San Francisco Chronicle Columnist John Shea joined us for our on-site podcast from Keeble and Shuchat Photography in Palo Alto in Part 2 of our conversation.
Shea talked to The Sports Virus about Tim Lincecum: … “The mechanics are back, the hip is fixed. There were hip issues last year. It messed with his long stride and step. He was pointing his toe one way and if he pointed it the other way he would have been back in stride, but he just couldn’t close out the windup like he normally used to. Basically, he had no command. He had little velocity. At the showcase he reached 92 mph. You never saw 92 last year, you saw 86, 88, 89. He’s not over the hill. He’s 31. A lot of guys are performing at a high level in their mid to late 30’s.”
We talk about the Rougned Odor/Jose Bautista Rangers/Blue Jays brawl and replay plus conversation about Tim Lincecum and the state of the Giants rotation with ESPN Senior Baseball Writer Jayson Stark.
Stark talked to The Sports Virus about replay: … “The overwhelming sentiment that I got from everyone is they want the process to speed itself up somehow. The question is how. The idea that’s probably got the most traction is put a time limit on how long a manager gets to challenge. Recognize…you’re talking about saving 5, 10, 15 seconds. I don’t think there is an appreciable time of game advantage that you’re going to get from that kind of rule. The average game is lengthened by replay by 15 seconds. It’s really not replay that is causing the games to be slower this year. In an action sport, it’s always disconcerting when the action just grinds to a stop. I still think this is better than the NFL.”