LOOK! A GIANT! I mean...A Look at the Giants: A Preview

by Fat Vegas Alan on Apr 25, 2008 6:00 PM EDT

At first glance, the Giants are a pretty bad baseball team. They were picked by pretty much everyone but their mothers to finish last (a Giant's mother loves unconditionally) and earlier this week they were 8-13 with a verrry expensive 0-5 ace. But after a decent showing against Brandon Webb on Tuesday, the light-hitting Giants went into Petco and won two one-run games against the Padres.

It's hard not to think that Harang can handle these guys Friday night and then we can take our chances with Belisle against their #5 on Saturday and Volquez against that verrry expensive 0-5 ace on Sunday, but stranger things have happened:

Dirk Opalka (whose fox scored 96 of 100 possible points) won best in show at the World Taxidermy Championships in February in Salzburg, Austria, beating over 100 competitors in the art of stretching animal skin over fake bodies so the critters look better than they ever looked alive. The attention to detail was astonishing, according to a dispatch in Der Spiegel, on such features as a stag's nostrils, a hyena's lips, a hamster's whiskers, the neck length of a female peregrine falcon (precisely 5.5 cm), and the proper rosiness of a bat's anus. [Hat tip, NOTW .]

FRIDAY 1015pm EST: Harang vs Jonathan O. Sanchez (1-1 4.50) ... last three starts: 16ip 11h 3er(!) 8bb 18k 1hr

25yrs 6'2" either 165# or 190# LHP #53 [$395K in '08]

drafted by SFG 2004 27th round out of Ohio Dominican University (I drove by it just yesterday.)

94+ mph sinking fastball ... good changeup ... can be inconsistent with mechanics ... any other pitches, anyone?

career vs CIN: 1 game (Wow. I'd forgotten about Sun Woo Kim.) in 2006: (1-0 1.59) 5.2ip 1er 3h 2bb 7k 0hr

He has seemingly settled into a role at the back of the Giants' rotation though he might have just has easily become their 8th inning set-up man.

There's not a lot of peripheral stuff out there about him so if you're interested, check out his nice list of ODU records.

The 2007 Baseball Prospectus said his top career comparable was our own Kent Mercker. This year BP went ahead an said Sanchez migh trjust be Tug McGraw waiting to happen. Who's better? Mercker or McGraw? I dunno. Then why did I bring it up? Pretty much just so I could link to a nice picture of Tug's daughter-in-law.

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SATURDAY 9pm EST: Belisle vs Kevin John Correia (1-3 4.21) ... last three starts : 19.2ip 18h 8er 7bb 12k 4hr

27yrs 6'3" 205# RHP #32 [$1.075M in '08]

drafted by SFG 2002 4th round

90+ mph sinking fastball... good changeup ... good slider ... good command and is agressive against righties

2007 vs CIN: (2 games/1 start) 8ip 4er 8h 4bb 8k 1hr

career vs CIN: 23.1ip 11er 24h 13bb 20k 4hr

~~~

Editor's note: I've had computer issues this afternoon that I cannot (in good conscience) blame on SBNation. Later tonight I'll have more regarding Kevin Correia and Barry Zito. Please check back.

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Hope Springs Eternal! Go Reds

by Caleb on Apr 25, 2008 6:44 PM EDT reply actions

Homer Bailey

Not looking too sharp tonight. Andrew McCutcheon (Pirates’ best prospect) and Kevin Thompson (Yankees reject) just hit home runs off him. Even the outs are scary fly balls.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Apr 25, 2008 8:09 PM EDT reply actions