Giants on the road against the media favorite to win the West-the Dodgers.
Line on the 3 games.

26 innings pitched
3-1
12 hits
11 BB
22 SO
ERA=0.00!

Lincecum 7 walks but 0 runs and 3 hits in 5 innings.
Is the glass half full or half empty?
Watching him on TV I think he is better than last year. Batters are less balanced.
Updated 4/5

I have not seen one media outlet predict the Dodgers to win the West. Perhaps they exist, but let's not distort the facts to support the "Big Bad LA" complex of most whiny Giant fans. The Giants are the overwhelming favorite to win the West. And tonight, they won thanks to some very untimely hitting by the Dodgers (Kemp).

Californication;842110014 said:

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I have not seen one media outlet predict the Dodgers to win the West. Perhaps they exist, but let's not distort the facts to support the "Big Bad LA" complex of most whiny Giant fans. The Giants are the overwhelming favorite to win the West. And tonight, they won thanks to some very untimely hitting by the Dodgers (Kemp).

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Overwhelmingly giants? No. Probably closer to 50/50. But that's still not a lot of respect for a team who has one the last two of three years.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/giants/2013/03/31/prediction-season-coming-off-two-titles-in-three-years-giants-still-arent-favored/

Californication;842110014 said:

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I have not seen one media outlet predict the Dodgers to win the West.

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About half here pick the Dodgers and half pick the Giants (with the occasional D-Backs pick thrown in):

http://espn.go.com/mlb/preview13/story/_/page/13expertpicks/espn-expert-team-predictions-2013-baseball-season

I'd argue there isn't a clear media favorite to win the NL West; the vote is split.

I think that's right. There were a lot of folks saying the dodgers were the consensus pick in their articles picking the Giants but that isn't really what happened. Shockingly, the LA Times picked the Giants. They are also listed 1 ahead in CBS' power rankings.

Saw last nights game. Timmy looked better but his control was still bad. The one thing this time was he didn't lose it like he did last year. If you're looking to half full that's the ticket.

Pen looks great notwithstanding Kontos' homer on opening night and Mijares having a bad first outing.

sycasey;842110057 said:

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About half here pick the Dodgers and half pick the Giants (with the occasional D-Backs pick thrown in):

http://espn.go.com/mlb/preview13/story/_/page/13expertpicks/espn-expert-team-predictions-2013-baseball-season

I'd argue there isn't a clear media favorite to win the NL West; the vote is split.

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I think almost all of them pick the giants as west champs or wild card. The insult comes when NONE of them pick the Giants to go to the World Series

tommie317;842110062 said:

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I think almost all of them pick the giants as west champs or wild card. The insult comes when NONE of them pick the Giants to go to the World Series

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Exactly. After each series in the playoffs, ESPN continued to look down upon the Giants.

Californication;842110014 said:

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I have not seen one media outlet predict the Dodgers to win the West. Perhaps they exist, but let's not distort the facts to support the "Big Bad LA" complex of most whiny Giant fans. The Giants are the overwhelming favorite to win the West. And tonight, they won thanks to some very untimely hitting by the Dodgers (Kemp).

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Many have. But it's hard to pick against the team that seems to win the world series every time Buster Posey is healthy.

heartofthebear;842110004 said:

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Giants on the road against the media favorite to win the West-the Dodgers.
Line on the 3 games.

19 innings pitched
9 hits
8 BB
18 SO
ERA=0.00!

Lincecum 7 walks but 0 runs and 3 hits in 5 innings.
Is the glass half full or half empty?
Watching him on TV I think he is better than last year. Batters are less balanced.

---

Timmy's outing is concerning. He walked seven, and left a lot of guys stranded. He may have just been lucky. I will say this: leaving guys on base was something he couldn't do last year, and it led to him getting shelled often. If he can do that, his ERA might be good despite having a terrible WHIP.

Regardless, Cain and Bumgarner were stellar, and the Giants are off to a great start. This team looks as good as last year's squad.

- many commentators at espn, si, major sports news organizations are all picking the LAD. they're wrong, hopefully, but certainly the majority of news outlets are picking the dodgers over the giants. from what i've seen, at better than a 75% clip, and i do a lot of reading on el gigantes.

