (3) A's (6) AA-Ball (1) Aaron Rowand (25) Abiatal Avelino (1) accomplishments (1) ace pitcher (2) ace starter (4) Adalberto Mejia (6) Adam Duvall (5) AFL (4) aggression (1) Albert Suarez (5) Alen Hanson (3) Alex Cobb (1) Alex Dickerson (2) Alex Hinshaw (3) Alex Pavlovic (1) Alexander Canario (2) All-Star Game (1) almost perfect game (1) Alonzo Powell (1) Amphetamine (3) analysis (24) Andre Torres (14) Andres Torres (2) Andrew Baiiley (1) Andrew Bailey (1) Andrew McCutchen (2) Andrew Suarez (5) Andrew Susac (11) Andy Baggerly (2) Andy Sisco (1) Andy Suarez (9) Angel Joseph (1) Angel Pagan (17) Angel Villalona (30) Anniversary (1) appendicitis (1) Aramis Garcia (2) Arbitration (19) Armando Benitez (5) Armando Gallaraga (1) art of failure (1) Asia-Pacific signing (1) assessment (1) Astros (3) At the Rate They Are Going (1) ATT Park (1) Aubrey Huff (20) Austin Jackson (2) Austin Slater (5) Award (4) BABIP (3) Bam Bam Meulens (1) Barry Bonds (30) Barry Zito (77) baseball (1) Baseball America (3) Baseball Prospectus (6) Baseball Prospectus Bias Against Giants (4) baseball strategy (9) Baseball Study (18) baserunning (2) batting peripherals (1) batting stance analysis (1) batting title champion (1) Beat LA (9) bench players (4) Bengie Molina (14) Benjamin Snyder (1) Bert Blyleven (1) best manager (2) best practices (2) Beyond the Box Score (1) Bias Against Giants (1) Big 6 (9) Big Picture (3) Bill Hall (1) Bill James (1) Bill James Handbook (2) Bill Mueller (1) Bill Neukom (21) Billy Beane (3) biography (1) Blake Riverra (1) Blake Snell (1) blog news (3) Blog Philosophy (3) Bob Howry (2) Bob Mariano (1) Bobby Evans (4) Boston Red Sox (1) Brad Hennessey (5) Brad Penny (2) Brandon Bednar (1) Brandon Belt (50) Brandon Crawford (25) Brandon Hicks (1) Braves (5) breakout (2) Brett Bochy (4) Brett Pill (9) Brewers (1) Brian Anderson (1) Brian Bannister (3) Brian Bocock (2) Brian Cooper (1) Brian Horwitz (3) Brian Ragira (2) Brian Sabean (50) Brian Wilson (14) Bridegrooms (6) Bruce Bochy (36) Bucky Showalter (1) bulllpen (8) Bullpen (33) Business Plan (23) Buster Posey (102) Byran Reynolds (2) Byung-Hyun Kim (1) Cained (4) call-ups (3) Candlestick Park (1) Cards (13) Career Prospects (4) Carl Hubbell (1) Carlos Beltran (4) Carlos Gomez (1) Carney Lansford (2) Carson Whisenhunt (1) Carter Jurica (1) Casey Kelly (1) Casey McGeHee (3) catcher injury (5) catching (3) CBT penalty (1) CC Sabathia (1) censorship (2) CEO (2) Chad Gaudin (5) Charles Culberson (5) Charlie Culberson (3) Chase Johnson (3) cheating (1) Chillax (1) Chris Brown (1) Chris Gloor (1) Chris Heston (19) Chris Lincecum (1) Chris Marrero (1) Chris O'Leary (1) Chris Ray (4) Chris Shaw (4) Chris Stewart (4) Chris Stratton (30) Chris Strattton (1) Christian Arroyo (7) Christmas (1) Christopher Dominguez (4) Christy Mathewson (1) Chuckie Jones (2) Clay Hensley (3) Clayton Blackburn (10) Clayton Tanner (3) Closer (9) closer by committee (3) Coaches (4) coaching changes (1) Cody Hall (2) Cody Ross (8) Col (1) Comeback Award (1) Commissioner (1) comparison (3) competitive advantage (1) Competitive Balance Tax (2) Competitive Cycles (2) competitiveness (2) Conner Menez (1) Connor Joe (3) Connor Nurse (1) Conor Gillaspie (25) contender (1) contract extension (3) contract negotiations (2) contract signing (7) Coordinator (1) core competency (1) Core Rotation (1) Cory Gearrin (5) Cory Guerrin (1) Cory Hart (1) Craig Whitaker (2) Cubs (1) Curt Young (1) cuts (1) Cy Young Award (5) cyber-relief (1) D-backs (16) D-gers (36) D-Rocks (3) D-Rox (17) D.J. Snelten (3) Dallas McPherson (1) Dan Ortmeier (11) Dan Otero (2) Dan Runzler (6) Dan Slania (3) Dan Uggla (1) Daniel Carbonell (1) Daniel Slania (2) Dany Jimenez (1) Darren Ford (1) Dave Righetti (1) Dave Roberts (11) David Aardsma (1) David Bell (1) David Huff (2) David Loewenstein (1) Decade of the Giants (12) decline (1) Defense (11) Deferred Money (1) deleted comment (1) Denard Span (3) depth (1) Dereck Rodriquez (7) Derek Holland (18) Derek Law (11) Detroit Tigers (1) DFA (3) DH (2) Dick Tidrow (2) dictionary (1) direction (1) Dirty (1) DL (3) dodgers (15) Donald Snelten (1) Donovan Solano (1) Draft (11) Draft Analysis (27) Draft Bonus (7) draft list (3) draft philosophy (2) draft signing (3) Draft Strategy (12) Draft Study (9) Draft Success (4) drafting (5) Dres (16) Drew Pomeranz (1) DRS (1) Dynasty (3) Earl Weaver (1) Edgar Renteria (13) Eduardo Nunez (4) Edwin Escobar (5) Ehire Adrianza (26) Eli Whiteside (4) Elimination game (1) EME (2) Emmanuel Burriss (18) end of an era (1) epic season (6) era (1) Eric Byrnes (1) Eric Surkamp (6) Erik Cordier (1) Eugenio Velez (12) evaluation (3) Evan Longoria (3) Evan Longoriia (1) extension (7) fan outrage (10) fan rants (2) fanfest (1) FanGraphs (2) Farhan Zaidi (35) feature reliever (1) felony conviction (1) Fielding (5) Fielding Stats (4) finger injury (3) first post-season press conference (3) Francisco Peguero (4) Fred Lewis (3) Freddie Lewis (17) Freddie Sanchez (4) Freddy Sanchez (7) Free Agency (8) free agent misses (1) Free agent possibilities (28) Free agent signing (22) Free agent signings (21) front office (3) Gabe Kapler (1) Game Score (3) gamer-tude (1) Garrett Williams (1) Gary Brown (26) Geno Espinelli (1) George Kontos (10) Ghosts of Giants Drafts (2) Giants (10) Giants Announcer (1) Giants blogs (3) Giants Chat (4) Giants Classic Rotation (1) Giants Defense (4) Giants Draft (15) Giants Drafts (8) Giants Farm System (34) Giants Franchise record (2) Giants Future (66) Giants GM (12) Giants Greats (3) Giants hitting manual (1) Giants Leadership (1) Giants manager (1) Giants No-Hitter (5) Giants Offense (34) Giants Offseason (24) Giants Pitching (10) Giants President of Baseball Operations (3) Giants Strategy (44) GiDar (1) Gino Espinelli (1) glossary (1) Gold Glove Award (1) good players (4) good will (1) Gorkys Hernandez (2) Graphical Player (1) great players (4) Gregor Blanco (18) Gregor Moscoso (1) Gregory Santos (1) Guillermo Moscoso (2) Guillermo Mota (2) Guillermo Quiroz (1) Gustavo Cabrera (4) Hall of Fame (10) Hall of Shame (4) Hank Aaron (5) Happy Holidays (2) Hate mail (1) Hayden Birdsong (1) healthy (1) heart-warming (1) Heath Hembree (8) Heath Quinn (1) Hector Correa (1) Hector Sanchez (12) Heliot Ramos (11) Henry Sosa (8) HGH (1) Hidden Game (1) high expectations (1) high school focus in draft (1) high velocity hitters (1) high