Giants could be seriously good, but also mortal

I waited a week to jump in here and write something intentionally, as to not overreact about such a small sample size. Seeing as though week one ended on a pretty lousy note in LA, I feel as though we've all been doused with a little bit of reality after a pretty sizzling start.

We're not going to win 110 games. Belt isn't going to break Bonds's HR record, and Pagan won't hit .450 the rest of the way. But what we do know, is that this 2014 incarnation of our beloved Giants could be-- and I emphasize could be, as good or better than the 2012 Champions.

For once, the lineup appears to be well... really good. There's a pretty nice mix of power and contact throughout the lineup, and honestly, I think the days of finishing in the bottom 5 in runs scored and HRs is over. Prior to the season, we all looked at the lineup on paper and thought, "Wow. If this goes right, and that guy stays healthy, and this guy continues getting better, we could score a lot of runs."

Well, things are beginning to fall into place, now aren't they? Every single one of our power hitters has hit a HR, and effing Brandon Belt has 4. FOUR HOME RUNS! Like... seriously?

Seriously. I saw them.

The Belt development is the single most important event to happen to this lineup since I don't know when... probably since we added Pence via trade.

Forget what he's on pace for, but instead just sit back and acknowledge that Belty has finally figured it out, and is a legitimate power hitting corner infielder. Many of us knew it was a matter of time, others thought he would never pan out and were on the Brett Pill Crazy Train to nowhere.

With what we've seen so far. Belt is not only a lock for 25 dingers and an .800+ OPS with good defense, but we're talking potential all-star selection.

I know it's only 7 games, but this metamorphosis began last year with the grip change, and you all saw how he improved. This didn't just come out of nowhere.

Someone who did kinda come out of nowhere was Brandon Hicks, or Brandon #3, or B3 for short. Is that going to catch on? No? Okay, I tried though.

A former 3rd round pick of Atlanta, Hicks was a long shot to make the team at all. Now he's making some serious noise at the plate. The guy is doubling, hitting home runs... all out of nowhere. Of course, he'll probably cool off, but just the fact that there's a guy on our team capable of replacing Scutaro that has pop? Just what the doctor ordered... as long as Bochy doesn't take too many ABs away from B3 in favor of Adrianza so that he cools off.

Another guy the doctor ordered is Mike Morse. Man, it sure is nice to have him on this team. I know he's a bit injury prone and he will strike out a good deal. But the guy can hit. He's contributed in a number of different ways at the dish, including a crazy bomb in LA that went like 450 feet. Also, he hasn't hurt us defensively yet, and the 7th inning Gregor Blanco substitution thing seems to work just fine.

All in all, I could not be happier with this lineup right now, save for Scutaro basically hanging in career limbo with this bad back of his. I asked Twitter and Facebook recently that if all they got out of Marco's $20MM contract was this picture and the 2012 World Series, was it worth it? There was a resounding yes, and a couple smart asses that said he was re-signed after that. Yeah geniuses. Thanks for that.

Now the pitching, I'm not so sold on. Of all the idiotic things John Kruk rambled on about on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN, the one thing that I hate to agree with but do is, "I don't know if the Giants have the pitching to get done this year."

Sucks, but from what we've seen so far, it might be true. As I see it, there are two guys-- Madison Bumgarner and Tim Hudson-- that are going to be rock solid performers every 5th day. There's Matt Cain, who will be somewhere between decent and good, and then there's the Wild Cards, Lincecum and Vogelsong.

Granted, Vogelsong did very well in his first start, and I think that's a seriously encouraging sign. Let's keep our fingers crossed on him. However, we need to face the possibility that he may begin to suck and will be run out of town in a more delicate fashion than Todd Wellemeyer once was. We owe Vogey that much.

Lincecum is probably going to have another season of 4.50-4.75 ERA ball with maddening starts of equal parts brilliance and gopher balls. That's been the trend the last two seasons, and I just don't see it changing unfortunately. His propensity to give up the long ball and get bogged down in big innings will be his undoing half the time, and that's what we'll likely get. A beloved .500 pitcher-- like your smartphone a year and a half into your two year Verizon agreement. Completely maddening.