Californication;842110014 said:

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I have not seen one media outlet predict the Dodgers to win the West. Perhaps they exist, but let's not distort the facts to support the "Big Bad LA" complex of most whiny Giant fans. The Giants are the overwhelming favorite to win the West. And tonight, they won thanks to some very untimely hitting by the Dodgers (Kemp).

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Enough with the baseball threads. Can the mods get rid of this clutter?

OK, since I didn't see every show, I falsly assumed that the one ESPN show I saw represented the media. Glad to be corrected. But the thread was intended to be about the Giant's starters. Last year most of them struggled in the first series against Arizona. This year is a much more impressive beginning.

Lincecum and Zito have traded off being the struggling starter so the Giants have not had 5 solid starters. Does Lincecum's performance and Zito's spring suggest a possible banner year for Giant starters?

And you got to love Sandoval. It does not matter where the pitch is or how out of shape he is. He is a pure hitter in the purest sense of the word. With pitching like that and 2 damaging hitters in Sandoval and Posey, it takes the pressure off the rest of the team.

Then there is Pagan, whose passionate and flamboyant style never gets in the way of his intelligence. How many times has he beat out a grounder and/or hit a ball to the right to advance a runner? He was worth the $$.

And Romo, the mini-me freak of nature who seems like the most unlikely of closers, yet makes sluggers look foolish with regularity. He almost never makes a stupid pitch, seemingly outsmarting the hitters with sub-90 mph stuff so often that you would come to expect it if he didn't look so vulnerable.

All of this before the hero of spring Brandon Belt has made an appearance when healthy.

Now, if we can just get Andres Torres to accept the fact that he is not a power hitter and behave a bit more like Gregor Blanco, we may actually have something here, once again. Maybe watching Pagan will teach him something.

The only other concern is that Bruce Bochy looks about 5 years older than he did last year. I hope he's OK.

I'm excited for the season and had forgotten what I love about the Giants. They play smarter and grittier than most other teams.

YuSeeBerkeley;842110093 said:

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Enough with the baseball threads. Can the mods get rid of this clutter?

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I'm sorry, we're all out of food and dining threads.

aweissburg;842110061 said:

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Pen looks great notwithstanding Kontos' homer on opening night and Mijares having a bad first outing.

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I think it is too early to say the pen looks great (or bad). The bullpen ERA is 6.43, 7 innings pitched, 5 earned runs, 7 hits, 2BB and 2 HBP.

Romo has been perfect in 2 innings, so that key piece is looking good. Gaudin looked good in his 2 innings last night, and he is a key piece because he is our floater, the guy who might spot start, and will be looked to for multiple innings in long and middle relief, and occasionally the important later inning out, a role Mota basically filled last year (except Lincecum filled that role and more in the post-season). But no one else has looked great so far, even if it is too early to say anyone is looking bad.

Neither Casilla nor Affeldt looked great in their only outings so far, but neither one was out there very long. The homer off Kontos wasn't really worrisome, Kontos did what he was supposed to, throw a get it in fastball to a pitcher who had no career HR's and one career extra base hit, but he then gave up a double to Crawford (can't really blame him for the bunt single after). Of course, the HR and 2B were after a 1-2-3 inning, and he had success with his only batter last night, the Kemp DP. Can't say he's looking bad, but can't say he's looking good. Dodgers were 1-2 with a 2B off Lopez, so he isn't looking great, but 2 AB's not enough to judge much. Mijares doesn't worry me that much because he's really the bottom guy on the staff right now, the #7 guy in the best pen will be up and down at best. Mijares may not have even pitched last night if Affeldt hadn't been suffering from the Brandon Belt gut problem.

If 5 guys pitch consistently well and the other 2 are at least up and down, then the pen will be great, not a bad start toward getting that, but still, only 2 guys so far we can say look great so far.

heartofthebear;842110099 said:

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I'm sorry, we're all out of food and dining threads.

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Two wrongs don't make a right. I get that Giants fans are geeked about their very recent success after a Cal footballesque drought in the championship department, but I'm sure there's a Giants forum somewhere on the internet where you can get in a circle jerk about your team.

