Jonathan Sanchez

After last night's seven-inning, 10-strikeout performance against the Padres, Jonathan Sanchez has caught the attention of the baseball nation once again.

Not only is Sanchez ready to break out (as I hinted this offseason), he is already on his way to doing so.

Game No. 17 of 162 in Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ summer-long journey featured a revived Jose Reyes and an impressive pitching performance from this week’s hottest pickup: Mike Pelfrey .

Game No. 17 – Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets

The San Francisco Giants are stranded in one of those offensive deserts where the run-scoring oases are replaced by shimmering mirages of runners in scoring position that dissolve into nothing.

Hey, it was gonna happen sooner or later—this is not a team capable of winning 100 games.

Those kinds of clubs have exceptional hitting to complement the same kind of arms.

While these Giants have the pitching part of that equation, even the improved offense is still mediocre (and that's being charitable).

My diabolical plan worked.

With the Atlanta Braves coming to town to open the 2010 Major League Baseball season at AT&T Park, and Jason Heyward's majesty gaining momentum, something had to be done for the benefit of our beloved San Francisco Giants.

I mean, it's gotten to the point where "they" have given the 20-year-old rookie a nickname that conjures the spectre of Willie Mays at the height of his glory. The so-called Jay-Hey Kid's very moniker testifies to the certainty of his greatness.

The San Francisco Giants Jonathan Sanchez had a year of great improvement in 2009, which featured a no-hitter and an amazing second half of the season. 

His electric stuff led to a lot of strikeouts, but also a fair amount of walks.  He struck out 177 batters in 163.1 innings pitched (for a K/9 of 9.75), which is seventh best among Major League Baseball starting pitchers with a minimum of 100 IP. 

The San Francisco Giants are one of baseball's toss-up teams this season. They could either have sustained success due to the depth of their starting pitching rotation, or miss the playoffs once again based on their offensive deficiencies. These five factors could make the difference between a long playoff run and an early end to to the season.

Begin Slideshow

San Francisco should be a very fun and interesting team to watch this season, and should be able to possibly win the NL WIld Card.

But don't expect for the Giants to be able to win the NL West, because they won't be able to beat the Rockies. The Rockies are just to good.

San Francisco's success will be based on their pitching again, which is still very strong, and possibly even better than last year's pitching. The Giants have some of the best young players in baseball with Tim Lincecum and Pablo Sandoval, along with other young studs on the team.

The San Francisco Giants have built up a formidable starting rotation over the last two seasons. One could make the argument that it is top three in the majors, if not the best one completely. Tim Lincecum has won the Cy Young award in back-to-back seasons, Matt Cain is coming off a 14 win year in which his ERA dropped to 2.89, Barry Zito made a strong recovery late last season in which he upped his strikeout totals and lowered his walks and ERA from the previous two seasons.

The Author originally published the following slideshow at hotstove.com, and it can also be seen here:

http://www.hotstove.com/2010/03/will-the-san-francisco-giants-make-the-p...

When a team finishes 72-90 in 2008 and then jumps up to a 88-74 finish in 2009, 2010 expectations obviously skyrocket.

Since 1980, there have been 53 pitchers who mastered a no-hitter.

Many of these pitchers were top of the rotation throwers like Nolan Ryan, Jack Morris, Mike Witt, Dave Stewart, Mike Scott, Randy Johnson, and Dwight Gooden. 

Some were solid pitchers like Terry Mulholland, Wilson Alvarez, Mark Buehrle, Derek Lowe, and Kevin Millwood.

There were nine pitchers who surprised the world and accomplished this feat. Listed below we will rank these lucky fortunate throwers who made it to the record books.