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| From Fangraphs |
- Brilliant pitching by Clayton Kershaw, a pitcher I expect will put up gaudy numbers this season. He's got some nasty stuff, and the Giants saw that tonight. I don't think the Giants' inability to score in this one can be attributed to offensive incompetence so much as it can be attributed to Kershaw's dominance. The kid pitched an absolute gem -- nine strikeouts and only one walk through seven scoreless innings.
- Now, Tim Lincecum was no slacker himself. Seven innings, zero earned runs -- though he wasn't nearly as dominant as his counterpart. In fact, I was expecting an even better outing than this against this weak Dodgers offense (Tony Gwynn Jr.? Jamey Carroll? Aaron Miles pinch-hitting?)...perhaps I'm just nit-picking.
- After this game, I'm sure some people are starting to worry about the Giants' defense. Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff each occupying an outfield spot? Miguel Tejada and Buster Posey each with errors? Whatever. I'd be more worried if my team was planning on putting a trio of Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and Marcus Thames on outfield defense. Once Cody Ross returns, and with Nate Schierholtz frequently coming in as a defensive replacement, the Giants' outfield is more than adequate on defense. Tejada's weak, but Freddy Sanchez is solid on defense generally speaking, and I expect that the Giants' infield corners -- with a slim Pablo Sandoval and young stud Belt occupying third and first respectively -- will be especially good defensively. Oh yeah, and rest assured, Posey won't be making blunders like that all year long. No need to worry about the Giants defense, honestly. The Giants are definitely better than the Rockies and Dodgers on defense.
- Man, I'm really satisfied with what I saw from Brandon Belt. Considering the pitching he had to face, he had a very nice debut. John Shea nailed it -- Belt saw 29 pitches in four plate appearances. Though offenses can surely succeed with a low P/PA (the Reds ranked last in the NL in P/PA in 2010, yet scored 4.88 runs/game -- most in the NL), it's a useful skill, and Belt will help the Giants pick up the slack in that category.
- To the extent that a one-game sample size can prove anything (and it can't, trust me), I was right. The Dodgers, though equipped with a weak offense, will find a way to win games. They're the team to beat for the Giants, not the Rockies.
I was invited to do a five-question Q&A on the San Francisco Giants over at From the Stands Sports Media. You can check it out here.
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