The Giants just need to rage themselves out of this

Apparently the Giants’ problems are all mental:

“Are we this bad? No,” manager Bruce Bochy said, attempting to answer the central question about his team. “But right now we are.”

And the first thing the Giants need to do to get better?

“What you start with as much as anything,” he said, “is how we take the field. You’re going to have to get pissed off.”

Catcher Bengie Molina heartily concurred, saying, “It depends on whether we’re going to go out there and fight for nine innings, or play the game for one inning and that’s it. I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with this team, but we need to bring more intensity.”

I don’t know that a guy like Pablo Sandoval is capable of intensity, and I’m not sure that Fred Lewis, Emmanuel Burriss, Edgar Renteria or Barry Zito would be any better intense than they are lackadaisical (if indeed they are that).

I’ve hated on the Giants more than many a blogger in the past couple of years, but I was cautiously optimistic that their rotation would at least make them respectable in 2009. So far the rotation is 1-6 with a 7.42 ERA. Tim Lincecum is going to improve and Randy Johnson can’t get worse, but man, have they dug a hole for themselves.

UPDATE: Maybe Lincecum won’t improve. At least not immediately. Hope he’s OK, of course.


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Richard in Dallas
14 years ago

Actually, their problems are only 90% mental.  The other half are physical.  Once they get that straightened out, they can be as not bad as they aren’t right now…..

rick watson
14 years ago

i feel they have a nice team, what they need to do is play like a major league team and play togeather,  they have good picthing, there hitting   subject ,  each player needs to take responsiblty now if it takes getting mad then get mad, i think they forget they can be replaced, get barry back and you will see results,  the other problem is you need to be more agressive   at the plate.  it has to det better period or the result will be the same

Richard in Dallas
14 years ago

Get Barry back?  Why?  So he can bump up the most revered record in sports, making it even MORE unlikely that an honest player will someday break it?  And even if they were idiotic enough to WANT him bac, would the judge that will sentence him let him play?

Aaron Moreno
14 years ago

I think they just need to take it one game at a time.

SharksRog
14 years ago

Maybe Lincecum WILL improve.  13 strikeouts, no walks, only one hard-hit ball on 98 pitches in eight innings.

Five strikeouts came on the curve, three each on the fastball and change, and two on sliders.  74 strikes among the 98 pitches.

Not too bad for a kid overcoming illness and mechanical troubles.

Moral of the story:  Don’t underestimate Tim Lincecum.  He’s been underestimated all his life, and everyone who did so has been wrong.