YuSeeBerkeley;842110119 said:

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Two wrongs don't make a right. I get that Giants fans are geeked about their very recent success after a Cal footballesque drought in the championship department, but I'm sure there's a Giants forum somewhere on the internet where you can get in a circle jerk about your team.

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Yes, but if you're expecting the football board administrators to get their panties in a bunch over a baseball thread during baseball season and the football offseason when nothing on topic is being posted and after numerous non sport topics have remained active, then I think you are wasting you time.

The only OT threads I've seen removed are ones that can go to the current events/regular news related boards that are committed to politics and such. That is what they don't want here. But knock yourself out. Or you could just ignore it and only participate in the threads that reflect Cal football. If you have one in mind, please post it. I'm sure we'd all appreciate it.

edit: Talk about a circle jerk, interesting that you have not complained about the "Hey Dodgers" thread currently active and over 1 year old. What gives?

YuSeeBerkeley;842110119 said:

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Two wrongs don't make a right. I get that Giants fans are geeked about their very recent success after a Cal footballesque drought in the championship department, but I'm sure there's a Giants forum somewhere on the internet where you can get in a circle jerk about your team.

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Off-topic threads happen during the offseason. Most people don't mind. If you don't like it, you could just not read it.

sycasey;842110123 said:

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Off-topic threads happen during the offseason. Most people don't mind. If you don't like it, you could just not read it.

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+1

YuSeeBerkeley;842110119 said:

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Two wrongs don't make a right. I get that Giants fans are geeked about their very recent success after a Cal footballesque drought in the championship department, but I'm sure there's a Giants forum somewhere on the internet where you can get in a circle jerk about your team.

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16 posts and your enforcing forum etiquette ?

heartofthebear;842110121 said:

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Yes, but if you're expecting the football board administrators to get their panties in a bunch over a baseball thread during baseball season and the football offseason when nothing on topic is being posted and after numerous non sport topics have remained active, then I think you are wasting you time.

The only OT threads I've seen removed are ones that can go to the current events/regular news related boards that are committed to politics and such. That is what they don't want here. But knock yourself out. Or you could just ignore it and only participate in the threads that reflect Cal football. If you have one in mind, please post it. I'm sure we'd all appreciate it.

edit: Talk about a circle jerk, interesting that you have not complained about the "Hey Dodgers" thread currently active and over 1 year old. What gives?

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I'd like to see that other thread disappear as well, more so than this one.

YuSeeBerkeley;842110132 said:

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I'd like to see that other thread disappear as well, more so than this one.

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Why don't you create your own website, therefore it will only have threads you like?

jposlosky;842110129 said:

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16 posts and your enforcing forum etiquette ?

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Look, I really don't care. I'm not trying to run things, here. I just wanted to make the point that Cal fan does not necessarily equal Giants fan. And quite frankly, I just don't understand Bay Area people's disdain for their neighbors from the south. People in LA really have no opinion of people from the Bay Area. Not sure if it's an inferiority complex or jealousy, but like the water that you all get so uptight about, it only flows one way.

tommie317;842110137 said:

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Why don't you create your own website, therefore it will only have threads you like?

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That is a brilliant idea, but then, I would miss out on enlightening posts such as yours.

YuSeeBerkeley;842110138 said:

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Look, I really don't care. I'm not trying to run things, here. I just wanted to make the point that Cal fan does not necessarily equal Giants fan. And quite frankly, I just don't understand Bay Area people's disdain for their neighbors from the south. People in LA really have no opinion of people from the Bay Area. Not sure if it's an inferiority complex or jealousy, but like the water that you all get so uptight about, it only flows one way.

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You do know Cal is in the Bay Area right?

YuSeeBerkeley;842110141 said:

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That is a brilliant idea, but then, I would miss out on enlightening posts such as yours.

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It surely isn't as enlightening as your name play on U C Berkeley. Can you get a copyright on that or what?

tommie317;842110143 said:

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You do know Cal is in the Bay Area right?

