O Brother, Where Art Thou?

First game of the season: Tigers 4 - Mets 2
Baseball, how I have missed you.

Finding the Swagger: On Second Base?

There are so many ways (appropriate and NC-17) of interpreting this picture, but if you asked me who will win the starting 2B job based on the photo, then I place my bet on Frandsen.

Actual analysis later.
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• Mendoza lining: After batting a career best of .293/.360/.538 with 26 home runs in 2007, Durham came crashing down to .218/.295/.343. He could not capitalize on his early role as cleanup hitter and his offensive struggles clearly affected his defense. When Durham came to Spring Training, he reported that he could not find any flaws in his swing, except for dropping his hands too far. People observed that he had trouble driving balls on the fringe and inside of the plate, which would account for his 43% groundball percentage. Law of averages: It is not abnormal to see mediocre batting lines after a contract-career season. Neither is a career average year following an abysmal year. Durham is a career .280 hitter, so I expect Bochy to give him the majority of starts early on to gauge his trade value – assuming he returns to average lines – or relegate him in favor of Frandsen.


• Cup o’ Coffee: In August, Frandsen had a particularly difficult time at the plate. He was unable to drive the ball and the majority of his non-hits were sharp grounders or double-play balls. Frandsen got some help from Barry Bonds, who gave him pointers and threw batting practice for Frandsen. It worked. Frandsen ripped off a hot September, batting .370/.427/.479 in the month alone, which isn’t too surprising since he hit .327 in the minors while playing everyday. He also looked more comfortable playing defense while the season wound down. It’s that kind of performance that made 2B a competition this season and will land him some regular playing time (relative to last season’s uncertainty). For the sake of the Giants’ future, I hope he wins the 2B job outright, even just to see if he can sustain decent numbers at the big-league level.

Conclusion: Knowing Bochy and Sabean’s system, and as I stated above, Durham will probably start for the first few weeks and then give way to Frandsen, unless Frandsen pulls off an incredible Spring Training.

Question: Do you think Frandsen can put up decent numbers as a starter? For starters, here’s Bill James’ prediction: .282/.330/.407.

Burning Question

Fact: The Warriors beat the Celtics on Wednesday night.
Fact: The Warriors lost to the Hawks on Friday night.

Question: Why/How do the Warriors play to the level of their competition?

Finding the Swagger: In the Outfield?

Let's cut to the chase here. The Giants have no outstanding young phenoms battling it out with productive and useful veterans for a spot on the team this season. Come to think of it, the Giants don't have an abundance of useful veterans, either. What gives?

Instead, what we'll be watching is competition for backup positions and middle relief. Can't you smell the warrior spirit emanating from these lightweight skirmishes? In all seriousness, for players who have run out of minor league options, like Fred Lewis and Rajai Davis, the roster battles are of utmost import.

Fred Lewis vs Nate Schierholtz vs Rajai Davis

Assumptions: Dave Roberts, Aaron Rowand, and Randy Winn receive the majority of starts because of money or showcasing.

The Battle:

• Options: Simply, Schierholtz has minor league options, but Lewis and Davis don't. The Giants can afford to shuttle Nate back and forth between Fresno and San Francisco, so Lewis and Davis will get the majority of backup time. Also, at 24, it's reasonable to think that Schierholtz has a higher ceiling than Lewis and would benefit from everyday playing time down in Fresno rather than getting irregular playing time up with the big club.
• Lefties: Rajai Davis will probably backup Aaron Rowand in CF and platoon with Roberts in LF. As a right-hander, Davis is an option against lefties (.299/.384/.402 in 97 AB's in 2007) and can pinch-run or start on the days Bochy gives Roberts a rest.
• Take a Walk: Lewis, in addition to his flair hitting grand slams and cycles on national holidays, posts the highest OPS of the three young outfielders: .782 (in 157 AB's). His career minors OPS is .797. He's shown plate patience and the ability to take walks. Nate's biggest flaw is still patience, so for now, Lewis gets the nod.

