2
Fangraphs power rankings: Giants starters rank 8th, relievers 13th
Link
fangraphs.com
Starters:
8. San Francisco Giants
Player TM IP BB/9 K/9 HR/9 WAR
Tim Lincecum SF 215.0 3.2 9.5 0.6 5.0
Matt Cain SF 210.0 2.6 7.2 0.7 4.0
Madison Bumgarner SF 180.0 2.2 7.4 0.7 3.5
Ryan Vogelsong SF 140.0 3.5 7.0 1.0 1.0
Barry Zito SF 120.0 3.8 6.7 1.1 0.5
Eric Surkamp SF 75.0 3.7 7.3 0.7 1.0
The opposite of the White Sox, their top three stack up with any in the game, but it gets pretty ugly at the back end. ZIPS isn’t buying into Vogelsong’s revival, and you don’t need a fancy projection system to know that Barry Zito is bad. Eric Zurkamp is another soft-tosser that ZIPS likes more than scouts, and another guy where I’ll suggest that betting the under on the projection is a good idea. Still, Lincecum/Cain/Bumgarner make for an excellent trio, and should carry the Giants to run prevention success even if they have inferior teammates.
Relievers:
13. San Francisco Giants
Role Pitcher Hand ZiPS K/9 ZiPS BB/9 ZiPS HR/9 IP WAR
Closer Brian Wilson R 9.9 4.0 0.58 62.2 1.0
Setup Sergio Romo R 11.4 2.0 0.73 49.0 1.5
Setup Santiago Casilla R 8.2 4.4 0.68 53.0 0.5
Setup Jeremy Affeldt L 7.9 3.9 0.85 53.2 0.0
Sergio Romo is pretty amazing. His 2.23 FIP is the lowest projected by ZiPS. He posted a 40.0% strikeout rate last season versus only a 2.9% walk rate — all of which led to a 38 xFIP-. His slider is literally covered with butter. Or, at least, figuratively covered with butter. In any case, it has a buttery quality to it. Unfortunately, it’s also the case that pitchers who throw a slider with Romo’s frequency are more susceptible to injury. One player to watch is Dan Runzler. He’s a hard-throwing left-hander whose 3.66 projected FIP actually places him third among Giants relievers.