velocity pitchers (1) hiring (2) hiring process (1) Hitter's League (1) Hitting (19) Hitting Coach (1) hitting mechanics (3) hitting pitchers (2) hitting streak (1) Hitting; (1) Home Run Career Record (7) Home Run Hitting Contest (1) Hunter Bishop (4) Hunter Pence (25) Hunter Stickland (1) Hunter Strickland (9) Ian Gardeck (1) Idea (4) IFA (1) improvement (2) Indictment (1) Infield (1) injury (7) instant replay (2) instructor (1) Interesting Question (1) International Free Agent Pursuits (5) International Signings (5) interview (5) Investment (1) Ivan Ochoa (2) J.P. Martinez (1) J2 (1) Jack Taschner (4) Jackson Williams (3) Jacob Dunnington (1) Jacob Gonzalez (2) Jacob Junis (1) Jacob McCasland (1) Jae-gyun Hwang (1) Jake Dunning (2) Jake Peavy (39) Jake Smith (1) Jake Wong (1) Jalen Miller (1) Jandel Gustave (1) Japanese Starters (1) Jarrett Parker (10) Jason Heyward (1) Jason Maxwell (2) Jason Stoffel (1) Javier Lopez (5) JC Gutierrez (3) JD Davis (1) Jean Machi (6) Jeff Kent (1) Jeff Samardzija (28) Jeff Suppan (1) Jeremy Affeldt (12) Jeremy Shelley (2) Jerome Williams (1) Jesse English (2) Jesse Foppert (1) Jesus Guzman (4) Jimmy Rollins (1) Joaquin Arias (14) Joe Panik (18) Joe Torre (1) Joey Bart (6) Joey Martinez (2) Johan Santana (1) John Barr (1) John Bowker (22) John Thorn (1) Johneshwy Fargas (2) Johnny Bench (1) Johnny Cueto (31) Johnny Monell (1) Johnny Rucker (1) Jonah Arenado (1) Jonathan Mayo (1) Jonathan Sanchez (49) Jordan Hicks (1) Jordan Johnson (1) Jorge Soler (1) Jose Canseco (1) Jose Casilla (1) Jose Guillen (3) Jose Mijares (3) Jose Uribe (2) Josh Osich (9) JT Snow (1) Juan Perez (6) Juan Uribe (9) Juggling Monkey (1) Julian Fernandez (7) Julio Urias (1) Jung Hoo Lee (2) jury (1) Just Say No (1) Kelby Tomlinson (5) Kendry Flores (2) Keury Mella (2) Kevin Correia (2) Kevin Frandsen (22) Kevin Gausman (3) Kevin Pillar (2) Kevin Pucetas (10) KNBR (1) Kung Fu Panda (30) Kyle Crick (16) Kyle Harrison (5) laid off (1) Larry Baer (3) Larry Ellison (1) Lead-off (2) leadoff (1) left-handed (1) Lew Wolff (1) LHP (1) Lineup (17) lineup construction (4) Lineup position (1) links (1) Logan Webb (3) Lon Simmons (1) long relief (2) Long-Term Contract (22) long-term planning (3) losing streak (1) Lucius Fox (3) luck (2) Luis Angel Mateo (2) Luis Matos (2) Luis Toribio (1) lunatic fringe (1) Mac Marshall (1) Mac Williamson (12) Madison Bumgarner (185) Mailbox (1) Malcolm Gladwell (1) management change (3) management issues (5) managerial value (5) Manny (1) Marc Kroon (2) Marco Luciano (3) Marco Scutaro (12) Mark DeRosa (8) Mark Gardner (1) Mark Melancon (4) Marlon Byrd (1) Martin Agosta (7) Marvin Miller (1) Masahiro Tanaka (1) Mason Black (1) Mason McVay (1) Matsuzaka (1) Matt Cain (160) Matt Chapman (1) Matt Daniels (3) Matt Downs (2) Matt Duffy (8) Matt Graham (1) Matt Holliday (1) Matt Krook (2) Matt Moore (15) Matt Morris (2) Mauricio Dubon (2) Mechanics (4) Media (17) Media Bias (17) media hypocrisy (1) Media Trade Idea (3) Medical (1) Mediocy (11) Mediots (6) Melk-Gone (1) Melky Cabrera (14) Melvin Adon (1) memories (1) mental (1) Merkin Valdez (8) Message in a Bottle (1) methodology (2) MI (1) Michael Conforto (1) Michael Main (1) Michael Reed (1) Michael Trout (1) middle infield (2) Miguel Cabrera (2) Miguel Gomez (1) Miguel Tejada (5) Mike Fontenot (3) Mike Ivie (1) Mike Kickham (9) Mike Leake (11) Mike Matheny (1) Mike Morse (10) Mike Yazstremski (2) milestone (1) minor league (1) minor league contract (4) minors (11) mismanagement (1) misnomer (1) mistakes (2) MLB (2) MLB stupidity (2) MLB Success (7) MLB Trade Rumors (1) MLBAM (1) MLBTR (1) MLE (1) Mock Draft analysis (8) Modern Portfolio Theory (1) Modus Operandi (2) MPT (1) MVP (2) Natanael Javier (1) Nate Schierholtz (45) Nathanael Javier (1) Nationals (1) Naysayers (2) Negotiations (1) Neil Ramirez (1) NewPQS (8) Next Gen (1) Nick Hundley (2) Nick Noonan (27) Nick Pereira (1) Nick Vander Tuig (2) Nick Vincent (1) NL Champions (2) NL West (29) NL West Division Title (20) NL West Future (1) NLCS (22) NLCS MVP (2) NLDS (8) Noah Lowry (14) non-roster invitees (2) non-tenders (3) Nori Aoki (4) NPB (1) NRI (1) Oakland A's (4) OBP (1) oddities (1) Offense (4) offensive era (1) ogcPQS (6) Omar Vizquel (3) one-run games (3) Opener (1) openers (1) Opening Day (6) opening day pitcher (3) opening day roster (11) Optimism (1) Osiris Matos (2) Outfield (3) overturned (1) Ownership (7) Pablo Sandoval (97) Padres (1) Panda (6) Pandoval (1) passing (1) Pat Burrell (15) Pat Misch (5) Patrick Bailey (2) Payroll (11) PECOTA (1) Pedro Feliz (12) PEDS (10) Perfect Game (2) perjury trial (1) personal (2) Personal Reminiscence (2) Pessimism (1) Pete Palmer (1) Pete Putila (1) Pete Rose (3) Peter Magowan (2) Phil Bickford (3) Phillies (7) philosophy (1) Phoenix Theory of Rebuilding (1) Pierce Johnson (2) Pitch Count (3) pitch framing (1) pitch value (1) Pitcher hitting 8th (1) pitcher’s health (1) Pitchers League (1) Pitching (27) pitching analysis (4) pitching department (1) pitching development (4) Pitching Rotation (90) pitching staff (6) pitching strategy (2) plate discipline (1) platoon players (2) Play Ball (1) player acquisition (1) player budget (2) player development (7) playoff (2) playoff analysis (2) playoff hopes (37) playoff roster (2) playoff rotation (6) Playoff Success (27) Playoff Win Effective (3) Playoff Win Efficient (2) Playoffs (44) postmortem (2) PQS (109) press conference (2) pressure (2) priorities (1) Projected Record (6) projection (2) projections (2) promotion (2) prospect (3) prospect analysis (7) prospect future (1) prospect handling (1) Prospect of Note (3) prospect promotion (1) prospect study (2) Prospects (46) quality starts (1) questions (1) radio great (1) Rafael Rodriquez (8) Rajai Davis (2) Ralph Barbieri (1) Ramon Ramirez (3) Randy Johnson (10) Randy Messenger (2) Randy Winn (14) Rangers (5) Ranking (4) rant (1) raspberry (1) rationalization (1) Ray Durham (5) re-sign (2) realist (1) Rebuilding (5) Rebuilding Myths series (1) rebuttal (1) Red Sox (1) Reds (5) rehab (1) reliever (3) relievers (1) Relocation Concession (2) Research (2) resource scarcity (1) rest for starters (1) Retired (3) Retirement (3) return (1) Reyes Moronta (3) RHP (1) Ricardo Genoves (1) Rich Aurilia (7) Rick Peterson (1) Rickie Weeks (1) Ricky Oropesa (3) right-handed (1) risk mitigation (2) risk profile (1) Roberto