Giant Mess

» Posted by Joey Bats on May 8, 2012 | 1 comment

 

This was supposed to be a good year for San Francisco.  Franchise player Buster Posey was back from injury, starter Matt Cain had been locked up and Brandon Belt was finally here to stay.  Armed with the same dominant pitching staff they rode to the World Series two years ago, and high on the additions of Posey and Melky Cabrera, their new left fielder, the Giants were poised to make a run at the NL West title once again.

But then bad things started happening.

Just a week into the season, closer Brian Wilson, the face (and facial hair) of the franchise, went down with a season-ending elbow injury.  Then on May 1, lefty set-up man Jeremy Affeldt landed on the disabled list with a knee injury.  And now its being reported that reliever Guillermo Mota has failed a drug test and will be suspended for 100 games, leaving the team’s best asset – their bullpen – in the hands of Travis Blackey and Clay Hensley while the Dodgers continue to mash and separate themselves from the rest of the pack in the NL West.

“We’re pretty beat up right now as a team,” Barry Zito said after Los Angeles beat him 9-1 on Monday night.  “We’re sustaining blow after blow. Losing Mota was the latest blow. It just keeps coming.”

GM Brian Sabean couldn’t have seen this coming in December when he traded righty reliever Ramon Ramirez to the Mets.  He couldn’t have thought that by the second week of May his bullpen – which had given up the fewest runs in the majors over the last two seasons – would be in such shambles that it’s nearly beardless.  Ramirez had been fantastic for San Francisco in 2011, sporting a 2.62 ERA and striking out almost a batter per inning pitched, but was expendable because of the Giants‘ superior depth in the ‘pen.  The Giants lineup was anemic last season, scoring the second fewest runs in the big leagues.  In Pagan, Sabean saw a catalyst who could get on base for Posey and Pablo Sandoval and shoot some life into the lineup.  So he gave up Ramirez.  It was a good deal.

Now he probably wishes he could have him back.  While the offense has improved, the Giants still sit in the bottom third of baseball in runs scored.  Ace Tim Lincecum has a 5.68 ERA.  The bullpen – minus Wilson, Affeldt, Ramirez and now Mota – has been merely average.  Only three relievers from last year’s squad are currently available.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers are white hot.  Their 19-10 record is the best in baseball, and they lead the division by five games over San Francisco thanks to a superhuman first months from Matt Kemp (.406 Avg.) and Andre Either (30 RBI).  They’re also out-pitching the Giants, something they haven’t done over a full year since the last time they won the West in 2009.

The Giants were dubbed the team of “torture” in 2010 after a World Series run so constantly nail-biting that it would leave a nervous fan fingerless.  Then the term was thrown around lovingly, with fans commenting on how exhausting it was to watch them win.  Two years later injuries, slow starts and now suspensions have sent San Francisco spiraling well before Memorial Day.  Forget Showtime cameras and close wins.  That’s not torture.  This year’s team is much more deserving of the label.