Posts tagged JakePeavy at Sports Blog - The FanHouse

is the MLB FanHouse's look into baseball's minor leagues.

But you probably figured that out already.

Tim Lincecum: learn it, know it, live it. The 22-year-old 2006 first round pick of the Giants is absolutely killing it in the minor leagues.

He had what was probably his for Triple-A Fresno, striking out 14 over six shutout innings, allowing only three hits, walking none.

The right-hander has a minuscule 0.29 ERA in 31 innings, thanks in large part to the fact that opposing hitters are batting just .

119 against him. He has 46 strikeouts on the season. Wow.

Those are like high school numbers. Crazy. Check out the praise he's received from Captain Cranium:

"I don't want to jinx him, but I think this kid has the potential to throw not just a no-hitter, but more than one," [Manager Bruce] Bochy said.

"He has the kind of stuff you don't see very often."

Well, that is unless you manage current Giants pitcher Matt Cain, or you managed Padres pitcher Jake Peavy, as Bochy did last year. But Lincecum appears as if he's ready to join that group.

Only problem is there isn't a current spot on the roster for him. GM Brian Sabean says it would be a . That makes me think Russ Ortiz could be on the trading block -- or a candidate for demotion to the pen, because there's no denying that Lincecum would be an upgrade in the rotation.

I really don't think so, but blowing back-to-back saves certainly isn't a pleasant sign.

On Wednesday night, by giving up a game-winning two-run walk-off home run to Stephen Drew, which was oh by the way, Drew's first homer of the season. On Friday night when even Lee Smith was in the building for Trevor Hoffman Night, Hoffman got rocked for four runs in the top of the ninth, allowing the Dodgers to take a . What's crazy is that Hoffy had converted all 23 save chances against the Dodgers at home, and 55 of 57 chances against LA since 1994.

I guess a blown save was bound to happen.

Friar Watch says , which led to some of the problems. But I really think Trevor was a victim of poor defense.

Rafael Furcal reached on a fielder's choice due to a poor decision by Adrian Gonzalez at first (who even ). That should've been an out. Plus, Russell Martin's go-ahead two-run double should have been caught by Mike Cameron.

And in all legitimacy, giving up a double to Nomar Garciaparra, and a hard-hit ball by Russell Martin is nothing to be ashamed of. Still, it's some cause for concern.

A final question that must be asked is whether or not we are witnessing a changing of the guard when it comes to closers.

Red already pointed out that . Same with Trevor Hoffman. There is no argument that Rivera and Hoffman are two of the best closers ever, but at some point their runs of dominance must end.

Has that time come?

Previously at FanHouse:

The Padres right-hander dominated the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, over seven scoreless innings, tying his career best for K's. Peavy is an outright stud, no question about it. He's won both a league ERA title, and strikeout title.

From the second inning to the fourth, Peavy struck out nine straight Arizona hitters, fooling them with his nasty breaking stuff, and blowing his heater by 'em. If it weren't for a walk to Eric Byrnes on a questionable full count call by the umpire, Peavy would have tied Tom Seaver's record of striking out 10 consecutive batters in a game. But after 117 pitches, Peavy was lifted for Scott Linebrink who gave up a run in the eighth.

Trevor Hoffman came in to close the 2-1 game and wound up surrendering a two out two-run walk off game winning home run to Stephen Drew (his first HR of the year). Despite the blown game, :

"I love Hoffy to death, and he knows I'm in his corner. I don't want anybody saving games for me other than No.

51."

That's pretty stand-up of Peavy to say, even though he had to be fuming that the game was lost. But you know what?

He suffered from the same problem about which I cautioned when I was ; his pitch count was too high. I guess that's the downside of needing at least three pitches to get batters out, you can't last too long in the ballgame. One could say the no decision makes up for his last start when Peavy gave up five runs over five and a third innings, and got the win due to offensive support.

Regardless, Wednesday night's outing proved once again that there aren't many pitchers in the world more who can dominate more than Jake Peavy when he's on.

Previously at FanHouse:

The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Philadelphia Phillies (8-11) vs. Washington Nationals (6-14)-7:05PM Est.

Look out world, here come the Phillies!

After getting off to a horrible start that's basically had Charlie Manuel talking to himself and screaming at others, the Phillies have won four games in a row. With two more games scheduled against the Nationals, they could make it six in a row and be on the brink of .500.

Aaron Rowand has been crushing for the Phils, and with John Patterson going for Washington, it's highly possible the entire Phils lineup wakes up tonight.


Cleveland Indians (10-7) vs. Texas Rangers (8-11)-7:05PM Est.

The Tribe has won three straight, including a two-game sweep up in Minnesota, and find themselves tied for first in the AL Central with the White Sox. Tonight C.C.

Sabathia looks to continue his early season dominance. Sabathia comes into the game 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA.

He'll be going against Brandon McCarthy, who's been making Ken Williams look like a damn genius thus far. McCarthy is 1-3 for the Rangers with a 10.20 ERA.

Arizona Diamondbacks (10-11) vs. San Diego Padres (12-8)-9:40PM Est.

This is tonight's best pitching matchup as Jake Peavy and Brandon Webb face off against each other.

Webb won the NL Cy Young last season, and Jake Peavy might win it this season if he keeps up his current pace. He's 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA and he'll be going against a Diamondback team that is struggling.

After starting the season off in first place, the DBacks have now lost five straight games and they're falling to the bottom of the division. Randy Johnson got rocked last night, but thankfully Webb is their ace, and they'll look to him to get things back on track.

There's no question that solid starting pitching from Jake Peavy and David Wells, as well as game-winning hits by and the (chest bump for Kouzmanoff's new nickname), overshadowed some of the unsung heroes in the Padres' past two wins. One of those such unsung players is reliever Scott Linebrink who has yet to allow a run in three relief appearances this year.

Even if most fans don't know who Scott Linebrink is, David Wells sure had some about the reliever that not only helped preserve , but was also the subject of several trade rumors over the off-season:

"I'm glad they kept Liney," Wells said. "I told Kevin Towers if they traded Linebrink, I was going to personally head-butt him. He's so important to what Trevor does.

"

Yeah, I always knew that David Wells was a different breed of pitcher, but seriously, why would head-butting your GM even enter your mind? Just more proof that David Wells is a weird cat..

.weird cat. Head-butting Towers?

Wow. I'm at a lack of words. At least Wells has maintained his sense of humor since .

Previously at FanHouse:

Hey, if the has already embarked on its journey, then the Jake Peavy for Cy Young Bandwagon got its start a day later.

By the end of , and first Opening Day shutout of franchise history, none of the talk was about Barry Bonds nor Bruce Bochy managing against his former team; it was all about Jake Peavy. The young right hander went six scoreless innings, allowing just five base runners while striking out six, getting his first win of the season (see Ducksnorts for an ).

"That's the way you draw it up," Peavy said.

"Put some zeros on the board and make it hold up. That's a good day. I feel healthy.

That's the biggest thing for me."

The health certainly is the key to Peavy's success. Last year he had , which can most likely be traced to his participation in the World Baseball Classic.

In the 2005 playoffs, he pitched against the Cardinals with a .

Seems to me that only injuries, high pitch counts, and a lack of run support can keep the 2004 NL ERA Champion and 2005 NL Strikeout Champion from garnering Cy Young attention in 2007, especially now that he's from Hall of Famer to be, Greg Maddux.

Previously at FanHouse: