Ryan, a real tough start for Matt Wilkinson.

Yeah, I guess you could say that tugboat got sank tonight, unfortunately.

I was listening.

Sorry.

Got to play a little pun there.

Oh, you got to.

You were mentioning he couldn't find the plate.

What do you want to see out of the Giants? Are you looking at certain players, certain pitchers? What are you looking for for a forecast with the Giants in the last 20 games?

Ryan, a real tough start for Matt Wilkinson.

Yeah, I guess you could say that tugboat got sank tonight, unfortunately.

I was listening.

Sorry.

Got to play a little pun there.

Oh, you got to.

You were mentioning he couldn't find the plate.

What do you want to see out of the Giants? Are you looking at certain players, certain pitchers? What are you looking for for a forecast with the Giants in the last 20 games?

But I thought at times, Ryan, and I keep throwing this back at you, he fell behind the hitters too much.

Yeah, and that's, and that's, and that's a recipe for disaster.

I mean, it...

You fall behind.

I mean, um, there's a statistician I know who used to always tell me that counts usually get, you know, that are at 1-1, and then the next pitch is really key.

So yeah, if you're able to get ahead 1-2 versus being behind 2-1.

I mean, then if you get behind 3-1, I mean, there, there you go, right? I mean, the, the, the p- the, the, the batter's got everything in his favor.

And where his arm slot was was the perfect place to throw it.

But I thought at times, Ryan, and I keep throwing this back at you, he fell behind the hitters too much.

Yeah, and that's, and that's, and that's a recipe for disaster.

I mean, it...

You fall behind.

I mean, um, there's a statistician I know who used to always tell me that counts usually get, you know, that are at 1-1, and then the next pitch is really key.

So yeah, if, if you're able to get ahead 1-2 versus being behind 2-1, I mean, then if you're behind 3-1, I mean, there, there you go, right? I mean, the, the p- the, the, the batter's got everything in his favor.

And, and yeah, that, that Zack Veen, the home run, man, that was impressive.

And where his arm slot was was the perfect place to throw it.

The shot was perfect, and the ball was hit so well.

No, it was.

You're right.

I mean, it was a nice angle, too.

I was able to see it in the press box.

I set up in the second row at night game just because it gets so cold, as you know, at that ballpark.

And you could see better in the first row.

A nice first half for Casey Schmidt.

How about you?

No, I agree.

I mean, I think it, I think just because of those four walks, that's why he wasn't able to get out of the sixth inning, you know, when, um, uh, Tony V had to go get him, and they brought Brubaker in.

But of course, Brubaker then, you know, has a, an inning and a third of perfect baseball.

So I mean, yeah, everything, everything aligned well.

And as you mentioned, you know, four walks is a little bit much, but...

And, and that'll run up your pitch count.

Mm-hmm.

We saw him do it in Boston.

Yeah, I, I would agree.

I think the thing is because he's such a, a, a high, a high leverage player and there was so much, you know, talk about when the Giants got him.

I mean, not that you want him to be the next Barry Bonds, 'cause nobody can be that, but I, I think you're... you definitely wanna see him be more productive.

And he, of course, you know, you, you can't do much better than what he did today.

Now, again, as you mentioned, Bill, the problem with this team is consistency.

Can he be more consistent in getting... just making solid contact? Maybe not hitting a home run every time.

Mm-hmm.

And I'm just saying, why is that? And are you seeing something different than I am? Because Tony V is going to him a lot when their game's on the line.

not only is he going to him a lot, but what really surprises me, and I've only seen this in a guy like Felix Rodriguez, he was a good setup guy when he was on the Giants, but one of the things he did was he relied too much on his fastball.

Now, in this case, you've got Walker relying too much on his sinker, and I know Mike Kruka was on the morning show of the KMBR, and he mentioned how Walker relies way too much on that sinker.

He also has a slider that he throws on occasion, and he throws a four-seam fastball, which he, according to Krukow, he doesn't really have a four-seamer, which kind of baffles me.

I would think that if you are any kind of a starting pitcher or any pitcher in general, you should have a four-seam fastball in your arsenal.

And the fact that he doesn't really have one and he relies so much on the sinker is just, you know, to me, it boggles my mind because, like I said, and you know this again, Bill, you've got to have the ability to change pitches and disrupt the hitter's timing because I'm sitting there in the press box with my colleague Marco, who's the editor-in-chief for Bay Area Sports Rep.

And we're sitting there going like, why does he keep throwing these guys sinkers? He's fouled them off.

What have you seen out of this team different from many years that you've been covering baseball?