Gomez (1) Rockies (2) Rod Beck (1) Roger Kieschnick (13) Roger Metzger (1) Ron Shandler (2) Ron Wotus (1) Ronnie Jebavy (1) Ronnie Ray (1) rookie debut (1) Rookie of the Year (1) Roster (4) rosterbation (2) Rotation by Committee (1) Rotation Chaos (1) ROY (2) Royals (3) Rule 5 (2) Rule 5 Draft Pick (5) rumors (9) run differential (1) run prevention (1) run production (1) runs support (1) Russ Ortiz (11) Russell Carleton (1) Ryan Garko (2) Ryan Klesko (4) Ryan Rohlinger (2) Ryan Theriot (3) Ryan Vogelsong (93) Ryder Jones (2) Sabean Naysayers (7) Sabermetric Thoughts (6) sabermetrics (5) SABR (1) Salary speculation (3) SALLY (1) Sam Dyson (7) Sam Long (1) Sam Selman (1) Sam Wolff (1) San Jose Giants (1) San Jose Relocation (3) Sandro Fabian (2) Sandy Rosario (1) Santiago Casilla (9) scenarios (1) Scott Boras (1) Scott Harris (2) Scott McClain (2) Scott Shuman (1) Scouting (2) Sean Hjelle (5) season review (1) secret sauce (2) Sergio Romo (17) Seth Corry (6) SF Giants (2) Shilo McCall (1) Shohei Ohtani (3) Shohei Otani (2) Shooter (1) shutouts (1) Signature Song (1) signing (13) Silly-Ball (3) South Atlantic League (1) South Bay Rights (1) SP usage (1) spin rate (1) splits (2) Sports Illustrated (1) Spring Training (16) stabilized stats (1) standings (1) starting CF (1) starting lineup (19) starting pitching (96) starting rotation (4) Statcorner (1) State of the Giants (1) statistics (2) STATS (1) Steamer (1) Stephen Vogt (1) Steroids (7) Steve Edlefsen (4) Steve Johnson (3) Steve Okert (8) Steven Duggar (7) strikeout rate (2) Sue Burns (1) sunk costs (1) superstition (1) tactics (1) talent evaluation (4) Tax (1) team culture (1) Team of the 2010's (2) Team of the 2020's (1) Team of the Decade (4) Team Speed (1) Team Support (1) Thank You (2) The Evil Ones (tm) (1) The Giants Way (2) The Hardball Times (1) The Hey Series (19) The Hey Zaidi Series (4) Thomas Joseph (3) Thomas Neal (9) Tigers (4) Tim Alderson (17) Tim Hudson (39) Tim Lincecum (195) TINSTAAPP (1) Todd Linden (3) Todd Wellemeyer (6) Tommy Joseph (3) Tony Watson (4) Top 100 Prospects (1) Top 14 Roster (1) Top Draft Position (4) top Giants prospects (5) top player list (1) top prospect list (6) Trade (12) Trade Analysis (22) Trade Idea (9) Trade PTBNL (2) Trade Rumors (30) trading (1) training staff (2) Training Tool (1) Travis Blackley (1) Travis Ishikawa (47) Trevor Brown (5) Trevor Gott (1) tribute (1) Tristan Beck (2) turning point (1) Ty Blach (23) Tyler Austin (1) Tyler Beede (10) Tyler Cyr (1) Tyler Horan (1) Tyler McDonald (1) Tyler Rogers (2) Tyler Walker (2) umpire mistake (3) Umpires (3) USA Today (1) utility (1) Voros McCracken (1) Waiver Roulette (1) Waldis Joaquin (5) walks (1) Wall of Fame (1) WAR (4) Warrior Spirit (1) Wendell Fairley (10) What-If Scenario (3) wild card (1) wild card race (1) Will Bednar (1) Will Clark (1) Will Smith (7) Will Wilson (3) Williams Jerez (1) Willie Mac Award (1) Willie Mays (1) winning on the road (1) Winter League (1) winter meetings (3) World Series (28) World Series Champions (13) WS Ring Bling (1) xBABIP (1) xwOBA (1) Yankees (1) Yusmeiro Petit (40) Zack Cozart (2) Zack Wheeler (9) Zaidi MO (2) Zaidi Rotation (3) ZiPS (1) Zito Role (2)