Bleacher Report - Articles by Timothy Baker

Hitting Will Drive San Francisco Giants Success in 2009

Timothy Baker — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:56:01 -0500

If the San Francisco Giants are going to win the National League West this season their hitters are going to have to get on base and drive in more runs. Last season, the Giants' 606 RBI's were dead last in all of Major League Baseball.

However, you need guys on base to drive in runs. The team was 25th out of 30 teams with an On Base Percentage of just .321 and scored only 640 runs. Only the San Diego Padres scored fewer runs. The Giants of 2008 also lacked home run power. They were the only team to hit less than 100 home runs (94).

So who can the Giants look to for getting on base, scoring and driving in runs? Well, there's a fresh crop of experienced and talented young players that, if they play to their potential, are going to propel the Giants upward in the standings.

Here's my Giants lineup for 2009:

1. Randy Winn, RF

2. Edgar Renteria, SS

3. Pablo Sandoval, 3b

4. Fred Lewis, LF

5. Bengie Molina, C

6. Aaron Rowand, CF

7. Travis Ishikawa/John Bowker, 1B

8. Kevin Frandsen, 2b

This is a lineup characterized by its balanced mix of experience (Winn, Renteria, Molina, and Rowand) and potential (Sandoval, Lewis, Ishikawa, Bowker, and Frandsen).

To me, experience is strength of the Giants lineup. Winn and Renteria are solid .300 hitters. These two men are going to score a lot of runs this year as they both hit a lot of line drives and run pretty well. I see a lot 1st and 3rd starts to ball games.

I like having Molina, a proven RBI man (95 in 2008), in the No. 5 slot. He's the Giants best clutch hitter and you need a guy like that hitting 5th. Rowand can flat out hit and he drove in 70 RBI's last year, the 2nd most on the ballclub. He's going to provide more than adequate protection to Bengie and keep rallies going.

The potential of the other hitters in the Giants lineup has me very optimistic and excited. Pablo Sandoval (.345) proved he could hit at the big league level last year. But, can he do it for a full season?

I have no doubts that he's already the best hitter on the team. This guy hits with power to all fields and he's going to create a lot of excitement for the fans as he rips shots into "triples alley" at AT&T Park.

I expect Fred Lewis to have a breakout year in 2009. Last year, Lewis quietly put up some solid numbers in mostly a leadoff role. I have him hitting No. 4 because I see him driving in a lot of runs with his smooth, compact swing.

Fred can also run, which means he'll beat out some infield hits and not kill rallies by hitting into double plays. With Bengie Molina hitting behind him, this would give the Giants best RBI man the chance to knock in an extra run or two.

It's time for Travis Ishikawa to step up. He's absolutely crushed the ball in AAA, but now he's got to win the 1B job and prove he belongs at the big league level. He has some pop in his bat and he plays great defensively.

In limited time last season, he did OK, so I still have him splitting time with John Bowker. Even though they are both left-handed hitters, I would go with whoever comes out of spring training the hottest and play that hand for as long as it stays hot and then switch it up.

Bowker has a very quick bat, but questionable pitch selection. He swings at way too many bad pitches and lets too many good pitches go by. I'd like Bowker to become more selective and strike out less. When he does connect, especially in San Francisco, good things usually happen.

Frandsen reminds me a lot of the Red Sox Dustin Pedroia. Fully recovered from the Achilles heel injury he suffered last year, my expectations from Frandsen are that he'll have a high OBP, hit .300, and steal a few bases.

He's a scrappy ballplayer and should get his uniform dirty everyday. This should equate to plenty of RBI opportunities for Winn and Renteria at the top of the lineup. Between the two of them, they drove in 119 runs, so they are more than up to the task.

The biggest concern going in is how the young talent will respond to playing everyday. The veterans, I expect, will maintain their solid play because they've been there before. The Giants are counting on Sandoval and Lewis an awful lot and yet neither ball player has played a full season at the MLB level.

Are they up to the challenge? I say, yes!

My All-Time Giants Lineup Is Full of Surprises

Timothy Baker — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 04:33:19 -0400

Writing this kind of article is always fun for me. There have been many great Giants throughout its storied history. Now most fans of the San Francisco Giants would stick with the obvious characters, like Willie Mays and Barry Bonds, myself included, but it's the rest of the lineup that may catch you by surprise. It's a lineup filled with Hall of Famers and World Series champions.

Hitting leadoff is the Giants career leader in average, the last National League player to hit .400, a great defensive first baseman and a Hall of Famer. Any guesses? Well, at the top of my lineup is Bill Terry.

