Krukow Nailed it

[klaiggeb]

Mike got the credit he deserved by Estes and Kuiper today, as they both referenced what he's been saying about Samardizja all year long.

Mike was excited to see this start by Jeff.

Me?

I was not, and I'm glad to have been wrong.

In all honesty, I did NOT think he had the ability to re invent himself in the middle of the season.

That off speed breaking ball had the Marlin's off balance all day.

Especially after the early going when he showed that he WOULD throw it early in the count, and any time in the count and that he could throw it for strikes.

I DO hope this signals a change for the good for him, but IF ... IF it is... we have 5 tough starters.


That, of course, assumes that Cueto fixes what's wrong.

boly

[sfgdood]

That, of course, assumes that Cueto fixes what's wrong.

boly

Dood - 29 ER in his last 10 starts. I'm ok with that. Yes there have been some stinkers but also some dominance.

[klaiggeb]

All I'm saying, Randy, is that Cueto isn't right and hasn't been right since the All Farce break.

Maybe it's simple arm fatigue, but again, last time out, he's pitching well, good rhythm, attacking the bottom of the strike zone, mixing speeds... and all of a sudden, he's falling behind hitters, struggling to find that area of the strike zone where he needs to be.


You look at the last 10 starts, and I look at the last 5 or 6.

They tell different stories.

boly

[Rog]

When we also look at Johnny having a history of lesser second halves, this becomes a worry. One thing that does slightly improve the picture of Johnny's past 8 games (his actual period of struggle) is that in his penultimate start, which must go down as a bad one, he pitched six very nice shutout innings and seemed to be on cruise control before inexplicably losing it in the seventh.

Somewhere around the break (and remember that he also didn't pitch well in the All-Star game) Johnny hurt his side. It appeared he was over it soon after the break, as the Giants moved him up a day to get ahead of the struggling Samardzija in the rotation. But maybe Johnny still isn't right.

I think Boly's concern here is warranted. Randy pointed to Johnny's past 10 games, which were begun with just one run in each. In fact, they concluded a period in which Cueto yielded just 8 runs in nine starts. Since then, he's given up 27 runs in his last eight outings. Plus another three in the All-Star game.

It has been Johnny's pattern to have much better first halves than second. Over his career he has dropped off to a 3.73 ERA in the second half after posting a 2.97 mark in the first period.

I try not to get too involved in fantasy baseball on the board, but I recently tried to trade Johnny for David Price, who is off to a poor start but should bounce back IMO. I waited too long. Price is still struggling too, but Johnny had already lost his luster. I may wind up being happy the trade was rejected, but it seems quite possible both pitchers will struggle in the second half. At this point I think I have to hope Johnny bounces back, that this recent period is just a blip in an otherwise marvelous season.

In summary though, IMO there should be concern -- once again, not panic -- over Johnny. Both is recent performance and his history back up that emotion.

Something I just realized that is kind of funny. Randy pointed to the past 10 starts; Boly looked at the last 5 or 6. I kind of split the middle with 8 (plus the All-Star game if you wish). My picture looked a lot closer to Boly's than to Randy's.

Looking at Randy's point, Johnny has given up 29 earned runs in his last 10 starts, and the resultant 4.06 ERA isn't horrible. But it's nearly double the 2.16 he had posted until that point. If we add the All-Star game into the mix, it jumps to 4.36, or just over double.

Personally, I'm excited for Johnny's next start. But I'm always excited about Johnny's starts -- slump or no slump. In terms of excitement, he's the new Tim Lincecum. Madison Bumgarner is the ace, but stylistically he's just a guy who methodically carves up the opposition. Johnny is an artist.