Cain to me is the most concerning. He's beginning 2014 much the way he began 2013-- by giving up HRs in bunches and bunches. Just like last year, it's concerning as hell, but there's evidence to suggest that he can avoid these things somehow. It's as if he's cruising along, and things are fine, then boom-- gone. Two batters later? Gone again. I just don't understand.

It should be of course noted that last season Cainer did improve toward the second half of the year, and cut down on the long ball. If not, I'm afraid, he'll be more in the Lincecum category than the Bumgarner one, and that's not going to win us that 3rd even year World Series in a row.

And John Kruk will be right.

We can't have that.

So everyone, take the first week for what it was-- a week, but just know that this team has the potential to be seriously good, and that it's probably going to come down to pitching-- just like every other year.

And I hate the Dodgers.

Gregor Blanco doesn't need replacing

Please believe me, I'm not trying to play Devil's Advocate, and I'm not trolling you. Let's just examine this for a minute.

Does Gregor Blanco really need to be replaced? Is he that bad? Does he hurt us as an everyday left fielder?

Everyone initially would say, "Of course he needs to be replaced. He plays great D, but LF is a power position, and he can't hit it out. Hell, he can barely hit doubles, and doesn't steal enough bases."

Okay. Fair enough. He does seem to lack the ideal makeup of a left fielder... especially when you think Bonds every time "Left Field" and "Giants" appear in the same thought. Blanco just doesn't quite do enough while we're watching games all year to make us think that he's good enough to man the position on his own.

But is perception truly reality?

With all the MLB Hot Stove action going on and names being thrown around as free agent targets or potential trade acquisitions, I've checked out a fair amount of stats on guys. For stats, usually I go to Fangraphs, and really pore over the averages and percentages.

You know me by now. I'm not a big WAR or FLIPx or ASS+ believer (or whatever they're all called). I don't think numbers derived from all kinds of sources and mixed into a blender for a final number metric rating is the only way to evaluate players. Call me old school, call me an idiot, I don't care.

However, I do respect WAR as a decent ranking of whether a player hurts or helps a team. Despite my old man, conservative way of thinking, when a metric like WAR has Mike Trout as the best OF and Andrew McCutchen as #2, it's something that can be depended on for something. You can't really argue with that. Is Mike Trout really worth 10 extra wins, versus an average player like Ryan Doumit? Yeah. I think so, don't you?

This actually marks a partial turnaround for me on this issue.

So, knowing that having Mike Trout roaming your outfield and in your lineup wins you 10 extra games and having Ryan Doumit or Nick Markakis in yours only preserves the status quo, where would you think Gregor Blanco was in 2013? Hunter Pence?

It may surprise you. A lot of the stats and rankings will surprise you. Simply because most of us don't see Blanco as a starting caliber LF, but instead an easy scapegoat for the lack of power the Giants consistently display.

WAR says Pence is worth nearly 5.5 wins, and Blanco worth almost 3.

No matter what our eyes tell us, Blanco is an above average player-- 28th best on this list of qualified OFs. Pence was 6th.

This is both the interesting and annoying part of using the WAR metric to make any arguments. Would you rather have Blanco or Allen Craig? Blanco or Beltran? Cespedes, Cuddyer, even Norichka Aoki?

Blanco placed above all those guys in the WAR rankings.

This is why I cannot and absolutely will not use it as an end-all be-all for player evaluation like famed MLB Network Troll Brian Kenny, and for those whose entire blogs are based off metrics like this. Team baseball has too many moving parts to be defined by one guy's history and patterns.

I'm okay with using it as part of an evaluation though, so let's dig a little deeper.

Blanco's ranks versus the other qualified 50 outfielders in 2013.



If nothing else, this just proves that Blanco is a study in gives and takes. He's patient and makes a ton of contact, but doesn't hit for any power (as we knew already), but, what is up with him having the highest Line Drive percentage among all outfielders? Now that is a wild stat..

The thing that shocks me is how few times he crossed the plate in 2013. A lot of this can be attributed to how poor Blanco performed as a leadoff hitter in 2013 (as well as lousy clutch hitting behind him). He simply isn't up to the task and his supporting cast didn't help matters.



Is it possible that Blanco could significantly improve with the presence of a healthy and productive Angel Pagan leading off? The evidence would suggest as such. In fact, Blanco is a .248 career hitter leading off. Sometimes you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and you can't make a guy a leadoff hitter just because he's fast, makes contact, and walks at a decent rate.

