Kuzul

I know what you must be thinking after reading that headline.

How can Jonathan Sanchez, a starting pitcher who was just placed on the disabled list and was leading the league in walks, be the key to the success of the defending world champion San Francisco Giants in the second half?

I will be the first to admit that I do not believe Sanchez’s pitching will be a crucial factor in ushering the Giants back into the playoffs. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Ryan Vogelsong and perhaps even the resurgent (if only temporarily) Barry Zito could cover that task if need be.

In fact, the best way that Sanchez could actually help this team win the NL West would be to return from the DL and pitch very well in a couple of starts. Those starts, coupled with his potential and past success (a no-hitter and a dominant performance against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS), could very well make Sanchez pretty decent trade bait.

Even though Sanchez has struggled more than he (or Giants fans) had hoped, he still has a respectable 3.81 ERA with 92 K’s in 89.2 innings and a .212 BAA (batting average against). Unfortunately, those statistics do not include his 59 BBs, 1.42 WHIP or his general state of uncontrolled wildness. 

Still, there are a few issues here. If Sanchez does manage to do well, which is fairly likely if he takes the time to recover from biceps tendinitis, what team would want him? And, even if the Giants found a buyer who has a hitter, would GM Brian Sabean really be willing to let Sanchez go?

First, if Giants management really is looking for another bat, they are going to obtain it temporarily in the form of a catcher. They have outfielders and infielders who, for better or worse, are going to stay where they are because of injuries to Mark DeRosa, Freddy Sanchez, and Mike Fontenot. The catching tandem of Eli Whiteside and Chris Stewart, though more than adequate defensively and surprisingly effective on offense in recent games, cannot replace the production of Buster Posey.

That means that the team needs to find a buyer who needs a starting pitcher and has a marketable catcher they are willing to trade. In that case, and correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like only the Cincinnati Reds would actually fit the criteria. 

The Reds, at 42-41, are three games back in the NL Central and are a run-producing machine with almost 400 runs scored (good for third in all of baseball). This team can hit. However, pitching is the issue as the team’s staff ranks 21st in WHIP and 23rd in ERA. In fact, the lowest ERA among their starters belongs to the youngster Mike Leake at 3.89. Jonathan Sanchez’s ERA beats that.

While there’s no doubt that Sanchez would help this team (even when he’s wild, he doesn’t really give up runs), would the Reds be willing to trade one of their better hitters?

To put it briefly, yes. Hernandez is 35 years old and already splits time with Ryan Hanigan. The Reds also have some good catching prospects in their system and Hanigan is signed long-term. The Giants could utilize Hernandez for a while; maybe even having him split time with Posey next season to give Posey some time away from the dish. It could work.

That takes us to our largest obstacle, however: Brian Sabean.

The last time Sabean made a move similar to this one, in which he traded an established but relatively young pitcher for a bat (a catcher, in fact) it was a disaster. Yes, I’m talking about Joe Nathan for A.J. Pierzynski in 2003. Oh, and another young pitcher named Francisco Liriano who has been a pretty solid starter. That went well. 

In short (too late), Sabean has no reason to believe he needs to give up a pitcher for some offense. After all, last year he was able to sign some random guys for relatively little and they helped the Giants win the World Series—no pitching sacrifices required. So what if the Giants have one of the worst offenses in all of baseball? They certainly have one of the best pitching staffs and great pitching beats great hitting in a seven-game series almost every time.

The bottom line is that Giants fans want to make a trade for a bat, Giants management probably won’t do it and the Giants will keep winning close games without scoring too much. They have a good catching prospect in the system in Hector Sanchez and everyone knows how much Sabean loves home-grown talent.

So, regardless of Jonathan Sanchez’s performance in the second half or Barry Zito’s resurgence as an effective starting pitcher, no one will be moved. A few tweaks here or there are all you are going to see. Who knows? It may be just enough.

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Jeff Suppan, a 36-year-old right-hander, is desperately trying to prove once again that he can help a major league team win. This time, it’s with the World Series champs.

Suppan, now with his seventh team after 16 seasons in the majors, is trying to regain the pitching form that led him to back-to-back 16-win seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004 and 2005.

Though his career has had its ups and downs, Suppan did post a 3.84 ERA over his last 15 games with the Cardinals to finish 2010 at 3-8 with a 5.06 ERA. The numbers do not look pretty, but Suppan brings experience and perhaps the best control of his career into spring training. 