Conclusion: Schierholtz deserves to hit big league pitching, but until the Giants can move either Roberts or Winn, he has to continue developing and starting in Fresno. Lewis will play as the 4th outfielder, Davis as 5th.

[Update]: I've put up a poll on the right column. If the swagger is in the outfield, let it be known!

Warriors vs Suns: Fast, Meet Faster

Remember this game?

Well, last night's was just like it.

We saw running right from the gate from both teams. Ball movement in and out of seemingly impossible angles. Verticality on dunks, layups, and rebounds. Athleticism on full display on the only stage where it is most appropriate-- national television.

As Jeff van Gundy put it:

"We should let them keep playing. We should let them play all through all-star weekend. In fact we should have these two teams play each other 16 times in a season."

For the first time in a few weeks, the Warriors focused for the full 48 minutes and came out with a strong victory. Nellie ventured into his bench and put Azubuike and Croshere back into the rotation. Together, the two combined for 7 points and 4 rebounds, but provided two momentous plays. Croshere offered a massive block to start a Baron-Monta fastbreak, and Azubuike nailed a triple while the game wound down to preserve the lead. Jackson added another trey to cushion the lead to 6. Barnes added on to the good all-around play, finding his efficient energy man prowess again with 13 points on 6-11 shooting, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals in 25 minutes.

The Warriors' usual winning and good team play formula is this:
W = playoff team + national television + running
Last night was no exception to either Baron or Monta, of whom words do no justice for their play.

Baron:




Monta:

T-minus 3 Days Until Spring Training

Linkage:


Who's that kid sitting next to Cain?

• A FanFest Q&A with Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. Quickly: who from the Beatles does Lincecum look like?
  
• Other than throwing right-handed, Barry Zito will return to his pre-126 million buck form. He's no longer the highest paid pitcher in baseball, thanks to Carlos Zambrano and Johan Santana, so he hopes to build off his strong, final 9 starts last season.
• On Lincecum:

  Told Friday that Tim Lincecum hopes to add a new pitch in 2008, Cain said, "What's he adding, a gyroball?" Actually, Lincecum wants to unveil a hard slider, to which Cain said, "Does he not know his curveball is hard?"

  And best of all, it's already looking like "a strikeout pitch."
• According to Sabean, the Giants are done looking for free agents and will look for position players only if "it'll be long-term." Hopefully that rules out Joe Crede, whom the Giants are reportedly keeping an eye on during spring training.
  
• Change of heart?

  "We hope Dave comes back to form... But you're going to have to find a way to get (the younger) guys in there. I'd hate like hell to be in a position to send any one of them back to the minor leagues."

  I'm still afraid of seeing an Opening Day lineup consisting of Dave Roberts, Ray Durham, and Rich Aurilia, but this quote is encouraging.
• A tad late, bit Kevin Correia avoided arbitration and signed a $1.075 million + incentives contract. If the Giants commit to Jonathan Sanchez as a starter, he'll probably stay in Fresno while Correia fills in as the 5th starter.
• Jesse Foppert, a former standout young pitcher, is working hard to get that "former" out his name. He lowered his arm slot from an overhead to low-3/4 motion and will gauge his progress during the Giants' minor league camp later in February. It would be nice to see him pitch up with the Giants again after winning 8 games during his rookie year.
• Interviews with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jack Taschner, and Aaron Rowand on SFGiants (scroll down to Sights and Sounds) and KNBR (Fitz & Brooks and Razor & Mr. T).
  
• The Chronicle posted 5 questions to consider over the course of the 2008 season. Now that Bonds has left, how will the team do? Will they become an example of the Ewing theory?

1. Is this a 100-loss team?

2. How good is the starting rotation?

3. Who is going to play third base?

4. Does Ray Durham have anything left?

5. Can the bullpen close out games?