| Published: N/A |
| Date: July 2007 |
| Section: Sports |
| Comments: |
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By: Ian Essling Barry Bonds will, barring some sort of career-ending injury, break Hank Aaron's home run record sometime this year. Unfortunately for the Giants, that is pretty much the only highlight they have left in the season. They are 10 ½ games back in the hotly contested NL West, and the 'other Barry,' Barry Zito, has been a tremendous disappointment; $10 million a year for a starter that has a 6-9 with a 4.90 ERA and a 1.2 K/BB ratio is definitely not that San Fran had planned when they made the blockbuster deal. Zito's 57 ER are a dozen more than the next most on the team.
Matt Cain and Morris have both been better than their W/L record show (3-9 and 7-5, respectively), but the Giants' struggling offense can't keep them alive in close games. Noah Lowry looks on paper to be the most solid of the starters with a 3.35 ERA and a 9-6 record, but Cain and Morris both have solid ERAs as well. The Giants simply are not giving the run support; the only teams to have scored less runs this year are the White Sox and the Nationals. The Giants' team batting average of .250 isn't helping either.
Morris and Cain also have startlingly bad K/BB ratios that are only slightly better than Zito's. Morris does have three complete games, however, while Zito has none and Cain and Lowry each have one.
To add to that mess, the bullpen, aside from Randy Messenger, is a disaster. Their reliever with the second most appearances (behind Messenger), Jack Taschner, also has the highest ERA, clocking in at a staggering 6.08 after giving up 18 ER in just 26 2/3 innings.
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