A’s vs. Giants: What Are The Chances Of A Bay Bridge World Series?
By zacklosel
Let’s compare each team’s starting rotation’s numbers from 2012:
– Oakland –
#1 – Brett Anderson: 4-2 / 2.57 ERA / 25 K’s / 35.0 IP.
#2 – Jarrod Parker: 13-8 / 3.47 ERA / 140 K’s / 181.1 IP.
#3 – Tommy Milone: 13-10 / 3.74 ERA / 137 K’s / 190.0 IP.
#4 – A.J. Griffin: 7-1 / 3.06 ERA / 64 K’s / 82.1 IP.
#5 – Dan Straily: 2-1 / 3.89 ERA / 32 K’s / 39.1 IP.
#6 – Bartolo Colon: 10-9 / 3.43 ERA / 91 K’s / 152.1 IP.
Thirty five wins between four rookie starters? That’s incredible. Especially when you look at the fact that one of them (Griffin) went down with an injury towards the end of the season, so the A’s could have clinched their division even sooner if Griffin had earned, say, one or two more wins. But 7-1 is more than respectable. And even though some drop off is to be expected, the core of this staff looks like it is ready for it’s sophomore campaign.
San Francisco Giants
#1 – Matt Cain: 16-5 / 2.79 ERA / 193 K’s / 219.1 IP.
#2 – Madison Bumgarner: 16-11 / 3.37 ERA / 191 K’s / 208.1 IP.
#3 – Tim Lincecum: 10-15 / 5.18 ERA / 190 K’s / 186.0 IP.
#4 – Barry Zito: 15-8 / 4.15 ERA / 114 K’s / 184.1 IP.
#5 – Ryan Vogelsong: 14-9 / 3.37 ERA / 158 K’s / 189.2 IP.
With one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, San Francisco has more than what it takes to compete with an upgraded National League West.
Oct 24, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers in the 5th inning during game one of the 2012 World Series at AT
The key to next season’s pitching successes will rely heavily on that of the resurgence of Tim Lincecum, and the ability of Barry Zito to continue to show his growth and maturity into the pitcher he has become.
With Matt Cain – the Giants’ innings eater dubbed the “horse” – at the helm, Madison Bumgarner should be able to fix his command issues knowing his number one is doing his job. Ryan Vogelsong rounds out the end of the rotation, but is only slotted there because of his involvement in the World Baseball Classic.
The division rival Los Angeles Dodgers are virtually a new team, with the additions of:
RHP – Zack Greinke.
1B – Adrian Gonzalez.
SS – Hanley Ramirez.
RHP – Josh Beckett.
LHP – Hyun-Jin Ryu.
LF – Carl Crawford.
This could either be huge, or a huge flop. However, even with the big names, I still feel as though the Arizona Diamondbacks were the real winners of the division this winter, as they brought in the likes of:
RHP – Brandon McCarthy.
IF/OF – Martin Prado.
LF – Cody Ross.
With both L.A. and Arizona making some big pickups, the Giants might have some tougher competition than last year. However, this time around, they will have Marco Scutaro and Hunter Pence for the whole season. And with a healthy Pablo Sandoval, the lineup is cemented.
Though not thought of as a hitting team, the Giants have a distinct advantage over the A’s when it comes to that field:
Against left handed pitchers, the Athletics batted a poor .236 compared to the Giant’s far superior .272 average. The comparison against right handed pitchers is slightly less of a drop off, when you look at Oakland’s .239 average, compared to San Francisco’s .268.