One pitcher on the Giants is 0-1 with a 12.91 ERA and a 2.22 WHIP, while another starting pitcher is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.44 WHIP with a complete game shutout. Can you guess who is who? Tim Lincecum is the first pitcher as he has given up 14 hits (2 homers) and 3 walks in 7 2/3 innings while whiffing 10 batters in his first two starts of 2012. Lefty Barry Zito threw a 4-hit, complete game shutout in his first start of the season without walking anyone and whiffing 4 batters. I think Lincecum is going to straighten out in the very near future, as he is too good to be pitching like he is right now. The Giants have to feel a little giddy after watching Barry Zito’s first start of the year as he looked like the pitcher they thought they were getting when they signed him away from the Oakland A’s.

It appears that 2009 was a career year for 31-year old lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt. Affeldt has pitched in 21 games (0 starts) for the Giants this year and he is 2-3 with 2 saves, a 4.43 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. He has given up 22 hits and walked 15 batters in only 20 1/3 innings for the Giants this year. The Giants expected more out of him after last season in which he pitched in 74 games (0 starts) in which he was 2-2 with a 1.73 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. The Giants don’t need him to be as good as he was last season but they do need him to start pitching better soon.

The Giants have decided to remove Barry Zito from the starting rotation after his awful start to the 2008 season. He will try to fix things working out of the bullpen for a while. Zito has pitched in 6 games (all starts) so far this season and he is 0-6 with a 7.53 ERA and a 1.95 WHIP. Zito has been pretty bad since inking a long and expensive contract before the 2007 season. Zito has pitched in 40 games (39 starts) so far in his career with the Giants and he is 11-19 with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Signing Barry Zito is beginning to look like a huge mistake for the Giants.

Barry Zito, Russ Ortiz and Jack Taschner all had tough first halves for the Giants.  Barry Zito was given everything but the keys to the city as a free agent this past off season and he has been terrible for the Giants.  Zito is 6-9 with a 4.90 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP so far this season.  Look for Zito to have a better 2nd half to the 2007 season if he just throws more strikes.  He has walked 52 batters in 104.2 innings but he has only allowed 100 hits which shows the stuff to be successful is still there.  Russ Ortiz was the #5 starter for the Giants before he hurt himself but he hasn’t pitched too well this season.  He is 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP so far this season.  Don’t expect much from him in the 2nd half of the season.  Jack Taschner is lucky he throws with his left arm or he would be back in the minors by now.  He has a 1-0 record with a 6.08 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP so far this season.

The Giants figured that Kline was a pitcher they could depend on this season, but they’ve been wrong so far.  In 15 games, Kline is 0-0 with a 7.45 ERA and a 2.07 WHIP so far this season.  Kline has only pitched 9.2 innings this season, but he’s already allowed 16 hits and he has walked 4 batters while only whiffing 2.  The Giants need Kline to start pitching better or they will have bullpen problems all season long.

The Giants need more from Jonathan Sanchez out of their bullpen.  In 11 games so far this season he’s 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP.  Sanchez has a great arm but he has command issues that are holding him back.  In 11.2 innings he has allowed 13 hits and has walked 8 batters.  He needs to get aggressive in the strike zone and he has struck out 15 batters this season which shows off his arm strength and his stuff.  He could be dominant.

Barry Zito and Armando Benitez are both off to very tough starts to the 2007 season.  Zito is 0-2 with a 8.18 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP in his first two starts of the season.  He has thrown 11 innings so far and he has given up 13 hits, 10 earned runs and has walked 5 batters.  The Giants need him to straighten up soon or it’s going to be a long year in San Francisco.  Armando Benitez has 2 saves this season but he has a 7.71 ERA and a 2.57 WHIP!   He has thrown 2.1 innings this season and he’s allowed 4 hits, 2 earned runs and has walked 2 batters.  He needs to do better if he wants to continue being the stopper of the Giants.