I Walk the Line (Up) - Johnny Sanchez

Jonathan Sanchez looks like he is well on his way to leading the National League in walks for the second year in a row. He currently has a healthy 15 walk lead over J.A Happ and has a comfortable lead in walks per nine innings of well over a walk an inning over his nearest competitors.

The walks may be frustrating and it certainly limits the number of innings that he can go but it hasn't stopped him from being an effective pitcher this season, as he has worked his way out of jams and still has unbelievable strikeout stuff.

It may not be the best game plan but it is one with historical precedent. Since 1980, 55 pitchers have thrown at least 80 innings with an ERA+ of 105 or higher while having a walk rate over five per nine innings. It would be nice if he could figure out a way towards last year's 4.5 per nine innings but I wouldn't want him to do it at the expense of throwing batting practice to hitters.

As Giants fans, we just have to come to the acceptance that this is Sanchez and that while we hope for the Randy Johnson or Sandy Koufax type of transformation to happen, we shouldn't spend all of our energy hoping for that miracle to happen.

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