Batting second is a slick fielding shortstop born in 1870 and a career .332 hitter for the Giants and his name was George Davis.

In the third spot is none other than the greatest all around baseball player in history, Willie Mays. Need I say more?

The cleanup hitter is only the career leader in home runs. I don't care whether Barry Bonds took steroids or not, he still had more knocks than anyone, plus his .312 average ranks ninth all-time for the Giants. Barry will, of course, play left.

My right fielder and hitting in the five hole owns the third best career batting average at .322 and was known for his superb defense and consistent hitting. He was only 30-years-old when he passed away of a kidney disease. No all-time Giants team is complete without Ross Youngs.

Now that the outfield is complete, I need to turn toward the infield. At second base and hitting sixth is Frankie Frisch. My sentimental favorites are Robby Thompson or Tito Fuentes, but this is a story about an all-time team, not your favorite ball players. Frankie's stats speak for themselves, career .321 hitter for the Giants, Hall of Famer. Sorry Robby and Tito, love ya, but Frankie's the starter.

When was the last time anyone referred to Frederick Charles Lindstrom? My seventh hitter and third baseman has the Giants seventh best batting average of all time, is another gamer in the Hall of Fame, and at the age of 18, he was the youngest player ever to play in a World Series.

I wonder how many friends you have today with the nickname, "Shanty." My catcher is the one and only Shanty Hogan. He only played five seasons with the Giants, but they were the best of his career.

Again, my heart bleeds for Juan Marichal or Tim Lincecum, but when it's all said and done, the guy I want batting ninth and pitching is Christy Mathewson. Three hundred and 72 career wins is just sick. I'm only sorry I never got to see him play. He must've been lights out and a helluva lot of fun to watch pitch against the Dodgers.

So there you have it sports fans, my all time Giants lineup. Here's the lineup card for posterity:

1. Bill Terry, 1B

2. George Davis, SS

3. Willie Mays, CF

4. Barry Bonds, LF

5. Ross Youngs, RF

6. Frankie Frisch, 2B

7. Fred Lindstrom, 3B

8. Shanty Hogan, C

9. Christy Mathewson, P

San Francisco Giants: Only Getting Better

Timothy Baker — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:59:00 -0400

The only thing surprising to me about the 2008 San Francisco Giants is that they are eight games under .500. Prior to the start of the season, I wrote that the Giants would be a pretty good club. In fact, I think they're only going to get better, and they should finish the season with more wins than losses.

Every great baseball team must be strong up the middle. So, let me explain why I think the Giants are so competitive this year, and why they are going to get a lot better as the season progresses.

Bengie Molina is having a breakout season, his first as the team's fourth hitter. His career average is .278, but he has never hit fourth before. He's seeing a lot of good pitches and he's responding.

Through the first two months of the season, Molina's hitting a blistering .324. His hits aren't cheap either. The ball jumps off his bat, and it looks like he's getting more and more comfortable as the cleanup man. He is more than adequate defensively, and calls a very good game behind the plate. I can't think of a better overall catcher that I would want behind the plate.

On the bases, it is another story. My 77-year-old mother-in-law is faster from home to first than Bengie, but who cares? His lack of speed is not hurting the Giants.

Pitching remains somewhat of a mixed bag for the Giants. If you exclude Barry Zito and Pat Misch, the starting pitching is solid. Middle relief is horrific. There is no set-up man (though several are trying out for the role), and Brian Wilson has stepped up with 16 saves as the best closer since Robb Nen.

Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez are providing the team with quality starts every time they go out to the mound. Lincecum is fulfilling my expectations. He's got wicked stuff, improves each start, and I expect him to be an All Star this season.

Cain continues to have a lack of run support behind him. His ERA is up a little bit this year, but that's only due to a couple of bad outings. Instead of 2-3, he could easily be 5-2.

Sanchez continues to rack up the strikeouts, and has the second-most wins on the ballclub (four) behind only Lincecum. Expect more quality starts from these three.

I'm not a big fan of Tyler Walker. He can be lights out some nights, while others he's the human rally cap.

There have been flashes of brilliance from Yabu, Chulk, Taschner, and Hinshaw. However, this group needs to be more consistent, and Bochy needs to have a strong late-inning group that he can rely on to throw strikes, kill rallies, and get outs. This remains the weakest part of the team, and it must improve if the Giants are going to win more games.

Brian Wilson, with his badass tattoos and 95 MPH fastball, has quietly established himself as THE closer. He's tied for third in the league with 16 saves, and despite a high ERA of 4.44, he is doing a fine job. He's on pace for 48 saves this season. Not too bad considering the Giants' sorry state since Nen's retirement.

