We love to talk about the concept of "clutchness" here at RMC. The lack of or presence of this nebulous characteristic is often the first thing used to critique a player. Especially by the crowd of fans that are, shall we say, not so statistically inclined. How many times have you heard Molina defended by being called "clutch?" Anyway, that revered adjective is almost always reserved for hitters. I contend that The Kid, Tim Lincecum, has clearly earned it today as the Giants beat the Astros 2-1.
Lincecum produced his fifth victory and yet another quality start: (eight for eight this year!) eight innings, one run, 4 hits (one harmless double by Happy Pete), 120 pitches. Impressive numbers that we have come to expect from Tim but they did not come easily. It seemed that he started every batter with a ball and his fastball had a life of its own; hence the uncharacteristic 5 walks and 5 strikeouts. The number that really tells the story today ( and gets me back to our premise ) is:
Lincecum produced his fifth victory and yet another quality start: (eight for eight this year!) eight innings, one run, 4 hits (one harmless double by Happy Pete), 120 pitches. Impressive numbers that we have come to expect from Tim but they did not come easily. It seemed that he started every batter with a ball and his fastball had a life of its own; hence the uncharacteristic 5 walks and 5 strikeouts. The number that really tells the story today ( and gets me back to our premise ) is:
0 - 10 RISP, giving him 5 -40 (.125) this year!!
That means that when ever a runner gets to second or beyond, Tim proceeds to make the next batter look like Brian Bocock. That sounds "clutch" to me. What do you think? Is this too small a sample size or is it a fact that Tim is better in leverage situations?
Tip of the Hat: The play by Ryan Rohlinger in the eighth was huge! And, of course, thank Jeebus for Juan Uribe.
Wag of the Finger: My life is probably a year shorter due to Wilson's "save" today. He sure did not "save" my sanity. All I could do for the entire FIFTEEN pitches of the final at bat was hold my head and moan softly. In a sick way, it was actually quite fun.
cool image from here
6 comments:
I actually missed the whole game because my daughter and grandson are visiting. I missed a Lincecum game! What a sacrifice.
Missed the game, went to a wedding, sounded like torture from what I've heard (realizing I like that).
The great pitchers can still get you out even when they don't "have their best stuff." Tim is amazing. We haven't seen this kind of consistent excellence since Bonds.
"Pitching, fundamentals, and three-run--er, two-run--homers."
Speaking of RISP:
This was the first game all year that we did not have a single RISP. The Giants are 80-322 (.248) RISP for the season.
Here's another cool stat: Giants starters have yielded 3-or-fewer-runs in 30 of 35 games, including 3 straight. We are 20-10 in those games.
I'd be interested in knowing how that 20-10 stacks up--that is, how often does ANY team win when they yield 3 or fewer runs? Is the Giants 20-10 record in such contests an outlier or near the typical win pct for ballclubs?
That .248 puts us 12th in the NL. Giants BA is .267 overall, 5th in the NL. They are 9th in OBP (.335) and SLG (.406), and 8th in wOBA. Our .305 BABIP also puts us 9th. We are 13th in runs scored (154). Things tend to even out, I think. We look like a middling offense at this point. I guess we have to hope that's enough. I say we need to see Buster and not at 1B. Huff in LF? Sheesh.
Post a Comment