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Exactly. The analogy I like to use is someone from Norcal going to BRO and telling them to stop talking about the Lakers and Dodgers.

tommie317;842110144 said:

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It surely isn't as enlightening as your name play on U C Berkeley. Can you get a copyright on that or what?

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Ignore function is so useful in these moments.

Raise your hand if you think we have a closet Dodger fan from LA going to school in Berkeley and quietly steemed that his team lost 2 of 3 to his hated rival. Then says he doesn't care. :rollinglaugh:

Regardless, the comment that folks from LA have no opinion on anything, let alone northern californians, is both incorrect and hopelessly beyond the scope of credibility even if it was true, simply because it is one of the most blatant over-generalizations ever posted. Hopefully he's not a sociology major.

heartofthebear;842110163 said:

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Raise your hand if you think we have a closet Dodger fan from LA going to school in Berkeley and quietly steemed that his team lost 2 of 3 to his hated rival. Then says he doesn't care. :rollinglaugh:

Regardless, the comment that folks from LA have no opinion on anything, let alone northern californians, is both incorrect and hopelessly beyond the scope of credibility even if it was true, simply because it is one of the most blatant over-generalizations ever posted. Hopefully he's not a sociology major.

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LOL

He has Dodger fan written all over him.

heartofthebear;842110004 said:

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Giants on the road against the media favorite to win the West-the Dodgers.
Line on the 3 games.

19 innings pitched
9 hits
8 BB
18 SO
ERA=0.00!

Lincecum 7 walks but 0 runs and 3 hits in 5 innings.
Is the glass half full or half empty?
Watching him on TV I think he is better than last year. Batters are less balanced.

---

It's too early to tell, however he looked like much of the same. His fastball command was just flat out awful.

I will say though he got squeezed a bit by the ump, and Hector Sanchez did an absolutely terrible job of framing anything Lincecum threw.

Not that that explains the 7 walks, but it certainly didn't help.

Lincecum is probably not an ace anymore with the loss of velocity, but he could still be a good mid rotation starter if he can get any semblance of command.

the biggest thing to look for with lincecum is how is how much movement is he getting on his pitches. i didnt see it but if he is getting good action on his changeup and his fastball is moving, hes very difficult for the batter to square up on. walks dont concern me as much with him as to his movement. when his ball straigtens out, he gets shelled.

Lets go Giants! A gift to YuSeeBerkeley, from me.

Tedford;842110177 said:

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It's too early to tell, however he looked like much of the same. His fastball command was just flat out awful.

I will say though he got squeezed a bit by the ump, and Hector Sanchez did an absolutely terrible job of framing anything Lincecum threw.

Not that that explains the 7 walks, but it certainly didn't help.

Lincecum is probably not an ace anymore with the loss of velocity, but he could still be a good mid rotation starter if he can get any semblance of command.

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It's hard to say where Lincecum lies on the control versus movement continuum. Some would say his stuff is good because it had good movement. But did he have control of it? I think overall Tim's stuff looked less hittable than last year. But his control is still an issue. Supposedly he is in better shape, but he sure looks scary thin to me.

I'm guessing he goes around .500% with an ERA around 4.80. I could live with that, even if he only goes 5+ per outing.

The ump was tough on both pitchers. I agree that he is no longer an ace. But if he can be more consistent through 5 innings than last year it is a +. I missed the first 3 innings, but thought he battled better than he did last year in 4 and 5. Posey's error should have been a double play, but Lincecum still only allows 1 run. That would not have happened last year IMO.

BTW: I love Bochy's decision to put Lincecum in the middle of the rotation. With Cain and Baumgarner in front and Vogelsong behind, he can relax and blend in. No pressure to be the best anymore.

Tedford;842110174 said:

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LOL

He has Dodger fan written all over him.

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Dodger fans tend to be very good about saying they do not care about the S.F. rivalry, all while going out of their way to tell Giants fans how much they don't care.

sycasey;842110236 said:

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Dodger fans tend to be very good about saying they do not care about the S.F. rivalry, all while going out of their way to tell Giants fans how much they don't care.

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It's like the kid that says "sticks and stones..." while wimpering after being called a name.