Coming into the 2011 season, I believe Suppan has a very good chance of making the San Francisco Giants’ opening day roster.

Here are 10 reasons why.

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Madison Bumgarner or Jonathan Sanchez?

Thankfully for the San Francisco Giants, the tough choice between the two does not have to be made, for now. However, the day may soon come in which a trade comes along that cannot be turned down and the Giants will need to make a decision; hopefully the core rotation will stay intact (cheers for Brian Sabean), but that day may be sooner than you’d think.

As the two productive lefties in the Giants rotation (sorry, Barry Zito), Bumgarner and Sanchez are seemingly easy to group together. However, the pitchers are, in fact, extremely different physically, mentally and stylistically.

Sanchez, at 6-foot-2, 189 pounds is built for power, with long legs and a windup reliant on torque for increased force. If his arm is not in the right slot, the Giants are usually in for a stressful night. So is Sanchez, who frequently shows his frustrations on the field.

Bumgarner is a lanky 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and generates power by slinging his arm through his motion. He tends to last longer per start than Sanchez and his motion does not seem to put much stress on his arm. He also stays calm, even in stressful situations (though he has not found himself in many).

The most obvious difference between the two is age: Sanchez is 28, Bumgarner is 21.

With all of these facts taken into account, I believe that Madison Bumgarner is the better lefty moving forward. Let’s go a little more in depth and see the top 10 reasons why.

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With the NFL playoffs in full swing and conference showdowns this weekend bringing the four remaining teams closer to the ultimate prize, it’s easy to see why football is on the mind of the sporting world. With the college football season finally at its end, fans of the sport are eagerly turning towards the pro circuit and how could they not?

Jets at Steelers? Intense matchup.
Packers at Bears? Great rivalry.

Last weekend’s games were really exciting as well. All right, well maybe not the Seahawks game, but my point is clear enough.

Even with these (mostly) great games, I still somehow find myself contemplating the upcoming Major League Baseball season and the chances of a repeat for the 2010 champs, my hometown San Francisco Giants. Maybe I’m focused on baseball because spring training tickets just went on sale or maybe it’s simply because the astonishing fact that the Giants won the World Series continues to amaze me, but San Francisco baseball remains at the pinnacle of my sports brain.

While those explanations are certainly true to an extent, I believe the true reasoning behind my great interest in the best of the west is my apprehension in regards to the team’s credibility. Most fans following a World Series victory by their team would not have to worry about it because, after all, the best way to silence critics is to go out and win it all, right? Right? Well, apparently not for this team.

Even with the title, and a convincing one at that, the Giants still don’t seem to get the recognition one might expect. It seems that every few days I’m reading a new article about how the Giants will likely finish an uncompetitive third in a supposedly revamped NL West or how one of the best starting pitching staffs in baseball will falter in 2011. It seems that to everyone outside of the Bay Area, the Giants are destined to return to their post–Barry Bonds form. It seems to me that one is not enough for 2010’s most surprising team. Still, written or spoken words of grandeur are easy to use and it remains uncertain how and if Bruce Bochy can really engineer a repeat performance.

Remember that the Giants were incredibly fortunate all year in that their pitching staff stayed fairly healthy, especially the starters. That luck can simply not be expected again and some members of bullpen core like Dan Runzler and Chris Ray may have to step in. You can also never expect to have the highest ERA of all your starting pitchers to be 4.15, courtesy of Barry Zito. Although with a full season of Bumgarner and the rest of the staff, I’d say they have a pretty good shot. However, this pitching staff is still young and I believe it is only going to improve.

On the offensive side of the ball, the 2010 Giants simply managed. The hitters were hot and clutch in the playoffs (a deadly combination) but only Aubrey Huff was consistent during the regular season and Juan Uribe provided some pop. With Uribe gone and Huff far from a lock to go .290/26/86 again, the bats need to improve and improve with the pieces that are already there. A full year of Buster Posey at the plate will help and Miguel Tejada should be an improvement at shortstop. The variable will be minor league prodigy Brandon Belt, a big, lefty first baseman who I had the pleasure of watching at Single-A in San Jose before he tore through the farm system. If Belt’s .352/23/112 numbers in the minor leagues are a sign of things to come, the Giants will be as ready as any other team to win it all in 2011.

I’m clearly ready for baseball season but, for now, I guess I’ll just have to wait for Spring and hope that football will tide me over until I can finally smell garlic fries and freshly mown grass at the ballpark.

Plaut Out.

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