1. Santiago Casilla has been very, very good over the past three years.
| Rk | Player | IP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mariano Rivera | 233 | 129.2 |
| 2 | Craig Kimbrel | 230 | 122.2 |
| 3 | Scott Downs | 226 | 136.2 |
| 4 | Sergio Romo | 222 | 128.0 |
| 5 | Santiago Casilla | 212 | 133.1 |
That’s the top-five ERA+ ranking for relievers that have pitched at least 100 innings over the past three seasons. By ERA+, you could argue that Santiago Casilla has been one of the five best relievers in baseball over that time frame. The best part about Casilla has been his bargain basement price. The Giants have paid — or will pay — him approximately $3.9M for his 2010-2012 years. Compare that to guys like Rivera ($44.9M) and Scott Downs ($14M) and it’s easy to see that Casilla has been a huge value to the Giants. He’s been one of the reasons that the team has been able to withstand the loss of Brian Wilson. Brian Sabean has made some great bullpen moves in his time; Casilla could be his masterpiece.
2. Giants’ starters go deep in games.
If you run another Baseball-Reference search for the number of games that a starter has thrown at least seven innings, you get the following table:
| Rk | Player | Year | #Matching |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CC Sabathia | 2012 | 10 |
| 2 | Clayton Kershaw | 2012 | 10 |
| 3 | Ryan Vogelsong | 2012 | 9 |
| 4 | Johnny Cueto | 2012 | 9 |
| 5 | Justin Verlander | 2012 | 8 |
| 6 | Roy Halladay | 2012 | 8 |
| 7 | R.A. Dickey | 2012 | 8 |
| 8 | Matt Cain | 2012 | 8 |
| 9 | Madison Bumgarner | 2012 | 8 |
| 10 | Josh Beckett | 2012 | 8 |
CC Sabatha and Clayton Kershaw lead the majors in starts of seven innings or more with 10 a piece. But, did you know that Vogelsong is tied for second (with Johnny Cueto) with nine starts that lasted seven innings or more? In fact, check that entire top ten ranking, it’s three-fifths of the current rotation. It’s no wonder why the Giants’ bullpen has thrown the lowest amount of total innings (162) in baseball. The bullpen has been banged up this year and what Vogelsong, Cain, and Bumganer have done can’t be undersold: those guys pitch deep, night in and night out.
3. Romo’s slider still my favorite pitch in baseball
Rickie Weeks just saw that and muttered some curse words.
