I don't want to overemphasize Buster Posey's spring training debut yesterday; I really don't. Despite what expectations most everyone might have had, I agree with those who say they were just happy that it was uneventful. That mostly sums it up for me too. Let's keep in mind that Posey has never even played a full season of MLB yet. In fact, if you combine his 2010 season and what little he played in 2011, it barely encompassed an entire season. I think chances are good that he will be just fine as time goes on and that he has all the makings of an excellent catcher. But do I think that right now? No, not really.
I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't excited to see the pictures from his debut - I posted one on Facebook recently with the caption "LIKE A BOSS!!" (in reference to The Lonely Island song from an SNL sketch). However, as I've mentioned before, I'm being cautiously optimistic. I think that's the only way to be at this point. None of us know how things will change (or maybe not change) once opening day comes. And it seems like Posey has plenty of back-ups around for however this all turns out. But I admit, the other day was fun!
Most everyone knows by now that I adore Madison Bumgarner. And yes, I know he's young and still inexperienced, but when I heard about the one-year deal he signed with the Giants recently, I was pretty disturbed by it. A pitcher, who at 21, threw six scoreless innings in the World Series deserves a bit more than $750,000, at least in my book. But that's all he got. Is that really all he got? His spring training debut, however irrelevant it might be in the scheme of things, was brilliant. Tim Lincecum's, on the other hand, was the opposite. His first two starts were pretty bad, actually. Again, spring training starts aren't super important, I admit that - but Bumgarner's was really impressive, enough so that most of the sportscasters on KNBR said he could very well be this year's ace for the Giants. And I definitely trust those guys.
Let's face it, Lincecum is due for a mediocre year at some point. Maybe 2012 is it, maybe it's not. But either way, I think Bumgarner has more than enough great stuff to make this year a top one for himself. Say what you will about his record in 2011, but his low ERA coupled with a less-than-stellar win/loss record was quite unusual. He had one of the lowest ERAs in the National League, even by comparison with pitchers who had better win/loss records. I guess my long-winded point is that Bumgarner is really a pitcher to watch this year and maybe sooner rather than later the Giants will realize he's worth a bit more than $750,000. This fan can only hope so!
And we get to my current favorite, Matt Cain. The guy that everyone else in baseball is finally taking note of, after how many stellar seasons? I guess pitching over 20 scoreless innings in the postseason is something to talk about, right? In a way, as much as his under-the-radar-ness bothered me, it was also something that I liked about him. He was the strong and silent type on the Giants starting rotation. I still consider him that way, regardless of what he ends up doing in the future; I just hope he plans to stay with the Giants for the long-term. We need him a lot more than most people with the Giants think we do.
Speaking of the Giants starting rotation, Barry Zito still has time to prove that his very expensive contract wasn't a total fluke. He has a lot of people to convince, however. I was rooting for him when he came to the Giants. Despite the contract being quite large, my hopes were pretty high that he would succeed. Most of us know how that turned out, which was of course, not very well. It has been reported that Zito spent a lot of time this past off-season tweaking his delivery, changing his routine, and the like. And so far, he's 2-0 in spring training. But that's just spring training and it doesn't really mean much. Just like the Giants have the second best record in the Cactus League right now. Remember last year? Yeah, they had a great spring training record then, too. Ironically, the Giants didn't have such a great spring training season in 2010 and went onto win the World Series. Coincidence? I certainly hope so.
I have my own concerns about the pitching rotation beyond Zito being the fifth starter: Ryan Vogelsong is being conservative with his throwing because of a recent injury; Erik Surkamp is vying for the sixth spot in the rotation and has little to no experience; and Brian Wilson has had elbow problems lately. I don't mean to be so negative, necessarily, but if they all stay healthy, the Giants have a golden pitching rotation; it's their crown jewel. Also, the Giants have been incredibly lucky in recent years with the health of their pitchers, with virtually no problems until recently. Giants fans are allowed a certain level of paranoia at this point.
Being that I gravitate mostly towards pitchers in this game, I haven't touched on the Giants' offense at all. But I'm not worried about that, because as was said on KNBR recently, they couldn't really be worse this year than last year. The Giants can only go up with their hitting. Opening day seems to be both coming up too quickly and also taking forever to arrive. Such is the sport.
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