Although we figured out just now that Blanco should never lead off unless medically necessary, the biggest issue with Gregor is not simply that he has below average power, but that he doesn't hit lefties well. Couple this with a weak Giants bench devoid of pop, and you have a serious hole against left handed pitchers. Giants brass knows this, and is trying to add a right-handed LF to complement Blanco. I suggested Mike Morse via free agency. There are also ideas of trading for someone.

My argument in all of this though, is that a cheap right-handed platoon mate (better than Andres Torres obviously) is the answer for the cost-conscious Giants, rather than trading for a new player entirely.

The recent names floated are Logan Morrison from the Marlins and Brett Gardner from the Yankees. Possibly even Ichiro.

Ok, all nice names, but they're also all left handed, and the entire point of this article is to prove that Blanco is an above average player that simply needs A) To not lead off, and B) to have his at bats versus lefties reduced to the minimum by instituting the buddy system.

Furthermore, I'd rather have Giants brass spend another $3-6MM annually to find Blanco a decent platoon mate than trade anyone worthwhile from our farm system to replace a guy that may not need replacing to begin with.

FURTHERMORE SOME MORE, the lack of power throughout the Giants lineup has more to do with the sub-par 2013 performances of Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey, and the absence of Angel Pagan, than Blanco not playing well enough.

Yes, it is their fault more than it is his fault. Take it to the vault.

It rhymes so I said it.

Assuming Pagan is the everyday leadoff hitter (career .294 hitter in the #1 hole), Blanco gets pushed down to 6-8th (career .278 hitter in those spots), and they can find a righty LF that can be average versus LHPs, the problems are lessened.

This kind of patchwork problem solving can indeed be maddening for fans that want more, but ownership isn't willing to go nuts on free agents and this guy can't blame them. The approach isn't sexy and it doesn't satisfy our appetite for home runs, but it could work-- or at least prevent left field from hurting the 2014 Giants.

Drawn out ceremonies, Timmy & Hector, St. Louis, & other early observations

Well, it's been a few games now, and we've gotten to know our 2013 Giants a little better. Sure, they're almost the same team as last year, but every year is different. Guys get better, guys regress, and you just never know how things will shake out. Here's what I've seen so far:

-- Starting pitching has been a little up and down. Cain had one great start against LA, then gave up a historic 9 ER against St. Louis. Timmy won a game while walking 7. Bumgarner was a monster against the Dodgers and was a little shaky against Colorado. Vogelsong got lit up pretty badly.

The only guy with an unblemished statline thus far is Barry Zito, who apparently now owns the Cardinals. Let's hope this dominant Zito sticks around all year.

...Speaking of the Cardinals and our home opening series...

-- They got a little revenge for last season's NLCS. Believe me, these fans and that team are still bitter at their collapse, and they immediately got subjected to a three game, pre-game lovefest the likes unseen by Major League Baseball.

There's been some talk about the three ceremonies and how they were a little much. I agree.

Three days of flag raising, Buster, and an extended ring ceremony is deserved, but a little much when they last 20-30 minutes apiece and delay the beginning of the game. Again, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy every second of  it and that I didn't tear up when they raised that championship flag, but I wouldn't want the Giants to get stuck with another team's home opening series and 3 extravagant ceremonies in a row.

I feel like the flag-raising and the ring ceremony could've all been on the same day (Friday) and that Buster's MVP ceremony could've been pushed back to the Rockies series or on Sunday. Just my opinion.

-- Interesting factoid: The Cardinals also were at AT&T Park in 2011 for the Giants home opening series in which they watched the Giants ring ceremony. And then won the WS themselves in '11.

-- The Dodgers still suck. They've got all kinds of fancy toys that will cost them an arm and a leg for years, and the only one worth a damn is Clayton Kershaw, who they haven't even paid yet. Pathetic.

-- I like Chad Gaudin. He's looked good thus far. Andres Torres on the other hand...

-- There's still a "thing" between Timmy and Buster, whether anyone in the Giants' clubhouse wants to admit it or not. Sanchez caught Lincecum in his 1st two starts, and this brilliant Baseball Prospectus article (which you need to read) basically breaks down how and why Hector Sanchez is an unacceptable catcher thus far in his young career, especially for Lincecum. A lot of it has to do with framing, but the thing that gets me is that Buster has to sit or displace Belty in order for this to happen.

