the month of april

[west coast orange and black]

describe april, wholly or in pieces.

[west coast orange and black]

the giants led the national league in stolen bases.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

The Giants lead the MAJORS in stolen bases. One word to describe the Giants' month of April is SURPRISING. But they are playing over their heads. They have scored the fewest runs in the majors (98) and have allowed 137 runs. That's a -39 run differential. How bad is the Giants offense? The Cubs have scored 79 more runs than the Giants.

[west coast orange and black]

^^
and yet, they managed to post a 13 - 16.

at times starting pitching dominated, in the true meaning of the word.
the pen has strutted its stuff with eye-popping numbers, recent blown saves aside.

[west coast orange and black]

the biggest surprise for me has been their defense. they are using the leather.

[west coast orange and black]

the cubs are currently 7th in team era with 3.94
the giants are right behind 'em in 9th with 4.19

[Honus Wagner Rules]

^^
and yet, they managed to post a 13 - 16.

at times starting pitching dominated, in the true meaning of the word.
the pen has strutted its stuff with eye-popping numbers, recent blown saves aside.

Sure, the Orioles have a winning record despite being outrscored as well. I am firm believer that teams regress to the mean and over the long season will play within a few percentage points of their run differentials. In a rare occasions teams do win despite being outscored (see 1997 Giants). But the '08 Giants are not like the '97 Giants.

The Giants top three starters (Cain, Lincecum, and Sanchez) have kept the team afloat. But the offense is terrible.

[west coast orange and black]

agreed that only rarely do teams win despite being outscored.

but i think that the relievers have had as much to do with the giants successes as the starters.

[KHenry14]

I'm with Wags, a surprising month. The Pen is a LOT better than I was expecting, with Taschner, Walker and Wilson standing out. I didn't think that Fred Lewis would break out like he has, that's a huge plus. And Velez is showing that he can play, but needs a permanent position and some time.

Not surprising is the pitching of Cain, Lincecum and Sanchez. They can really pitch, the question is which one will throw the first Giants no-hitter in 30 years

Also not surprising is the fact that the older players either aren't playing or are playing below par. Richie's had a few moments, but for the most part we are getting little for our money.

All in all, if we can win 75-81 wins, a good season IMO. Especially since we are getting absolutely nothing from our Ace. :grouchy

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Fred Lewis has been really good. I have no idea if this is his true level of play of just a short hot streak. I don't think he's a legit .325 hitter but if he can hit .290-.300 with decent power and steal some bases he has the makings of a quality major leaguer. I must admit Roward is doing better than I expected. I still think the Giants overpaid for him but he has been solid with the bat and in the field. Plus, he plays hurt. The guy's a "gamer" for sure. I'd be happy with 76 wins in '08.

Now, can you imagine if we still had Francisco Liriano! Just kidding...

[Solair Wright]

For only one day, the hated Dodgers were in last place. Some improvements here or there from last year, even though I expect wins in the 70s range. It will likely be the first time since 1983-85 that the Giants will post three years, but the only way to improve is allowing Sabean to walk away, and hire a GM who has eyes on championships instead of being in an endless circle with no goals and asanine free agent signings.

Brian Wilson had the most saves in the starting month since Nen. That's good to hear. Zito winless in 2008? Why'd we throw that hefty contract at him in the first place?

[west coast orange and black]

q: more wins this season -- zito or the 49ers?

[KHenry14]

Yikes Tony, I was thinking 8 wins for the Niners, the way it's going now I'm not sure Zito will get that many. Especially since he wont get any cheap wins with the Giants scoring a ton of runs for him.

[west coast orange and black]

surprisingly, the giants went 7-6 in 1-run games.