With Omar Vizquel back from the disabled list and Ray Durham swinging a hot bat, the Giants have as good a double-play combination as any in the National League. Vizquel is a likely Hall of Famer, having played more games at shortstop than anyone else in history, but he's more than that. He's a leader on the field, and makes the routine play every time and the spectacular play almost every time.

I've always liked Ray Durham's steady play at second base, but more importantly, i've always liked his potent bat. He started slowly this season as the Giants gave Eugenio Velez a shot at winning the job. Durham never complained, stayed patient, worked on his game, and Velez is now playing in the Pacific Coast League.

Ray is now hitting .290, which is where Velez needs to be if he's going to be playing at this level. Durham and Vizquel make turning the double play into an art. It's all in the eye of the beholder—a thing of beauty for the Giants and hideous for the other team.

Aaron Rowand is having another remarkable season. He's leading the Giants in average (.342), home runs (eight) and RBI (35). Plus, I love his swagger on the field, and the way he leads the outfield. This is a team guy who cares only about winning and not about his stats.

It's also known as a winning attitude, something the Giants haven't really had the last couple of years. He also happens to play Gold-Glove quality defense in center field.

Winning is contagious, and if the Giants can continue to build off this solid core up the middle, improve their middle and late-inning relief, they'll finish the season above .500, and in the NL West, who knows, even contend.

You Can Build a Champion Around the San Francisco Giants' Starting Five

Timothy Baker — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:53:34 -0400

Cain. Zito. Correia. Lincecum. Sanchez.

I wouldn't trade for any other five guys in Major League Baseball to build my team around. Pitching is to baseball what defense is to football—you build championships around them and the San Francisco Giants have five of the best starters in the game.

Matt Cain has got to be the hardest luck pitcher I've ever seen the last two years. There is no mistaking this guys' ability to throw a baseball by hitters. I believe that if the Giants can begin scoring runs when this guy pitches, he's going to become a perenial All-Star and 15-20 game winner. I love his attitude and 95 MPH fastball. Though Cain is 0-2 with 5.27 ERA, he's really only had one bad outing in his five starts thus far. If he had received any support from the offense and the bullpen, he could easily be 4-1. I shudder to think what this guy could do for a team like the Red Sox. We'd be talking Cy Young.

Speaking of Mr. Young: Barry Zito already has one of these tropies on his mantel. I know people are writing him off as a huge disappointment, but he too hasn't pitched all that badly. I think he's the best 0-5 pitcher in baseball. Everyone seems to be concerned about his lost velocity, but I don't think that's the real issue. To me, Zito's problem is not getting ahead in the count and then laying up a beach ball sized pitch over the middle of the plate. Big league hitters are too good to leave the ball over the middle and hoping for a fly ball or grounder to short. The season is not lost yet for Zito and expect May to be much kinder to him. Look for a probable five game winning streak.

I am thrilled the Giants are giving Kevin Correia a chance to become a starter. I believed he had better stuff starting than relieving and he's proving it this season. His 4.21 ERA is respectable and would result in a better than 1-3 record on most teams. But, this is the Giants and they're not scoring many runs for anybody. Correia keeps giving the ballclub 6-7 solid innings every start and I expect him to have a break out year this year.

Oh, and who would you say is pulling away from the rest of the starters to become the ace of the staff? Well, in my opinion, Tim Lincecum is doing nothing short of fulfilling his awesome potential. At 4-0 and with a sick 1.23 ERA, the rest of the country is starting to sit up and take notice. I can't believe Brian Sabean was even thinking for a minute about trading Lincecum for Toronto's Alex Rios this winter. My God, that would've been the biggest boner since Buckner's error in 1986. Lincecum is flat out making the hitters look foolish. If he keeps this up, Lincecum's going to find himself at Yankee Stadium starting the Midsummer Classic for the National League. I think other teams have already started to take notice that this young man is one difficult guy to hit off of and that superstars are going to be taking days off when Lincecum is on the mound.

With Noah Lowry on the DL and Barry Zito's struggles, Jonathan Sanchez has become the teams only reliable left handed starter. In just his first year as a full time starter, Sanchez has impressed me with his 2:1 strikeouts to walks ratio. His 4 starts match is career high for a season, so the jury is still out whether or not he can hold up as a starter for the whole year. He's probably headed back to the bullpen as soon as Lowry gets healthy, but in the meantime, I've enjoyed watching his starts. He's got wicked stuff and Sanchez is definitely throwing strikes, which is what any manager likes to see from his pitchers. But, Sanchez could stay in the rotation if Zito's poor pitching continues. I don't see that happening, but it would be a nice problem for Bochy to have when Lowry comes back.

