Russ Ortiz named Giants' fifth starter

Russ Ortiz will be San Francisco's fifth starter just as the Giants have intended since signing the right-hander in January for a second stint with the club. Not that there ever was much doubt he would win the job this spring and put his nightmare 2006 season in the past. "He's doing great," pitching coach Dave Righetti said before the club's final Cactus League game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. "I never looked at him any other way than that. I thought of him as one of the guys."

The rotation will go left-hander Barry Zito -- the scheduled starter opening day April 3 against the San Diego Padres -- followed by right-hander Matt Cain, righty Matt Morris, lefty Noah Lowry and Ortiz.

For Ortiz, there have been many ups and downs since he left the Giants after the 2002 season, when he walked off the mound eight outs away from a World Series title only to see the bullpen blow a five-run lead in Game 6 and the wild-card Angels go on to win the seventh game, too.

Ortiz's comeback has been humbling. First there was a trade to Atlanta in December 2002, followed by 36 wins and a pair of division titles in two seasons. After parlaying that into a $33 million, four-year contract with Arizona, little went right for Ortiz. He went 5-11 in his first season with the Diamondbacks before everything fell apart last year in an 0-8 campaign, a release from Arizona and recommendations that he should call it a career. He was winless in 26 outings, including 11 starts, overall last year for the Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles, who dropped him out of their rotation in July.

"With Baltimore and San Francisco, those are two teams that gave me a tremendous opportunity when things weren't going well," Ortiz said. Ortiz pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League this offseason and continued to work on his mechanics after Orioles pitching coach Leo Mazzone helped him figure out what the problem was: how the ball was coming out of his glove. The Giants watched him closely and were impressed with his improved arm speed, command and breaking ball.

Now, Ortiz hopes to return to the pitcher he was previously with the Giants and get results like his career-high 21 wins in 2003 with the Braves that earned him a trip to the All-Star game. He is leaner, having lost about 13 pounds by easing up on his weightlifting routine and cutting out sugar from his diet.
Source: AP

Cain working on improving control

Matt Cain allowed one run on four hits, walked two and struck out four over six innings in Monday’s start vs. the White Sox. Cain hasn’t exactly been stellar this spring (6.29 ERA), but he’s showed improved control with just six walks allowed over 24 1/3 innings. "I'd rather them get a hit than put them on first," the right-hander said. "It's more of a mental thing -- just challenge guys and be confident that my stuff will get them out." Cain certainly has the stuff to get batters out, as he held them to a miniscule .222 batting average in 2006, so it’s good to see that he’s working toward lowering last year’s lofty 4.1 BB/9 IP ratio.
Source: MLB.com

Benitez: Confirmed As Giants Closer

Manager Bruce Bochy confirmed Friday that Armando Benitez will begin the season as the Giants' closer. Time will tell whether the Giants are showcasing Armando Benitez for a trade or renewing their commitment to him. Either way, the embattled veteran will remain the team's closer and fellow right-hander Brian Wilson will serve as its primary setup man for the foreseeable future.
Source: MLB.com

2007 Giants Projected Lineup

2007 San Francisco Giants

Batting Order

1. CF Dave Roberts
2. SS Omar Vizquel
3. LF Barry Bonds
4. 2B Ray Durham
5. 1B Rich Aurilia
6. RF Randy Winn
7. 3B Pedro Feliz
8. C Bengie Molina

Bonds has been hitting third in spring training, and a Bonds-Durham-Aurilia alignment may look better than Aurilia-Bonds-Durham. Roberts gives the Giants their most noted leadoff hitter since Kenny Lofton joined the club in July 2002 for their run to the World Series. Vizquel is a fine No. 2 hitter. Feliz struggled in the second half, and the hope is to keep him lower in the lineup, especially if he continues his routine of too many strikeouts and too few walks.

The Giants need another big year out of Durham, who posted career highs with 26 homers and 93 RBIs, and all eyes will be on Aurilia, the former full-time shortstop who's returning to the Giants as an all-purpose infielder who could see significant time at first.

Rotation

1. Barry Zito
2. Matt Cain
3. Noah Lowry
4. Matt Morris
5. Russ Ortiz/Jonathan Sanchez/Tim Lincecum

Jason Schmidt is gone, and Zito replaces him as the ace. Finesse replaced power, but Zito is a big upgrade in terms of health, having never missed a start in six-plus seasons. Cain, 22, is a future ace and has the best stuff on the staff. He had a team-high 13 wins last year. Lowry needs to be more consistent over six months, and Morris needs to live up to the three-year contract he received before he dropped 15 games last year.

The final rotation spot could go to Ortiz early, if he succeeds in spring training, and eventually Lincecum, who was selected in the first round of last June's draft out of the University of Washington. All indications are that the Giants would like Ortiz to win the fifth spot in the rotation. Yes, the same Ortiz who posted a 2.00 WHIP in 26 appearances (11 starts) last season and has a 1.48 career mark over nine seasons. The question with the talented youngster, Jonathan Sanchez is whether he can finally handle a spike in workload.

Closer: Armando Benitez

The veteran closer has missed large chunks of the last two seasons due to bad hamstring and bad knees, but he's currently throwing off the mound and claims to be near 100 percent. Benitez has seemingly been around forever, but he's only 34 and will be the closer if he looks fine this spring. Brian Wilson is being groomed as the successor.