All this why there's a 3rd catcher named Quiznos sitting on the bench, useless.to the world and to himself. He should be getting reps in the minors.

Whether Bochy just wants to avoid Buster getting beaten up by crazy breaking pitches in the dirt, or whether Lincecum just can't handle being told what to do, this thing is detrimental to both the Giants' offense and defense.

I think a lot of us have this feeling that Hector Sanchez can hit, and he's still just a baby, but the fact remains that he hit .280 last year, but had a .685 OPS to go along with it. That's like backup middle infielder territory...

-- Brian Wilson didn't respond to the Giants' invitation to be included in the ring ceremony. That was the final nail in the coffin to his career in with the Orange & Black. It was immature and unacceptable. We loved that weirdo and he'll never be as happy with anyone else as he was here. If he wasn't so obsessed with himself, he'd have signed a minor league deal with the Giants and pitched his way back into a setup role. Instead, he made it about him, and still thinks that despite the fact he isn't capable of pitching, that he should be offered guaranteed millions. Good luck Wilson. I won't even call you Weez anymore.

It was nice while it lasted... all two years of it.

-- Speaking of which, where was Barry Bonds on Buster's MVP Day? For as much controversy as his name conjures up, he should've still been there. Jeff Kent, might have been a great Giant,but he also played for the effing Dodgers willingly-- Bonds never did that. Who better to give a keynote MVP speech to Buster than a guy who won 7 of them and lost an 8th to Jeff Kent.

I know he's a salty bastard and he has outstanding legal issues, but the Giants give rings to Kruk and Kuip and bring back Gaylord Perry all the time. Bonds deserves to be there. He built that ballpark and paved the way for these two Championships.

-- The Giants need to start their own division of eBay for highly sought-after giveaways like the Buster bobblehead. Nevermind the fact that they were giving away 40k of them, there will still morons lined up for LITERALLY a mile down the Embarcadero before the gates were opened. All for a bobblehead.

Crazier still was that there were sleaze merchants with garbage bags waiting inside the gates offering everyone $15-$20 for their bobbleheads. Last time I checked, they were going for $40-$50 on eBay. Just crazy.

Buster is protecting my flavored booze section now.

-- Stay hot Hunter Pence, catch fire Marco Scutaro... pretty self-explanatory, Pence has been a monst, and Scoots doesn't look comfortable at all. Also, Pagan is off to a hot start, giving me plenty of opportunities to use my #PaganWorship hashtag on Twitter.

Remember to read this Baseball Prospectus article about Timmy and Hector.

Pagan receives money, will continue working for Giants

You already know about this, because you're a normal person in 2012. I just thought I should reiterate, because I'm a blogger and it is my self-appointed job to regurgitate news that you already know and pretend like you need to hear it from me to make myself feel important.

We all wanted to continue the Pagan worship that we enjoyed last season-- but at a reasonable cost.

Ostensibly, Pagan is going to make $10MM a year. Pretty damn steep if you ask me. Last year I didn't expect him to be better than a fringe starter. Now all of the sudden, he's a $10MM a year man. Hard to figure, but he had a career year and he fits perfectly into the Giants' style of play and ballpark.

You also have to consider the pathetic FA market this off season and the fact that BJ Upton, who although younger and more gifted,  plays the game half as hard as Pagan and he got 5/$75MM from Atlanta.

If that no-effort nutsac with a sub .800 OPS gets $15MM a year, then Pagan is certainly worth his deal. Supply and demand...

Assuming he has 4 similar seasons to 2012, I have no problem with this seemingly bloated contract. He plays plus defense and gets on base. He had 15 triples last year and is a good base runner.

He might be overpaid now, but he's a good guy and a good player. Plus, after winning "two in three", I really don't give a rat's ass about the Giants' revenue stream or finances anymore.

They've somehow managed to do what they've done by making tons of head scratching moves, and although we can't stop analyzing or questioning things, I feel like there has to be a higher level of trust between us fans and the front office at this juncture.

On that note, I do trust in their ability to re-sign Marco AND Brian Wilson.

I know people are turned off by Wilson's supposed interest in the Blue Bastards, but that is just a negotiating tactic and apparently they aren't interested in him anyway. He wants as much guaranteed money as possible and that's the way pro sports works at this point.

