Giants' Number-Five Pitches Like Number Two

Short post tonight because there is little to say. If you watched it, no explanation needed. If you didn’t, consider yourself fortunate. Dodgers 10, Giants 8 – and it wasn’t that close.

Some truths were reinforced:
· When the Giants are good, they’re really good.
· When they aren’t, they’re unwatchable
· Todd Wellemeyer sucks.

Let’s set Mr. Peabody’s Wayback Machine to April 5th, where someone wrote:

“I still preferred Pucetas as the number five over Wellemeyer (a decision I'm sure was predicated by contract as much as by performance).”

and…

“Why is it once again the Giants spent the off-season lauding their young arms yet felt compelled to go to outside sources to fill out the staff? …….Maybe it's just ADD, wave a hurler around and watch (Sabean) twist his neck screaming ‘squirrel’!"

I hate being right all the time, and I rarely miss with pitchers.

There are people on this roster that do not belong in a Major League uniform, and Wellemeyer is firmly entrenched on that list. The Giants haven’t had a starting pitcher this lame since Damian Moss got dealt for a rabid kangaroo.

Can someone please tell me why a team supposedly rich with young arms feels the need to add a man who had the worst opponents’ batting average in baseball last year? Enemy sticks hit .326 – and lefties pounded him for better than a .350 average. This is a worthy addition to a team supposedly powered by pitching? That makes about as much sense as the Raiders drafting a 290-pound quarterback who can’t throw – oh wait, they did that.

Yes, the Giants made it close. But when your starting pitcher effectively gives up the game before your offense has taken a ball out of the infield, the rest is window dressing.

And let’s not forget that, once again, Medders allowed an inherited runner to score. That’s not the kind of consistency the Giants need from a reliever. The only consolation is that he entered a game that was basically decided – which is the only time he shoud be allowed near the field.

I’m thinking the Giants could easily target four guys for the old “addition by subtraction” theory. No one in AAA could possibly perform worse that Wellemeyer, Medders, Whiteside and Renteria. They contribute nothing other than an extra hand for the clubhouse card game, and Wellemeyer probably cheats.

This week is an important test. The Giants make their first run through the NL West --visiting LA and San Diego. Last year they opened 0-6 on a trip to (wait for it) LA and San Diego. We're going to find out if this is a different team or if Week One was nothing more than a cruel mirage. Early returns aren't looking so hot.

Lincecum on the hill in game two, and it's a recipe for offensive disaster with the undisciplined Giants facing a knuckleballer. Let’s hope for a better result.

It certainly couldn’t get much worse.