Round 2 for Kickham

The Giants placed Chad Gaudin on the DL yesterday, as his banged-up elbow just wasn’t ready to go for tonight’s start in LA. Gaudin’s injury is another bummer for the Giants, but it is good news for one person: Mike Kickham.

Kickham was recalled from AAA Fresno for the second time this season after pitching all of 2.1 innings in Oakland in his MLB debut last month. He’ll start tonight against Stephen Fife, and likely again in homer-friendly Cincinnati next week. The 24-year old lefty is looking to show a little more this time, and honestly, he may very well be pitching for a spot in the rotation going forward.

I made a joke in a previous post about Kickham “looking good while he missed pitches off the outside corner” in his previous start. But really, I did think he showed flashes of electric stuff, especially with his sweeping slider. The A’s have a solid lineup, Kickham was obviously trying to be careful, and the Giants had a very short leash with him in his debut. He’s got swing-and-miss stuff, and if he can show a bit more confidence and locate his fastball this time around, he should pitch deeper into the game. 

I don’t think the Giants would be too upset if Kickham showed enough improvement to send Gaudin back to his spot in the bullpen. That would certainly solve one nagging team issue. So, for Mike Kickham, audition number 2 has come. Show us what you’ve got, kid.

Sponsored Post Sponsored Post Menu More Info Learn from the experts: Create a successful blog with our brand new courseThe WordPress.com Blog

WordPress.com is excited to announce our newest offering: a course just for beginning bloggers where you’ll learn everything you need to know about blogging from the most trusted experts in the industry. We have helped millions of blogs get up and running, we know what works, and we want you to to know everything we know. This course provides all the fundamental skills and inspiration you need to get your blog started, an interactive community forum, and content updated annually.

Register now

Giants/Dodgers: Welcome to “Puig-a-mania”

The Giants hit the road (again) tonight to renew their National Puig West rivalry with the Victory Dodgers in LA.  The Dodgers were supposed to be one of the Puig’s best teams entering the season… that hasn’t happened. However, Yasiel Puig (pronounced Ya-seal Pweeg) has happened. In a first half that’s seen some pretty sweet call-ups (Gerrit Cole, Mike Zunino, Zack Wheeler, Wil Myers), Puig may be the most talented of them all. The only thing the talented Cuban outfielder hasn’t done on a diamond is snare a pitch from mid-air, toss the ball up to himself and club it 500 feet.

Seriously, it would behoove the Giants to keep Puig-a-mania under wraps, if at all possible. The Dodgers are playing better than their 32-42 record would let on, while the Giants haven’t exactly overcome their road woes. We’ll see some solid pitching matchups, with Bumgarner and Ryu going tonight and a Cy Young pitchoff of Lincecum and Kershaw in the series finale on Wednesday. There’s a very good chance Mike Kickham will return to make his second big league start tomorrow night in place of the banged-up Chad Gaudin. Kickham is probably a downgrade from Gaudin at this point, but he just looked so good missing pitches off the corner in Oakland, so this could be an entertaining series.  

Some positives for the Giants: Pablo is back at the hot corner tonight, and the Dodgers are still incredibly good at losing. I’m guessing we find a way to win this series.        

240 Words on Gary Brown

Gary Brown hit another home run for the AAA Fresno Grizzlies tonight.  Yes, the same Gary Brown who hit .180 with 1 HR in April now has 10 long balls (7 this month), and has an OPS of 1.148 over his last 9 games.  Last season, Brown lost his status as an upper-level prospect in the eyes of many so-called prospect gurus (although many of us in Giants land didn’t think his season at AA Richmond was really that terrible).  By the end of his first month in Fresno, nearly everyone who’d stayed on his bandwagon had written him off.  Now, he’s red hot at the dish.  Brown’s always been known as a plus defender, but it’s his much-hyped speed on the bases that isn’t showing up this season (9-16 in SB attempts).

With Angel Pagan shelved for who knows how long, I couldn’t see how promoting Brown at this point would hurt a team who’s had its share of blunders in the outfield.  Juan Perez has provided a spark in only a handful of games since his promotion from Fresno, and I feel that Brown could do the same.  The Giants could send down one of their backup catchers, and essentially use a platoon of Blanco and Torres in left, Brown and Perez in center.  Crazy? Maybe, but I think the team could benefit from Brown’s speed, defense and pop.  Just something that crossed my mind.

Time to Wake Up (in 150 words)

In a 162-game season, you can’t get too high or too low. The best teams don’t anyway.  But it’s hard to think the Giants aren’t a little let down after dropping 3 of 4 to the 50-loss Marlins…. at home! Mistakes on the bases helped kill most of the few offensive chances we had, and the bullpen has really been scuffling.  But I tell you what, I was very impressed with Miami’s pitching. I had no idea Nate Eovaldi threw that hard.  The Dodgers may regret giving him away in a couple years.  Regardless, you can’t lose 3 of 4 at home to a last place team, so maybe this stretch will wake up the troops on their way to Lala Land.  Wouldn’t this be a great time to beat up on the big (blue) spenders?!

Pablo’s back tomorrow night after slugging a couple homers down in San Jose. Time to wake up Giants.

img_02171.jpg