Tim Lincecum: Professional Pitcher

Inning	Batter	Velocity	Result
1	D. Lee	84	Ball
1	D. Lee	82	Ball
3	R. Theriot	81	Ball
3	M. Fontenot	82	Swinging strike, K
3	D. Lee	82	Ball
4	J. Edmonds	84	Ball in dirt
6	D. Lee	83	Called strike
7	H. Blanco	83	Called strike, K
7	K. Fukudome	84	Foul
8	D. Lee	83	Swinging strike

Once again, Lincecum precludes what could have been a depressing All-Star Break for the Giants with a dazzling performance: 8 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 9 K. He even helped his own cause by driving in the first run of the game with an RBI triple.

Two key points of the game, I think, were Fukudome's at-bat in the 7th and Ramirez's at-bat in the 8th. Fukudome is one of the few hitters that consistently gives Lincecum a workout. Yesterday was no different. The slider was only one pitch of an 11-pitch at-bat before Tim struck him out with changeup.

In the eighth, Tim gave up two infield singles and Aramis Ramirez was at the plate. Given the Giants' tendency to give up 3-run jacks on this road trip, I was nervous. Turned out I didn't need to be, as he got Ramirez to ground into a double-play.

With these two batters, Tim showed that he's matured as a pitcher and can get the timely out in a big situation. He has the patience to grind out an at-bat and not give in to the hitter; he knows when to get quick outs by pitching to contact instead of trying to strike out the hitter. As Krukow says: "He's a pitcher, now. Not a thrower."

The only question now is if Tim will participate in the All-Star Game after throwing 116 pitches. Clint Hurdle chose Ben Sheets as the starter because Brandon Webb pitched yesterday, so it's likely that Tim will be limited to an inning, if he even pitches at all. Good. There's no rush to push him into an All-Star Game with 129.2 IP already under his belt, and I don't want to see one of the Giants' lone bright spots on the DL because of an exhibition game. Besides, he'll have another opportunity, or 8, to start the All-Star Game.

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Odds and ends to wrap up today:

- The Giants signed 16-year old Rafael Rodriguez from the Dominican Republic over the weekend. He's vaunted as the "next" Vlad Guerrero and Dave Winfield, but Giants scouting director John Barr discouraged those comparisons. They're unfair, considering he just turned 16 and is still raw, but the Giants like what they see in him. Here's what Barr said about Rodriguez:

We felt he was one of the best international players we got a chance to look at. This player is 6-foot-5, 198 pounds. He's shown us really all the tools to play the game. He can run. He can throw. He's shown us power and the ability to take the ball the other way. He's a five-tool player. Adding to that, he has the makeup and work ethic to fulfill his abilities.

- Could Omar Vizquel retire during the break? Not so, says the wiz himself.

- Baggs also speculates that the team just isn't that high on Schierholtz. I think they like him enough not to burn up his options with Winn playing the majority of the time in RF, but not enough to promote him regardless of Winn's contract status. Not to mention the cluster of young outfielders, Lewis and Bowker, who are also making a case for regular starts.

Wiki

Summer League 2008: Warriors vs Sixers

I just remembered that the Warriors' summer league opener started today. We're just starting the 3rd quarter, Warriors ahead 53-48 as I type.

Online streaming of the game and boxscore.

Head on over to Golden State of Mind for an ongoing livethread of the game. Looks like Randolph is having a pretty nice game so far, despite 5 fouls and 4 turnovers.

Update: End 3rd quarter. Slim 1 and Slim 2 (thanks Sleepy Freud) putting up great numbers so far.

Wright: 15 points, 4-6 shooting, 7-8 FTs, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks in 26 minutes
Randolph: 22 points, 8-13 shooting, 6-6 FTs, 5 rebounds, 2 steals in 23 minutes

Update: Marco Belinelli just hit a Baron-esque step-back fadeaway baseline jumper. He was quiet for most of the game, presumably to let other rookies get some burn, and now is starting to heat up, hitting 3 of his last 4 shots.

Update: Warriors win 96-89 on the wings of two great performances by Wright and Randolph, with the latter scoring 30 points in his debut. The totals of the two:

45 points, 17-25 shooting, 13-17 FTs, 15 boards, 5 blocks, 3 steals in about 30 minutes.

Summer league stats, much like spring training, mean absolutely nothing, but it's hard not to get excited about the Warriors' two towers.

Of note: Wright guarded Marreese Speights, the guy I hoped the Warriors would take in the draft, for the majority of the game. Speights scored 22 points in 34 minutes, but it took him 19 shots and 12 free-throw attempts to do so.

