Bullpen Blunders or Offensive Blues?

The Giants squandered the game last night against the Dodgers...They freaking gave them the victory! It was bad all the way around. Coaching decisions came back to haunt them. Umpires calls went against them. Poor base running hurt. The offense hit, but not when it counted. The starter was rusty. The bullpen couldn't hang... Is this going to be their thing?

When it counts, they just can't seem to come through right now. The Giants are in a funk. All winter long we heard about the offensive blues... All winter long we heard about the rebuilt bullpen... So why does this first few weeks seem like deja vous?

Taking a look at the full season, the bullpen has been faltering more times than they should. Brian Wilson has had 2 early season blown saves, both behind Matt Cain strong outings... but those happen. Wilson, for all his lore and promise, is still young. He is still only 27. He's just entering his prime... but remember, he's just coming off his first full season in the bigs, as well as one season removed from fighting his way to make the team. Wilson has shown the stuff to be great...an elite closer... he's still learning how to pitch though. He has to go through more ups and downs while learning how to use his dominating stuff against major league hitters...Wilson is not the problem, he's part of the solution...

The rest of the bullpen has had it's share of up's and down's. Brandon Medders has pitched great, but should have never pitched a third inning the other night, then was probably tired 2 days later when he was off. Justin Miller has looked good. Jeremy Affedlt has looked like he should be the "setup" man, but is stuck being the only lefty in the pen (Will Ohman is looking so much better now). So that is the good...

And for the bad. Merkin Valdez has looked off...Straight...hurt??? It's unexplained still why the Giants went with virtually a 5 man pen for 10 days. Is Valdez still hurt? Are they hiding him so not to lose him? It makes some sense, as he has the tools to be a very effective reliever if he can ever stay healthy. A big "IF" as he's coming off his second serious arm injury and is only 27. He seemed to come back much sooner than expected. Another problem has already been addressed as Alex Hinshaw pitched his way to Fresno with his inability to throw strikes. Too bad, the Giants need another good lefty. He will not be back until he can prove himself. (for what it's worth, Osiris Matos has been called up and pitched a nice 1-2-3 inning, his forte. If Bochy can get past his love for Bobby Howry, Matos should find himself in some critical spots.)

And then there is Bobby Howry... Already, he has blown leads three times, including last night. He reminds me right now of Tyler (gulp) Walker. When he's on he's on, but when he's not...well, look no closer than last night. Cubs fans warned us about this. "Better you than us" "Have fun with that signing". But I never thought I'd be scared when he came in...IN APRIL!!! It's too early to call for his release, hell it's too early to think he's not gonna work out...but it's not to early to sound the alarm... Be on the watch and pray Bochy does setup man by committee...But is he really the problem?

The short answer, NO...The long answer, still NO!!! For all the crap I/we have given the pen, it's not their fault they are coming into games with scores like 2-2, 3-2, 3-1, 0-0, 1-0, & 1-2... Those are the 6 times in 19 games the bullpen has blown a lead or tie which ended in a Giants loss. Then again, that is only 11 runs in games scored for the starters...or 1.8 runs... Think it's still the pens' fault for the losses? Try this number... 3...

3 is the number of times the Giants offense has put more than 3 runs on the board for their starters. 11 is the number of quality starts (6+ innings, 3 runs or less) Giants starters have in 19 starts. 3/11...3/19...No matter how you look at it, the Giants aren't scoring runs. To expect the bullpen to be perfect is to expect Barry Bonds to play left field again...it's just not gonna happen. The Giants need to give them some wiggle room. Last night showed all the flaws.

Ishikawa getting doubled off third. Flannery holding back Ishikawa just before that. Randy Winn getting screwed at home. But all those pale in comparison to the 9 runners left on base. The 2 times the bases were loaded and the Giants failed to get a hit. The 6 runners left in scoring position with 2 outs.... This is the problem they've had all year. The are hitting better than last year, but they can't get the big hit. Until they can, this is shaping up to be a long year...