Noah Lowry out at least through April

The Giants can't afford to start the season without one of their young starters, but that's exactly what they'll have to overcome.

Left-hander Noah Lowry is scheduled to have surgery on his left forearm on Friday and though he could be back throwing in 2 weeks, manager Bruce Bochy says it's more likely they'll be without him until the end of April.

“This is something that I don’t know enough about it to know how rare it is, but you don’t hear about it a lot,” Bochy said. “It’s not like this is a common occurrence in baseball players.”

Lowry was diagnosed with exertional compartment syndrome. According to MayoClinic.com, it is “an exercise-induced neuromuscular condition that causes pain, swelling and sometimes even disability in affected muscles of the legs or arms.”

It'll be interesting who the Giants put in Lowry's place until he's ready to return to the rotation.

Another Giants' pitcher has interesting outing

Should the Giants and manager Bruce Bochy be worried at this point? If they weren't after the terrible outing that Barry Zito had yesterday in a 23-8 thumping by the Oakland A's, maybe they should be today after the outing from left-hander Noah Lowry.

Lowry walked 9 of the 12 batters he faced, facing the entire Texas Rangers' lineup with 1 official at-bat against him. So far this spring, Lowry has walked 12 batters in 2 1/3 innings of work...manager Bruce Bochy:

“We were hoping he’d find it in the second. “He said he had trouble gripping the ball. He couldn’t feel it. This is definitely one he’s got to wash off. He’s going to bounce back and get the ball where he wants it. He has to deal with it but he’s a tough kid.”

Memo to the Giants, this could be a very VERY long season if this is any indication of the season to come.

Rowand guarantees title hunt with Giants

Aaron Rowand may have let his excitement of being with a new team scramble his brain. According to Chris Haft of MLB.com, Rowand has guaranteed that the Giants will contend for the NL West title.

Now, I'm not a Giants fan, nor a Giants hater, but Rowand may be biting off a little more than he can chew. To guarantee anything at this point is both ludicrious and dumb.

Things the Giants do have going for them...their pitching staff is young and talented. Their front 4 boasts Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, Noah Lowry and Matt Cain, a fearsome foursome to be sure, but where is their offense going to come from? Rowand can not carry an offense, most people say he's a ballpark created hitter. Moving from a very hitter friendly ballpark in Philadelphia to one of the best pitchers parks in baseball isn't going to do him any favors.

Last season, the Giants ranked 27th in Team Batting Average (.254), 29th in Runs (683), 25th in HR's (131), 28th in OBP (.322) and dead last in Slugging Percentage (.387).

There's no doubt the Giants have pitching, but with their only addition being Aaron Rowand, I just don't see how the Giants are going to compete for anything but last place.

Lowry getting interest from NL West teams?

With the Giants apparently talking to the Yankees about outfielder Hideki Matsui, it was rumored that the Giants could send left-hander Noah Lowry to New York. From what Giants' GM Brian Sabean says, it looks as if Lowry is only getting interest from teams within the NL West.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Sabean has apparently gotten offers on Lowry from the Padres, Dbacks and Rockies.

"Without giving too much away, his interest is from teams I wouldn't necessarily trade him to," Sabean said. "I don't see us getting the value back."

Giants and Yankees still talking about Matsui

12.7.07 1:15pm PST

The Giants and Yankees continue talks about Matsui, but no deal is close yet. The Giants could send two of Noah Lowry, Jonathan Sanchez and Brad Hennessey.

12.6.07 10:22pm PST

With a lot of teams looking for an outfielder during the Winter Meetings the past 3 days, it looks like the Giants could have their eye on a big one....Yankees' outfielder Hideki Matsui. According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, the Giants did call the Yankees and could be offering Tim Lincecum, Noah Lowry or Matt Cain.

Giants after Yankees' Matsui?

With a lot of teams looking for an outfielder during the Winter Meetings the past 3 days, it looks like the Giants could have their eye on a big one....Yankees' outfielder Hideki Matsui. According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, the Giants did call the Yankees and could be offering Tim Lincecum, Noah Lowry or Matt Cain.