Hendrix is listed as DNP on the boxscore. Apparently he's out with a bruised hip, similar to the injury that kept Wright out for the entirety of last year's summer league strained quad. The impending signing of Ronny Turiaf won't help Hendrix's bid for a roster spot, and neither will this event. According to Janny Hu, the Warriors hope that he'll be ready to go on Sunday or Tuesday, though.

More Roster Shuffling

From Baggs:

Travis Denker, who didn’t look so hot yesterday in New York, was optioned down to Single-A San Jose. Infielder Ivan Ochoa, a Triple-A All-Star, has joined the club. (They purchased his contract and added him to the 40-man roster, which had a vacancy ever since Chulk was outrighted.)

It doesn't make sense to send Denker all the way down to San Jose, but it's probably the only place where he can play everyday. Fresno will have its All-Star break next week and will be off for 4 days.

As for Ochoa, better late than never. I guess Bochy will move Manny over to second base if both he and Ochoa start a game. If.

Matt Cain vs Jason Marquis.

F. Lewis LF
R. Durham 2B
R. Winn RF
B. Molina C
A. Rowand CF
J. Bowker 1B
R. Aurilia 3B
O. Vizquel SS

Welcome to the bigs, Ochoa, here's your spot on the bench.

Statline Flatlining

Ick. In a 3-game series against the Mets, the Giants decide to close up shop a week early for the All-Star Break.

In 3 games: 3 R, 9 H, 24 SO, .233 BA

The only positive about the Mets series is that all hope of being 4 GAMES BACK!!!11! during the Dodgers series is effectively stomped out. Meaning: sell, sell, sell.

On the Razor and Mr. T yesterday, Sabean said the team is selling, regardless of how many games out of first they were. The Giants were, at the time, 13 games below .500 and with no realistic shot at the playoffs. The players worth trading include Aurilia, Durham, and possibly Winn and Molina.

Hello, Corey Maggette

With the Sixers winning the Elton Brand sweepstakes, the Warriors turned to the second-tier alternative coming out of LA: Corey Maggette. And when I say second-tier, I mean second-tier. From what I've seen of him during Warriors-Clippers games, he gets to foul line and converts at an above-average rate, but every other aspect of his game is lacking. Here's what sideline reporter Matt Steinmetz has to say:

First off, Maggette is injury prone. He’s been in the league nine seasons and has played 70 or more games just four times in his career. Maggette’s body says Iron Man; his stats say Tin Man.

Maggette is a great sub, the kind of aggressive scorer you love coming off the bench. He has a shoot first mentality and is a mediocre defender at best. In other words, as a sixth man he’s great, as a starter he’s not.

Maggette has made it clear he wants to start and be a primary offensive option. But he’s the type of high-maintenance player who doesn’t make teammates better. In fact, because he doesn’t create much, there tends to be a lot of standing around when he’s got the ball on the perimeter.

Maggette has never played for a winner. His teams have missed the playoffs in eight of the nine seasons he’s been in the league. The one year a Maggette team made the playoffs was in 2006, when the Clippers made it to the postseason. That year Maggette played 32 games.

For $50 million over 5 years? Oh boy.

If that figure is correct, then Maggette will make roughly $9 million this season, taking up a decent chunk of cap space. Some numbers to get a wider sense of the Warriors' financial situation:

Cap: $58.69 million
Lux tax: $71.15 million
Warriors' salaries: ~$49 million

Factoring in Foyle's buyout ($6.9 million), Anthony Randolph's rookie contract, and Richard Hendrix's minimum salary, the Warriors have roughly $9 million under the cap to play with. Keep in mind, Monta, Biedrins, and Azubuike can all be signed regardless of the cap. Once that trio is signed, the Warriors will be just under lux tax.

So what to do with that $9 million? That amount won't bring in a solid PG, but it does help in making trades for one. At this time, only max deals can pry the FAs such as Smith and Iggy out from their respective teams.

Comment starter: You're Chris Mullin with $9 million. Whosit gonna be?

UPDATE: The Warriors reportedly offering Ronny Turiaf $17 million over 4 years. Well, that slices down the $9 million to about $5 million to play with. And we still don't have a point-guard.

Time Release Jinx

Inning	Batter	Velocity	Result
1	C. Beltran	83	Ball
1	D. Easley	81	Ball
2	B. Schneider	82	Ball
3	C. Beltran	83	Ground ball single to RF
5	J. Reyes	82	Foul

Exactly a week after Lincecum graces the pages of SI:

- he loses for the first time since the Gary Darling incident.
- he serves up two home-runs after giving up 5 in the past 3 months.
- the Giants are shutout for the first time since June 14.

There can be only one explanation: the baseball gods feel threatened by Lincecum and his success. They therefore decided to give him a loss and push his HR/9 ratio closer to league average to make him seem mortal.