SF Giants Opening Day

I was lucky enough to attend the San Francisco Giants Opening Day versus the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday (April 7). The weather was dicey, delaying the start of the game by about half an hour, and canceling the exciting "flyover", but it cleared up nicely for the game, with even a little sun peeking out and a beautiful rainbow after the game.

The game itself was very sloppy, perhaps reflecting the field. Pitching sucked: mixed in with twenty-two hits were 13 walks and four hit batsmen. The Giants won 10-6 thanks to three home runs and because their pitchers fared better in wriggling out of jams (three double plays, plus the Brewers team left 11 men on base, more than one per inning).

Some concrete observations:

Tim Lincecum has no control over his fastball. It was consistently high in the strike zone. The good news is that the Brewers hitters couldn't dig in, and he rung up 5 Ks, the bad news is that he pitched only three innings, walking three and throwing over 70 pitches. Hopefully he's not hurt, nor is he turning into a nibbling Barry Zito.

Jeff Suppan is not a #1 pitcher. His ERA has been in steep decline for three years, ending last year at nearly 5. If the Brewer's highly touted youngsters, Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra, struggle this year, it could be a long season for them.

Pablo Sandoval can hit, but is no Brooks Robinson or Eric Chavez. He has several chances to make admittedly tricky plays, and succeeded at none. Either he grows into the position, or he will grow into Miguel Cabrera and be relegated to first base or traded to the AL as a DH.

In general, the Giant's defense looked shaky. Edgar Renteria looks a step slow, Fred Lewis made a terrible throw home, and the Brewers stole four bases. Maybe it was the wet field and first game jitters, but if they don't tighten up behind their good pitching they could set a record for yielding unearned runs.

Travis Ishikawa looks good. Fielded fine and had some key hits with power. And I just like his name - very melting pot American.

Congratulations to Joe Martinez on the win in his major league debut. It wasn't pretty (2 runs in two innings) but many wins aren't pretty and I'm sure he will savor it for the rest of his life.