Bochy - not the answer

Sometimes I wonder if the Giants are winning games IN SPITE of Manager Bruce Bochy.

One morning on the way to work, I heard analyst Mike Krukow say Bochy was one of the best managers he's been around - as a player or announcer. I almost drove my car off 680.

The team just dropped their second straight game to the Cardinals, and I put it specifically on Bochy's size ten and a half dome.

It has been well documented - when Barry Zito starts with Bengie Molina behind the plate, his chances of having a good start diminish. Two starts ago, with Eli Whiteside behind the plate, Zito took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Barry Zito's ERA this season is 4.82; when Molina is catching him his ERA is 6.85.

Surprise surprise - Zito didn't make it out of the fifth inning today, and Molina was behind the dish.

I'm not saying it is either player's fault, but the pattern has formed. Last year, when Zito had his resurgence, it was when Pablo Sandoval began catching him. The same trend continued this year, whether it was Steve Holm, Sandoval or Whiteside catching him.

Yet, over his past ten starts, Bochy keeps trotting out Molina for most of them. Any what happened? Zito's ERA has ballooned up near 5 again.

Bochy has also shown an over reliance on unproductive players. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why Fred Lewis ever makes it onto the field unless the other outfielder on the bench pinch hit and someone is hurt.

Lewis has shown this - he swings and misses alot. He doesn't play very good defense(three errors of the six made by Giants outfielders this year, and if official scorers had their druthers, he'd have at least two more). He drops flyballs that routinely hit him in the webbing of his mitt. He is fast, yet isn't a very good base stealer (5 steals/9 attempts). He has decent power, yet cannot make contact.

But there he is, playing over Andres Torres every chance he gets. I am not saying Andres Torres is a world beater, but he is what he is - He is a solid defender, who sometimes takes the place of 12 million dollar a year center fielder Aaron Rowand as a defensive replacement in the late innings.

So while establishing he is a better fielder, Lewis must get the at bats over him because of his superior bat, right? Wrong again. Lewis, in 209 plate appearances, has 11 RBIs. 11 RBIs-I say it again because it bears repeating. Torres, on the other hand, has a higher average, higher on base percentage, and a higher slugging percentage (albeit in a much smaller sample size - 55 at bats). Oh, and he has one less RBI than Lewis - and Lewis started the season batting THIRD!!!

So what have I learned about Bochy? That he cannot see things that people who have to buy a ticket can see. Tonight, Lewis misplayed a ball in the first inning that, rather than being an out, turned into runners on second and third with none out. Both scored, and Lewis went 0-4 with a strike out and 3 runners left on base. Zito struggled again, and the Giants lost.

Molina is getting old in age - is it really an issue to give him a day off every fifth day, especially if it turns Zito into a superior pitcher? And why not give Torres a chance, who does much more things to help you win?

I know management had hoped Lewis was the left fielder of the future - that he would shore up his defensive shortcomings while hitting .300 and provide some pop from the left side of the plate. Well that isn't going to happen. Last year he blamed the bunion - this year he is healthy and worse. If the Giants want to continue to stay at the lead of the wild card chase, and hope to catch the Dodgers, Bochy is gong to have to make some changes.

What is the saying - "Madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result"?

Brian Sabean is partially at fault for this as well. John Bowker has 16 home runs at AAA - when do you give up on the Fred Lewis experiment and give a more productive player a chance? Bowker showed major league power last year, hit a skid and found himself back in AAA. Now he is having his best season as a pro - he has to wonder what else he has to do to make the big club.

And don't even get me started on Rich Aurilia - if he was with any other organization, he'd have been cut by now.

So far, this season has been a success. But the team still has room to grow. They need to get out of their own way and make some tough decisions on this roster to take the next step and continue the growth of this young team.

P.S. It looks like my Victor Martinez pipe dream is dead - Sabean addressed the rumors on KNBR today and said Jermaine Dye isn't available, and that Martinez would cost one of our top prospects, something Sabean isn't willing to do. While I am glad that Sabean isn't willing to mortgage the future to make a premature run at the playoffs, I still think finding a bat is a priority. The team has obvious holes at second and left field, and could probably use an upgrade at first as well. Seems like trading a reliever and a player to be named later for Mark Derosa would have been a significant upgrade to both the line up and the defense, yet the team missed the boat on that. I keep coming to Sabean's defense, but at some point you have to wonder just how "in the loop" he really is.