Even if Romo is the closer now, I'd like to see Wilson back, at least for one year in some capacity. I know it's just sentimental, but I don't care.

We'll see what happens.

Coaching staff the real MVPs

Forget your Poseys, Pandas, and Scutaros for a second.

I know it's hard, but just try not to think of individual performances for a second and transport yourself back to the beginning of the season.

Think about what you wanted this team's goals to be-- both for each player and collectively.

All we wanted was Pagan and Cabrera (sorry) to be better than 4th outfielders. We wanted Brandon Crawford to play good defense, and if he hit his weight, we'd be thrilled.

We wanted Brandon Belt to get playing time and to learn how to hit with any kind of consistency. We fought amongst each other all season as to whether he should be sent down-- whether he had the mental makeup to deal with his situation.

We didn't think Hector Sanchez was ready to catch a big league pitching staff coming out of Spring Training. He was too raw, we were told. Joaquin Arias was a random infielder who we knew very little about. He impressed in Spring, and with the injury to Freddy Sanchez, he made the team and never looked back. He made the final play of Matt Cain's perfect game and has racked up clutch hits.

With Brian Wilson shelved very early on, Santiago Casilla stepped up until the all-star break, closing out games with authority. Now that's Sergio Romo's job-- something he's never done before.

We PRAYED that Buster Posey would be able to play 100 games and thought 15 HR and 70 RBI with a .280 avg. would've been a great comeback story. We all know how that turned out.

Look at our starting pitchers. We expected ZERO from Barry Zito. Many of us, including me, just said eat the guy's contract and get someone-- ANYONE in here other than him to be the 5th starter.

When it became apparent that there was something dreadfully wrong with Tim Lincecum, the staff never gave up on him or his season. They continued to cart him out there, always treating him with the respect and waaayyyyy-tooooo-long rope earned by being a two-time Cy Young winner.

They worked with him, watched tape, talked to his dad-- anything that would get their ace back to some semblance of respectability. He seems to have found that respectability as a reliever of all things.

Vogelsong and Bumgarner had incredible first halves, but tailed off badly after the all-star break.

Now look at them. Shutdown baseball in the playoffs-- seemingly out of nowhere.

Pablo Sandoval, still not up to required fitness standards, struggled at times this season-- frustrating all involved. Instead of rehabbing his hamate bone, he was out until all hours in a Santa Cruz resort getting into trouble. He fell in and out of his old ways at the plate; impressing sometimes, maddening us in others.

Now look at him.


We don't see what goes on behind the scenes or on the practice field, but it's clear that this coaching staff constantly spins thread into gold on their baseball loom. It's unbelievable.

Remember when we led the league in errors in the early season? Remember that game in Houston when we had all absolutely HAD it with Crawford and his errors? Seems like a long time ago.

Now? His coaches and his hard work have molded him into a Gold Glove candidate who hit .248-- higher than the .235 we were praying for.

He hit .204 last year.

So much tangible improvement by so many players during the season didn't happen by accident. So many in-game moves and questionable lineup moves by Bochy have turned to gold seemingly every time.

When we all scorned George Kontos for constantly allowing his inherited runners to score, and demanded to know why Bochy continued to cart him out there during similar situations, we got our answer when he came into huge situations in the NLDS, and up until his last two outings, has shut it down.

Gardy the bullpen guru.

The entire coaching staff has left an indelible mark on this 2012 season, something that I can only compare to 2010's magic or perhaps even the turnaround by the 49ers from 2010 to 2011.

Mark Gardner in the bullpen has overcome the loss of our closer and the entrance of new players like Jose Mijares and the aforementioned Kontos. He got Casilla back on track after he'd seemingly lost everything in July. He has managed to keep this bullpen together when it seemingly was running out of steam during the dog days.

Dave Righetti is a magician. Overseeing the entire pitching staff while it regressed and befuddled all, Rags managed to keep it between the lines. Look at the job he's done with Barry Zito! Absolutely incredible.

Rags, the miracle worker.

Look what he's done with Vogelsong and Bumgarner for God's sake! Vogey is our #1 and Bumgarner just threw 7 scoreless in the World Series after being left for dead. He turned a guy struggling to keep his 2012 postseason ERA under 15.00 into a World Series hero in a matter of a week.

