The Giants Pitchers Have to Wake Up

            I never thought I would see the day where the Giants’ offense performed better than the Giants’ pitching, but that is what is happening to the team right now. While I am happy that the Giants offense has been able to score some runs in the first three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks, I am just as irritated with the Giants pitchers in that same series. The Giants gave up five runs in games one and two of that Arizona series. They were even worse in game three of that series as they blew a six run Giants lead and gave up seven runs.

Seven runs is not going to cut it for the Giants. The Giants pitchers are better than that. They should only be giving up around two runs per game. If they did that, they would have won all three of those games against Arizona. Unfortunately, the pitchers are not themselves right now. Lincecum looked terrible on Opening Day. He gave up five earned runs, including two homers. Bumgarner didn’t do much better as he gave up four earned runs in his start against Arizona, including two homers. Cain pitched decent at the beginning of his start against Arizona but he cost the Giants a six run lead by giving up five earned runs himself, putting Arizona right back into the game.  

It makes me cringe to think that things can get worse for the Giants but they can. Barry Zito is pitching next and I usually count that as an automatic loss for the team. That means the team could easily start the season 0-4. I hope Barry Zito can prove me wrong. Either way, the Giants cannot afford to have their pitchers playing as lousy as they are. For once the Giants offense is actually producing and this is how the pitchers repay the offense? This is the same pitching staff that used to lose games 1-0, yet now they can’t take advantage of an offense giving them five or more runs of support. This series against Arizona should have been a walk in the park for the Giants. Cain and Lincecum would have been happy to get five runs in a game with last year’s offense and they would have won easily. This year has been different so far. They are giving up too many homeruns and are giving up to many extra base hits.

Pitching wins games in baseball and the Giants won a World Series in 2010 because of great pitching. So far this season, I have not seen even average pitching. I don’t know what’s wrong with the Giants pitchers, but I hope it’s just the pitchers getting the rust off of them from a long offseason. Well they better get that rust off fast. After Zito pitches against the Rockies, it will be Lincecum’s turn in the rotation again on Wednesday. Hopefully every pitcher in the rotation got the first start of being nervous off their chest and go back to their winning ways. That is because the Giants are built on its pitching staff and it is going to win and lose games on its pitching staff. If the pitchers continue to pitch like they did this past weekend, it is going to be a long season for the Giants.