Scott Reiss has an article about the Giants’ offense and whether or not it’s underachieving:
Pat Burrell? Only starting once a week anyway, but in case you’re of the “why isn’t he playing more?”mindset, well, here it is: .221 in 2009. .202 with Tampa Bay before his mid-season resurgence in San Francisco. .221 in 2011. That’s what we call a trend.
Miguel Tejada? Sure, the .221 mark is well below his career .285 clip. But he tailed off to .269 last season, and who’s to say that at age 37 he’s not in full decline mode?
Bill Hall? Career .249 hitter, now at .227. Upside, minimal.
His conclusion? They’re performing pretty much as expected; they aren’t going to score many more runs unless they upgrade. (In some cases, an upgrade might be replacing a below-replacement player with a replacement player. Grim, isn’t it?)
Anyway, I can’t argue with his conclusion, though the process is certainly flawed and antiquated. Still, I tend to agree; the bulk of their order isn’t going to ‘come around,’ lest they have a time machine or some way of returning their physical abilities to the condition of their prime.
Maybe they ought to give Bartolo Colon a call.
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On a lighter note, Tim Lincecum may well have gotten his groove back this afternoon:
From ESPN Stats and Information:
Tim Lincecum was nearly unhittable on Thursday, as the Twins missed on 24 swings, matching the second-most misses against any pitcher in a start this season. All 12 strikeouts against Lincecum were swinging, matching the most swinging strikeouts by a pitcher in a start this season. Ten of Lincecum’s strikeouts were on pitches the Twins chased out of the strike zone…
[It was] the 4th time this season that Lincecum [had] struck out double digits while allowing 1 ER or fewer – most in the majors.
