Pitching problems need to be addressed ... fast

No game report here: just commentary. Pure, angry, pissed off commentary.

San Francisco spent $225 million on starters Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija this past off-season in an attempt to bolster the pitching staff. Two weeks into the season, those two acquisitions are doing just fine, thank you, but it's starting to look like maybe that money should have been spread around a bit more.

The Giants went into the season with eight relievers and Jake Peavy. The two go hand in hand, Peavy last finished a game in the ninth grade, but it also should have been a red flag. After a 6-2 start that had very little to do with pitching prowess, the Giants have come undone.

It's early. Heck we're just 14 games into the season, but glaring weaknesses are apparent. They we magnified last night when Peavy and an assortment of relievers blew multiple leads in a 9-7, 11-inning loss to Arizona that dropped the Giants to 7-7. Do the math; that's five losses in six games.

It'[s true you can't win a title in April and May; but you can lose one.

The old adage is that good pitching will always beat good hitting. Well, so far the Giants aren’t holding up the pitching side of that deal.

The chief culprit in the rotation is Peavy, our favorite whipping boy. Bluntly, the 34-year-old is done. He’s made three starts and is 0-1, not something that by itself is cause for alarm. But the other numbers? Jeez!

Three starts, 14 innings. That's means he's not even, on average, getting out of the fifth inning. Yeah, it's still April and numbers are skewed, but he was a six-inning pitcher a year ago. He’s headed the wrong way.

Any starter who allows more than two base runners per inning (his WH/IP is 2.07) isn’t pitching, he's tossing BP. He's only issued one walk, so the hitters are squaring him up. That ERA of 9.0 isn't exactly thrilling either.

Peavy is this season's Casey McGehee. He's under contract but provides little apparent value. And like McGehee a year ago, he should be on a very short leash. McGehee was gone by the end of May. If Peavy lasts that long, it's only because he goes dark for four days between disasters

That scowl he gets when he pitches? Yeah, that’s how we feel too.

Or maybe a better comparison is a four-letter word: "Zito". His numbers were declining when he arrived, he's showing little indication he'll rebound, and Giants management seems to be the only person or persons not tired of his act.

And yet Peavy is nothing compared to the gas can that is the bullpen. There have been two calming influences during the Giants' title runs. Jeremy Affeldt is gone, and Javier Lopez is missing in action. The others, led by human gas can Santiago Casilla, can be politely called "inconsistent".

Casilla is the baseball equivalent of NY Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. He's got a wealth of experience. He knows the job. Over the course of a season you can count on good numbers. And in the fourth quarter with a chance to clinch a playoff spot, he's going to turn the ball over three times.

Casilla is a horror film come to life. Eli Roth is probably sleeping on his couch gathering ideas for "Hostel Part 17." He appears to be the closer by default, but there's also a reason that Bochy hid his glove in Game 7 at KC.

When a so-called "seasoned closer" spawns a hate web site, he's not exactly someone who instills confidence in the fan base. Not since the days San Francisco tried to close games with Dustin Hermanson and Matt Herges has a late lead been so fraught with peril. 

Behind him is a jumbled mess. Hunter Strickland is still a thrower more than a pitcher, and the development isn’t coming as fast as we'd hoped. It doesn’t matter that you can throw 96 if it’s straight down the middle. Movement and hitter your spots beats Major League hitters. Balls thrown hard and straight exit the same way.

Then you add in the injuries: Sergio Romo and George Kontos have headed to the DL with strained flexor tendons, the same injury that derailed Matt Cain a year ago. One such injury is tragic. Two is a coincidence. Three? Something isn't right here.

Bochy told Chronicle beat writer John Shea "We'll get some help. we'll be okay"

Let's hope that means the Giants are open to trying something else, because the status quo ain't working.