Apologies to the blog for my recent absence. Work has been a meat grinder lately and I haven’t had any time to read, watch, or write about baseball. Bummer. But sometimes life gets in the way. This week should be better. I’ve got some things on the back burner, so keep coming back.

A few thoughts on topics I missed while I was away:

~ Barry Zito continues to pitch like a man reborn. Part of Zito’s early season success has been his control. He’s only walking 2.8 per 9 right now as compared to a career BB/9 of 3.70. Zito has never been a pitcher that’s pounded the strike zone but he has put together a few average to above-average BB/9 years during his career (from 2001-2004 he was either right around league average or below for walks). He’s been throwing strikes this year and it’s helped. It’s way too early to state that Zito has returned to form, but he’s looked good. I can’t recall him pitching as well as he is right now at any time in his Giants career. Selective memory? Very possible. But he’s been impressive.

~ We all knew that the Giants should have solid pitching, but by FIP, the team is 2nd best in the majors right now. The Giants’ FIP of 3.34 places them right behind the Cardinals (3.30) and in front of the Twins (3.67). If you examined starting pitchers only, the Giants rank first in baseball, coming in with a FIP of 3.09. And that’s with Todd Wellemeyer in the mix. Yeah, they’re good.  The Giants currenly have 3 SP with sub-3.0 FIPs: Lincecum (1.98), Zito (2.66), and Sanchez (2.10). Cain just misses the cut-off with a 3.05.

~ Besides the ability to take a walk (BB% of 11.1%) Mark DeRosa has struggled. The most shocking issue with DeRosa is his power, or lack of. He’s had 15 hits on the season, 12 of which have been singles. His ISO currently sits at an alarming .071. Because it’s early, we can console ourselves just a little bit, but for a player coming off a wrist surgery, his complete evaporation of power is startling.