The Five Best Starting Pitchers This Season

1. Zach Greinke, Royals Pitcher

Greinke is 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA. Four starts and no earned runs given up yet. Greinke is the most dominant pitcher in the majors right now but he plays for the Royals so not a lot of fans know about him or how good he is.

2. Chad Billingsley, Dodgers Pitcher

Billingsley is also 4-0 with a 2.05 ERA. He has pitched at least six innings in each of his four starts and is coming off a dominating pitching performance against the Astros last week. His next game will be Tuesday against the woeful Giants offense. Billingsley struck out 11 Giants in a game earlier this season.

3. Johan Santana, Mets Pitcher

Santana is 3-1 with a 0.70 ERA. The Mets are struggling this year but they know they have a good chance to win when Santana is on the mound.

4. Felix Hernandez, Mariners Pitcher

Hernandez is 3-0 with a 3.12 ERA and is coming off an impressive start against the Rays. He pitched seven scoreless innings in that game and struck out seven. He is fourth in the AL in strikeouts with 27.

5. Erik Bedard, Mariners Pitcher

Bedard is 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA for the Mariners, and is ranked third in strikeouts in the AL with 29. He is holding left-handed hitters to a .174 batting average.

Some other pitchers that I did not include in this list but are worthy candidates include Giants pitcher Matt Cain, and Reds pitcher Aaron Harang.

Giants Should Start Youth Movement Immediately

The Giants lost to the Dodgers last night 3-2 after Rafael Furcal scored from second base on an infield single by Delwyn Young. Keiichi Yabu took the loss but the blame should go to 2B Ray Durham.

Durham should have thrown Young's grounder to home plate instead of first base. The worst thing that should have happened was having the bases loaded for the Dodgers.

The Giants are now 0-2 and the season is already over. The season was actually over before it began when they decided to let Barry Bonds and Pedro Feliz go and got nothing in return in trades or free agency.

As much as the Giants will miss Bonds, they will also miss Feliz's bat and his great defense at third base. Jose Castillo will make Giants fans wish they never criticized Feliz.

It is time for the Giants to go with a youth movement. The veterans are getting worst and not better. Do the Giants really expect veterans like Randy Winn, Dave Roberts, and Rich Aurelia to improve and make progress? Why won't they start youngsters like Freddie Lewis, Daniel Ortmeier, and Eugenio Velez? The answer to that is because Bruce Bochy loves veterans. Bochy doesn't want to play youngsters who are raw and learning the ropes. He wants to win and win now. Bochy is no spring chicken himself and did not expect the Giants to have to rebuild in his second year managing the club. He cares about his managerial win-loss record and is none too pleased about the L's that will keep piling up on his record this season.

The fans out here in the Bay Area don't want to see the boring veterans anymore. They want to see some new blood and an infusion of youth. The Giants starting lineup is almost as old as the ushers and "ball dudes" at 24 Willie Mays Plaza.

Rookies like Brian Bocock showed more plate discipline than Aurelia last night. Velez looked better at the plate than Roberts.

Matt Cain pitched very well last night but just like last year, the offense failed him. The look on his face after every scoreless inning by the Giants showed frustration and anger. Fans are wondering when this guy will snap. I am just wondering when this losing streak will be snapped.

We could be headed to another low-scoring ball game tonight as Tim Lincecum takes the mound against Chad Billingsley. Lincecum was impressive in his final spring start last week against the Mariners. Billingsley is one of the best young pitchers out there and this year should be his breakout season. He was prone to a lack of command and high pitch counts last year but he should improve on that this season. Gametime is at 7:10pm.