Bochy Should Take Advantage of Remaining Off Days

August 13th, 2009

Whether it’s been Ryan Sadowski or Joe Martinez, the Giants are 1-5 in the last six games started by their fifth starter. Considering the Giants have four off-days left, counting today, shouldn’t Bruce Bochy make sure that Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain pitch as much as possible and also limit the number of starts made by whoever is in the fifth spot? If he does take advantage of these remaining off days, Cain will make 11 starts, Lincecum and Barry Zito will pitch in 10 games each, while Jonathan Sanchez will make 9 starts, and the fifth starter spot will come up in 8 games.

What is concerning me, however, is that Bochy doesn’t plan on pitching Lincecum in New York when Lincecum should pitch Monday if he receives his normal four days rest. Even worse, by pitching Cain Saturday instead of tomorrow, Cain will miss the four games in Coors Field against the Giants greatest wild-card competitor. The Giants are 2-3 in the Rockies home park this year, and both wins were games started by Cain. He is 2-0 in Colorado and has allowed just one run in 13 innings. Bochy should make sure that Cain pitches in that series, and all he would have to do is push Zito back a day.

Zito has been pitching very well, but if Bochy is worried about hurting Zito’s feelings, then he’s missing the boat. He’s also missing the boat if he is worried about Lincecum or Cain’s right arms. There is no harm to Cain and Lincecum because they would be pitching on their normal four days rest. Bochy needs to give his team the best possible opportunity to reach the postseason.

The negative to my rotation proposal is the fifth starter’s spot coming up three times against the Rockies, but that may happen anyway with Bochy’s current model. Hopefully, the third time when the fifth starter’s spot comes up, Randy Johnson will be healthy.

The positives do greatly outweigh the negatives, however. With 48 games left, the Giants could ensure that 31 of those games will be started by their best three pitchers. Plus, if there is a need for a one-game playoff, the Giants could pitch Zito on a full four days rest, or Lincecum on three days rest. My biggest concern is that Bochy isn’t even thinking about the off days and how he can take advantage of the schedule for the rest of the year. Considering the Giants playoff chances are likely going to be going down to the final week, Bochy should be thinking about every scenario with this year’s schedule.

THE WAY THE ROTATION SHOULD LOOK FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON

DATE	OPPONENT	STARTER
AUGUST 14	AT METS	CAIN
15	AT METS	ZITO
16	AT METS	SANCHEZ
17	AT METS	LINCECUM
18	AT REDS	5TH STARTER
19	AT REDS	CAIN
20	AT REDS	ZITO
21	AT ROCKIES	SANCHEZ
22	AT ROCKIES	LINCECUM
23	AT ROCKIES	5TH STARTER
24	AT ROCKIES	CAIN
25	VS. D-BACKS	ZITO
26	VS. D-BACKS	SANCHEZ
27	VS. D-BACKS	LINCECUM
28	VS. ROCKIES	5TH STARTER
29	VS. ROCKIES	CAIN
30	VS. ROCKIES	ZITO
31	OFF
SEPTEMBER 1	AT PHILLIES	LINCECUM
2	AT PHILLIES	SANCHEZ
3	AT PHILLIES	CAIN
4	AT BREWERS	ZITO
5	AT BREWERS	5TH STARTER
6	AT BREWERS	LINCECUM
7	VS. PADRES	SANCHEZ
8	VS. PADRES	CAIN
9	VS. PADRES	ZITO
10	OFF
11	VS. DODGERS	LINCECUM
12	VS. DODGERS	SANCHEZ
13	VS. DODGERS	CAIN
14	VS. ROCKIES	ZITO
15	VS. ROCKIES	5TH STARTER
16	VS. ROCKIES	LINCECUM
17	OFF
18	AT DODGERS	CAIN
19	AT DODGERS	ZITO
20	AT DODGERS	SANCHEZ
21	AT D-BACKS	LINCECUM
22	AT D-BACKS	5TH STARTER
23	AT D-BACKS	CAIN
24	VS. CUBS	ZITO
25	VS. CUBS	SANCHEZ
26	VS. CUBS	LINCECUM
27	VS. CUBS	5TH STARTER
28	OFF
29	VS. D-BACKS	CAIN
30	VS. D-BACKS	ZITO
OCTOBER 1	VS. D-BACKS	LINCECUM
2	AT PADRES	SANCHEZ
3	AT PADRES	5TH STARTER
4	AT PADRES	CAIN

Yesterday’s Win:

I told you Guillermo Mota is terrible! As frustrated as I was with Gary Darling’s awful umpiring, I was relieved when Mota finally came into the game. What a stupid pitch to throw on 0-2. J.T. Snow was clearly stunned in the studio when trying to describe Mota’s thinking. I was hoping Mota would pitch twice in the series, but I’ll settle for once.
One of the aspects of the Giants that I have been adamant about is that most players play the game the right way. I particularly appreciate the hustle that I see on a daily basis. Pablo Sandoval is one who usually hustles on every popup and groundball. Yesterday, however, the Panda admired his deep flyball to left, and settled for a double, when he should have had a triple. That can’t happen again. I’ve said before that the Panda is great to have on the team because he’s one of those guys, when you go to the game with your son, you can tell them to watch the Panda, and the way he plays the game. Yesterday, on that one play, he didn’t play the game the right way. Knowing Sandoval and the way he carries himself, I don’t think we’ll see that again.
Because I’m a baseball dork, I record the MLB Network throughout the late afternoon and evening. After watching my recordings the past few days, it has been interesting to hear Vin Scully’s version. No one will say it, and Scully won’t admit it, because he wants to believe he is as objective as possible (He doesn’t even like Russ Hodges’ call on Bobby Thomson’s home run, because he felt Hodges was too excited.), but Scully is definitely biased against the Giants. In the ninth inning yesterday, he said that he could clearly see that Furcal was safe at first. Of course, this is contrary to the video where Furcal was CLEARLY OUT. Get it together, Scully. You’re lying to your viewers.
Great job by Brian Wilson. He didn’t let the Blake situation get the best of him in a tight game, and was outstanding. Lincecum deserved the win, but Wilson wasn’t a vulture by any means.

as John Shea writes

writes Carl Steward

admitted to his mental blunders

writes Gary Peterson

as Scott Ostler writes

stashed Rich Aurilia back on the DL

writes John Shea

A’s

writes Susan Slusser

writes Curtis Pashelka

49ers

The “taser offense” was unveiled, as Matt Maiocco notes… as does Daniel Brown.