A Gamer Doesn't Take Walks

One of the things that's frustrated me the most about this year's team is that while our starting pitchers seem to always be around 100 pitches by the fifth inning, our offense is routinely picked apart by even the most mediocre pitchers. The Giants management has accepted that the team lacks a good offense, yet it believes that this can be overcome through speed and a "gamer" mentality. But speed isn't going to help you if you can't beat out a two-hopper to a middle infielder. Whenever Aaron Rowand swings over a breaking ball in the dirt, I could care less whether he ran into a wall once. And when Bengie Molina hacks at a first pitch way out of the strike zone, I don't want to hear about how good he is in the clubhouse.

Getting hits has been a problem, but it's not the only source of the Giants' offensive problems. When you don't have a great offense, you need to find other ways to get on base, and the Giants have not done that. The team's total of 306 walks is last in the National League. Their on-base percentage of .316 is 26th in the majors, which when coupled with a complete lack of power means very few runs. Over the last seven games, the team has walked a grand total of four times. And in the last two shutouts against the Dodgers, the Giants did not draw a single walk. Fred Lewis and Randy Winn are tied for the team lead with 40 walks, which leaves them tied for 43rd in the National League. It's clear that power wasn't only thing that went out the door with Barry Bonds.

I know I sound like Billy Beane, and maybe I'm just really pissed at the way the team is playing right now, but I fear this lack of patience is the kind of thing that can turn into an organization-wide problem. When Brian Sabean says he's hesitant to trade Bengie Molina, or Bruce Bochy says he's looking at Jose Castillo as the second baseman of the future, it doesn't make me very confident that this team knows what's good for it.