Break Up The Giants!

I don't know if I've ever been more antsy for baseball season to start. Maybe it's because I missed most of the last month and a half of the 2008 season. I was psyched for some games, and thrilled that the Giants' first exhibition would be televised on the new MLB Network. So imagine my reaction when I turned on the TV at noon and saw an episode of Prime 9 on the greatest hitting seasons of all time. Was this some sick joke about the Giants' offense? No, just a technical glitch which lasted through the top of the first inning. After that, I was able to watch all of a 10-7 victory over the Indians. Not even the homer Cleveland announcers could spoil the day. The game was a true Spring Training slugfest, with both teams combining for 21 hits and six home runs, with three hit batsmen. Here are some observations:

Offense: Travis Ishikawa might as well have said, "Who the fuck is Joe Crede?" The favorite for the starting first base job, who has struggled against lefties throughout his minor league career, gave the Giants an early lead with an RBI single off lefty Jeremy Sowers. Later, with the Indians up 3-1, Ishikawa hit a towering home run, off another lefty, Zach Jackson, who retired the other six Giants he faced with ease. He wasn't done, breaking a 3-3 tie in the sixth with a line-drive two-run homer off Edward Mujica. I think Ishikawa is the player most likely to out-perform his pre-season projections. I'm not saying he's going to hit 40 homers, but I don't think 25 is out of the question...Nate Schierholtz started in left and hit a two-run homer that probably would have gone for a long out in AT&T Park...Edgar Renteria was 1-3 with a double and a run scored in his Giants' debut...Pablo Sandoval hit third and was 1-2 with a single, as well the only walk by Giants' hitters...Emmanuel Burriss, Kevin Frandsen, and Eugenio Velez all had hits, with Frandsen and Velez driving in runs in a three-run eighth inning. Burriss stretched a single into a double in the fifth, and scored a run.

Pitching: Tim Lincecum threw one scoreless inning, allowing one hit. He was on a 25-pitch limit, and he threw 18. It looked like he hadn't missed a beat, striking out the first hitter he faced, Grady Sizemore, on a nasty pitch down and in...Keiichi Yabu threw two innings. He hung a breaking ball to Mark DeRosa, who planted it in the Giants' bullpen for a three-run homer...Non-roster invitee Brandon Medders threw two hitless, if unspectacular, innings...Rule 5 pick Luis Perdomo walked one and struck out one in a scoreless inning...Alex Hinshaw gave up a home run and a single to the two lefties he faced. Not a great sign for a guy expected to get lefties out...Prospect Kelvin Pichardo was roughed up for three runs on four hits in 2/3 of an inning...Another non-roster invitee, Francis Beltran, was wild, walking one and hitting another...Lefty Jesse English hit a batter with his first pitch, but got Matt LaPorta to fly out to end the game.

Up next it's another new member of the Cactus League, the Dodgers. Matt Cain will start, with Jeremy Affeldt, Bob Howry, and Kevin Pucetas also scheduled to pitch. Also, it's not looking very good for Noah Lowry. I won't do these write-ups for every Spring Training camp, probably just the ones I get to watch on TV. All in all, a very enjoyable game with more positives than negatives.