Buzz By The Bay

One of the more interesting statistics I’ve found on the Giants thus far, is that of their 32 losses, only five have been by four runs or more. For much of the season the offense has been the scapegoat, and for good reason (as Matt Cain and his 6-6 record can attest to). However, with the additions of Buster Posey, Pat Burrell, and Freddy Sanchez, coupled with the pleasant continued production from Aubrey Huff, Andres Torres, and Juan Uribe, much of the onus will be falling on the bullpen for the second half.

Though the pen as a whole is still relatively strong, a few of the firemen seem to have lost their luster. Brian Wilson has been a fantastic closer, but like Matthew McConaughey, he can’t stand on his own . Brandon Medders has been either injured or ineffecive. Dan Runzler has had a decent rookie campaign, however has issued almost as many walks as he has strikeouts. Newcomers Guillermo Mota and Santiago Casilla have performed admirably, however both are relatively unproven, and sustained success cannot be counted on from either of them. The biggest problem though, has been the decreased production from the 2009 setup men, Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo. Toward the beginning of the season, Romo’s propensity for late inning gopherballs — he has yielded four already in 2010 compared to just one in all of 2009— greatly maddened the Giants fanbase. However, Romo has rebounded nicely as of late, and has scattered just three walks and one run over his last 14 innings pitched.

In truth, it has been Affeldt that has disappointed Giants fans most this season. For as lights out as the affable reliever was last year, he has been inversely atrocious throughout the 2010 campaign. His problems seem to have stemmed from an utter loss of control more than a loss of stuff. Affeldt has simply issued way too many walks — his BB/9 of 6.45 is almost 2 walks per nine innings pitched higher than it was in ‘09 — and when he has located the strike zone, he has missed up and out over the plate, as evidenced by his increased HR/9 ratio and his decreased GB/9 ratio.

To be fair, Affeldt had very little chance of ever living up to the ridiculously lofty standards he set for himself last year in San Francisco. His peripherals were all career highs, but his BABIP of .244 was so far below career norms that even an improved ability to keep the ball down and induce ground balls couldn’t quite explain his overall success. In essence, the regression was expected, just not to this degree. Though we might never see the dominant set-up man from 2009 again, if Affeldt can manage to keep the ball down, the Giants should at least find themselves with the unspectacular but reliable reliever they paid for in 2008.