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Giants' 2009 rotation among club's best
Trio of Cy Young Award winners powers elite quintet
By Chris Haft / MLB.com
06/25/09 3:15 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- Pitch by pitch, the hurlers in the Giants' starting rotation could be entrenching themselves in club history. San Francisco's front five possess impressive credentials and tantalizing potential, a combination that makes the Giants worth watching each day and conjures the notion that this could be among the best rotations the team has had since the franchise moved west in 1958. Anybody disputing the quality of the Giants' rotation will have to confront Willie McCovey, the Hall of Fame first baseman who played 19 seasons for the Giants and continues to watch the club regularly as a senior adviser. "I never played with three Cy Young Award winners. You can kind of take it from there," McCovey said, referring to Tim Lincecum, Randy Johnson and Barry Zito. "This is as good a rotation as I can remember the Giants having, collectively." Mike Krukow, who has spent every season but one since 1983 as a pitcher or broadcaster with San Francisco, flatly said, "No," when asked if any other Giants starting staff he has seen matches the current one. As the Giants' No. 4 starter, Zito might be a tad biased. Yet, he praised his present-day mates richly, even while mindful of the years when he, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder made Oakland's rotation the most formidable bunch in the American League. "I think that this is a better staff than I've ever been part of, [because of] what guys are capable of and what guys have accomplished," Zito said. "One through five, there's not really a break in the action. All the guys have great stuff. It's fun to be a part of this staff." The Giants hope to continue the fun Friday when they begin a three-game series at Milwaukee.Statistically, the Giants' quintet isn't the NL's best. They ranked third in wins (29) and ERA (3.76) entering Thursday's games. Of course, most teams would envy those numbers. And few, if any, have a rotation that's members combine substance and style as the Giants do.
Lincecum's long-striding, catapulting delivery and breathtaking array of pitches make him one of baseball's best shows."Lincecum is one of my favorite pitchers," said Hall of Fame right-hander Gaylord Perry, who spent his first 10 seasons (1962-71) with the Giants. "He puts everything into every pitch."
After barely more than two seasons in the Majors, Lincecum already has become synonymous with mound dominance. Rangers right-hander Brandon McCarthy described his team's effective-yet-workmanlike pitching corps by telling Sports Illustrated, "We aren't a staff of Tim Lincecums."
Even at age 45, Johnson remains an intimidating presence whose aura, already gilded by five Cy Young Awards, grew even more brilliant on June 4 when he became the 24th pitcher to win 300 games. Since compiling a 3-4 record with a 6.86 ERA in his first eight starts, Johnson has gone 4-1 with a 2.57 ERA in his last seven outings.
Giants' best rotations | ||
1962 | ||
| Jack Sanford | 24-7 | |
| Billy O'Dell | 19-14 | |
| Juan Marichal | 18-11 | |
| Billy Pierce | 16-6 | |
| 2002 | ||
| Kirk Reuter | 14-8 | |
| Russ Ortiz | 14-10 | |
| Jason Schmidt | 13-8 | |
| Ryan Jensen | 13-8 | |
| Livan Hernandez | 12-16 | |
"Randy's going to be inconsistent because he's older," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "But you know he can crank up a game at any minute."
Matt Cain (9-1) has ascended to the level the Giants envisioned for him when he reached the big leagues in 2005 at age 20. Cain, a likely All-Star selection, has benefited from maturity, improved conditioning and better run support, helping him reverse the 15-30 record he posted in 2007-08 despite a 3.71 ERA."Cain's arrived," Krukow said. "He's starting to be able to read hitters."
Though Zito owns a 4-7 record with a 4.54 ERA, it's widely acknowledged he's performing more assertively than he did in his first two Giants seasons, which generated a 21-30 record and a 4.83 ERA."For me, from the end of last year, Zito has really been a guy on a mission," Torre said. "He knows what he's doing out there. There's no fumbling around, although he always worked fast. There's a sense of determination that I see about him."
Four straight losses have left Jonathan Sanchez (2-8, 5.54 ERA) vulnerable to being removed from the rotation. Yet nobody disputes his ability."He may not throw a lot of strikes, but it's because of movement," Torre said. "The ball jumps off the plate a lot."
With an offense that ranked 15th in runs and last in homers and OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) entering Thursday's off-day, the Giants realize they owe their 39-32 record largely to their pitching. While the relievers have contributed mightily by posting a 3.39 ERA, the starters' performances through the rest of the season largely will determine whether this rotation truly ranks among San Francisco's best. "I'm not a guy who gets ahead of myself, as far as thinking too far into the season," said Lincecum, the National League's reigning Cy Young Award winner. "But the way we're playing right now, who's to say we couldn't? Hopefully we can stay consistent with what we're doing." Various factors must be considered in attempting to identify the Giants' top San Francisco-era rotations. Not only have they played home games in three different ballparks, but Major League pitching customs have evolved. Four-man rotations have given way to five-man contingents. Complete games, once expected of a starter, now are a bonus."Back then, you better finish half of the games you started, or they'd find somebody else," Perry said.
Two of the Giants' three pennant-winning squads featured the balance and depth that distinguishes the current rotation, although the quality of the rest of the club often influences a pitcher's record as much as his own performance. The 1962 foursome consisted of Jack Sanford (24-7), Billy O'Dell (19-14), Juan Marichal (18-11) and Billy Pierce (16-6). Similarly, all five members of the 2002 rotation won at least 12 games: Kirk Rueter (14-8), Russ Ortiz (14-10), Jason Schmidt (13-8), Ryan Jensen (13-8) and Livan Hernandez (12-16). But while the '62 Giants ranked sixth out of 10 teams in the NL with a 3.79 ERA, the '02 club was second with a 3.55 mark."That [2002] group probably would have to be the benchmark," said Dave Righetti, who has been the Giants' pitching coach since 2000. Also, '02 marked the final year of a six-season span in which the Giants had at least three pitchers win more than 10 games each.
From 1964-68, the Giants ranked third or higher in ERA each year. Those staffs were led by Marichal, who ultimately gained enshrinement in Cooperstown. Yet, in Marichal's six 20-win seasons, only twice did a teammate win more than 16 games. Both times it was Perry, who finished 21-8 in 1966 and 19-14 in '69. In 1967, when Mike McCormick won the Cy Young Award with a 22-10 record, Marichal weathered injuries during a 14-10 season and Perry lost nine one-run decisions to finish 15-17 despite a 2.61 ERA. More recently, in 1993, John Burkett (22-7) and Bill Swift (21-8) jointly became the last Giants to win 20 games. But the only other pitcher to win as many as 10 games that year was reliever Dave Burba. "We always had two good ones or two great ones, but we never had the complete rotation like I think we have here," McCovey said.Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
