Injury scares and youth movement

This is coming a day late, but yesterday while i was checking the boxscores for games and knowing that another promising Lincecum vs Oswalt matchup was taking place, i checked in on the game in the 5th inning with Yabu pitching. Since the score at the time was still 1-1, i immediately panicked and searched the game notes and online to see if something had happened to the cornerstone of he Giants' future success, Lincecum. I couldnt find anything, i couldnt find an updated online source that recorded pitch count, hoping that maybe Lincecum had amassed around 100 pitches in 4.1 innings. My second thought was that maybe Bochy decided to rest his young ace and for once protect the Giants' young arms, but i quickly woke up from my dream that Bochy wasnt a constant pitcher abuser, as shown by Lincecum and Cain being numbers 6 and 8 on the pitcher abuse scale in all of MLB.

I decided that maybe everything was ok since i couldnt find anything, so i continued on with my day, half nervous that one of the Giants' lone brightspots this season, may be injured. Later that night, i was pleased to discover that The Kid was ok and was healthy enough to be walking around the clubhouse after the game and there was no fractures; just a big bruise. Im hoping that Bochy will let the young ace either skip his next start or atleast push it back a few days to insure a full recovery, AND to plan for the future. The injury scare reminded me just how unpredictable things can get when dealing with young pitchers who seem poised for stardome. God forbid if anything ever happened to Lincecum (knock on wood) id be devestated. Which brings me to a funny quote from the Disfrute El Lefty Malo blog:

Bochy is flirting with a breach of the prime directive. If he were Bart Simpson, he would have to stand at the chalkboard before every game and write

I promise to keep the young pitchers healthy. I promise to keep the young pitchers healthy. I promise to keep the young pitchers healthy…

And while it may seem like a joke, it is very serious. the Giants coaching staff, more specifically Bochy, needs to be reminded that this season doesnt mean much in the long run and that protecting our young arms for future success is what is ultimately important.

In other big Giants news, im glad to report that reports say that upper management is finally giving the younger players time to develop and get big league experience. The Giants are call up Travis Ishikawa, Pablo Sandoval, and Ryan Rohlinger and send down John Bowker and Stephen Holm plus designating Jose Castillo for assignment. All three prospects have been tearing up the minors recently batting .312 (Ishikawa), .339 (Sandoval), and .296 (Rohlinger). While im happy with what Bowker did this year, giving Giants fans some offensive hope from the farm, he has been terrible recently. Hopefully getting these young players big league experience will help the offense in the future. Now, if only we can trade Winn for some prospects so he can stop blocking Schierholtz from getting called up and playing consistently.