I can't think of a better five under 20 to build a team around. Now, if only the Giants can continue to play solid defense and score runs, you might see what no one could've predicted: a winning season from the boys in black and orange.

San Francisco Giants: Even After an Ugly Week, There's Still Hope

Timothy Baker — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 03:36:30 -0400

After a 1-4 week, I still think the Giants are going to be OK.

Two of the losses were ugly - Opening Day's 5-0 loss to the Dodgers and Friday night's 13-4 blow out loss to Milwaukee.

Zito sucked to open the season, but he's a quality pitcher who can and will pitch better. I was more surprised at the shellings Sanchez and Hennesseytook this week. It's early, I know, but I thought these two guys would do better than that. Hennessey's ERA is a laughable 37.8! The hitters are simply ahead of the pitchers right now. This will reverse as the season grinds on.

The other two losses could've gone either way, both were one run defeats. Unfortunately, continuing a trend from last year where the Giants couldn't buy a win in a close game. Who is going to step up with the clutch hit?

Which brings me back to my position about what it's going to take for the Giants to be competitive. It's time for the Giants to recognize their young talent and let them develop. I think it's the younger players, with their fearless approach to the game, which will drive competitiveness.

I was disappointed Fred Lewis and Danny Ortmeier didn't receive more playing time this week. These guys need to be in the lineup every day, along with speedster Eugenio Velez. Raj Davis looks awful at the plate, so I'm fine with him on the bench. I believe he's a very valuable bench player.

Cain and Lincecum pitched as expected. Cain dominated the Dodgers, but once again wasn't supported with any runs. I really like these 2 guys and expect break out years from both. And Lincecum was unhittable in relief. Despite giving up 4 runs and losing the ball game yesterday, Correia pitched well too.

With the home opener on Monday, the confines of AT&T should help. It's still too early to say the Giants suck. There's talent on this ball club. They just need to be given a chance to play.

San Francisco Giants: They Might Just Be Okay

Timothy Baker — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:06:30 -0400

Call me crazy, but I just think the San Francisco Giants might do better than what all of the pundits are saying. I think they can be in the hunt all the way to end, but it's going to take some solid pitching from the starters and the bullpen, outstanding defense and timely hitting.

And, some luck.

I really like the Giants starting pitching—yes, even Barry Zito. If Zito has the type of season he is capable of, these guys in orange and black are going to surprise some people. I think Cain and Lincecum are future Cy Young Award winners.

These two are just about to hit their prime and I'm so glad Brian Sabean didn't make the Rios-Lincecum trade. Lincecum demonstrated last night in his last exhibition start vs. the A's what I hope will be standard operating procedure all season—five of shutout ball and nine strikeouts.

The bullpen is again the big question mark. I think Brian Wilson has the stuff to be a quality closer. Can he handle the pressure?

He hasn't had the best of springs, but if he grows into the job by closing games and gaining confidence, the Giants are going to win games. I can't comment on the middle relief guys except to say one thing that they forgot how to do last year was throw strikes and get ahead in the count!

The defense is again stellar, especially up the middle. When Vizquel comes back from knee surgery, the rest of the guys (Rowand, Durham, and Molina) are going to keep these pitchers in a lot of ballgames.

A lot has been written about the offense without Barry Bonds. I loved Barry, but you know what? He only came up four times a game (if that!). I think Bochy has enough talent in that dugout to produce runs. He's got to start Eugenio Velez and let him leadoff every day. That guy's amazing and he, alone, is quick enough to produce some runs. It's time to put Vizquel back in the No. 2 slot.

He did very well hitting second, two years ago. It's time to give Fred Lewis an every day job as well and I'd like to see him hitting third and playing left field. I'm sorry, but I don't see Dave Roberts as anything but an outstanding pinch hitter.

I'd hit Rowand fourth and Winn fifth. I see Ortmeier as a number six hitter, with a Aurilia/Castilla platoon seveth and Mnolina eighth. That should be a good enough lineup to produce 4-5 runs a game, which should be plenty if the pitching holds up.

Well, at 4 a.m. all of my points sound pretty damn good. I guess we'll see if any of this pasta I've just thrown on the wall sticks when the season kicks off in Chavez Ravine on Tuesday afternoon. I can't believe this is going to be a last place team in 2008.

Can we wait until June before anyone tries to put me in a straight jacket?