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Michael Duca on A's and Giants
By Michael Duca June 5, 2010 |
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Sportstalk: Concerns for Giant pitcher Tim Lincecum are ringing louder than the bells at St.Ignatius Church (kudos for USF), Lincecum's issues could be mechanical or mental we asked you about the possibility of a sore arm being an issue. He lost to Ubaldo Jimenez of Colorado on Monday and pitched against the Pirates over the weekend, question is is he good to go or are there more concerns after the last two performances? I heard Tim Kawakami state unequivocally on the air Friday that Lincecum will "have to change the way he pitches", that he's lost velocity and "this is what everyone knew -- he's little, he's got a lot going mechanically, we all knew it wouldn't last long." Well, not all of us. Tim certainly has experience at being little (as do I), so we can't argue much there, but I don't think he's quite qualified to dissect mechanics. Having said that, it's impossible to not be concerned about what we're seeing. As of Saturday morning, when this is written, Timmy has a WHIP of almost 1.85 in his last three starts, so this is not just a passing thing, it's a problem. 5 walks in each of his last three starts is also a problem. I'm wondering if he's really lost 5 mph, or if he's backing off the fastball to try to control it..... Sportstalk: Talk a little about Jonathan Sanchez who pitched on Friday night against the Pirates he won his fourth game and gave up four runs (none earned) in a 6-4 Giants victory. How much confidence do you have in him each time he goes out there that the Giants are going to pick up a victory and what do you like about his combination of pitches. Filthy stuff. His fastball moves, and his slider is nasty on a stick. There's never, ever been a question about his physical ability or skills, it's always been in the realm of "million dollar arm and five-cent head"... but he seems to have harnessed the talent and gotten the rest of it under control, if not completely, then at least, better than it's been in the past. I'm really pretty confident when he takes the mound. Zero earned runs will tend to do that -- he's got an ERA of 2.63 now, and that's darned good, even in this new "pitching is king" era. Sportstalk: The A's are going to miss pitcher Brett Anderson for a while. He's one of the pitchers the A's can depend on in the rotation; is his injury cause for concern considering the way pitchers can develop elbow or shoulder pain? Yes. Absolutely. He hurt his elbow once, and perhaps he came back too soon, but perhaps he didn't. Perhaps he's another in the line of A's pitchers who get hurt (Duchscherer, Devine, Wuertz, just off this one roster) . . . . |
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