As for Bochy? What more can I say. He's just unbelievable.

I've likened him to a big oil tanker at sea. It takes him forever to get moving, and even longer to change course. Sometimes that's a good thing though.

If he made every little knee-jerk decision we demanded of him on Twitter, Crawford, Belt, and Kontos would probably be in AAA, and God knows what would be happening with Lincecum and Zito.

I know I'm gushing like a schoolgirl here, but this staff needed this kind of recognition. Ron Wotus, Tim Flannery, and Shawon Dunston invisibly tutoring the infielders, Will Clark handing out pointers during BP, Billy Hayes down there in the bullpen teaching Hector Sanchez how to catch Tim Lincecum-- it just goes on and on...

Bam Bam and Belty.

Bam Bam Meulens? Another miracle worker.

We couldn't hit last year worth a damn, and newly acquired players like Pagan, Scutaro, Pence, and a healthy Posey have definitely helped that tremendously. BUT, one cannot discount the work put in with young guys like Crawford and Belt-- seemingly lost at the plate. You have Pagan beasting around since early August and Posey contending for the MVP while we annihilate the Cardinals and Tigers in back to back games.

Kudos Bam Bam. Seriously.

I know I've rambled here. I can't help it. Every time I thought of one example of great coaching, another jumped out at me. If the Giants do indeed win two more games this season and manage to accomplish this crazy feat of winning it all twice in three years, it will be due in great part to the magnificence of this group of men assembled as the Giants' coaching staff.

Expecting the unexpected

Completely unbelievable. 

It's not torture, and it's not surprise. It's just completely unbelievable.

I warned you to expect the unexpected. The unexpected is now an understatement.

What we all witnessed in Game 1 was the same thing we all witnessed in Game 7-- complete and utter domination of a team that was expected to take care of the Giants like a garden hose rinsing dirt off a walkway.

You know it's a good thing when 22 of 27 ESPN "experts" pick the Tigers to romp all over the Orange & Black. It's also a great thing when the best pitcher in the game is tagged for 5 ER and is reduced to an ungracious little jerk who all but blamed a mound visit by pitching coach Todd Jones for Pablo Sandoval's second HR.

That's what this team does to people.

They take reigning World Champs, defending AL Cy Young/MVPs, and every expert's darlings, and completely take them by storm.

You could clearly see the shock of the faces of the Tigers both during and after the game. It was a collective, "What the F--- just happened?"

Not only were they handled by a suddenly dominant Barry Zito (crazy right?), but they were demoralized by Panda's historic 3 HRs, and countless dinks and drives by Scutaro, Pagan, and even Zeets himself. Then you have a wicked Freak Lincecum roaring out of the bullpen and throwing a flawless two and a third. I'm a Giants fan who's seen or heard almost every game this year, and even I last night was saying, "WTF just happened?"

I don't know how they're doing this, but they are.

It's a long series, and Detroit will win a game or two before it's all said and done, but it's extremely difficult not to get ahead of ourselves here. I don't see the resilience or heart in the Tigers that I see in our guys, but they're certainly capable of taking the lumber to us at some point and shutting us down with Anibal Sanchez.

What we all saw last night was an incredible show of Ruthian (or Sandovalian) proportions with a side of epic #RallyZito action. Simply inexplicable, but fact.

In Game 2, the Giants send to the mound Madison Bumgarner, who has been more bum than MadBum in the playoffs. If Bochy and Rags say they've fixed his mechanical issue, who am I to judge? These two, along with the rest of the coaching staff have combined to create nothing but magic. Let's just hope Bumgarner is fixed better than Jose Valverde was fixed.

Game 2 starter Doug Fister is from Merced and grew up a Gyros fan. He's going to be fired up and hasn't pitched in nearly two weeks. People can debate the layoff factor all they want, but it's going to hurt the sinkerballer tonight. Like Verlander before him, the Fistmeister is going to be overamped and rusty.

He's likely not going to give up any HRs, but I'll bet you anything the Giants tee off on him, executing a veritable laser show that would make Pink Floyd jealous.

I have to say, I am enjoying this World Series so much more than 2010. Even though we killed the Rangers and it was incomparably exciting, it was still nerve-wracking and completely emotionally exhausting. I feel like this time around, we're all able to take it all in better. Especially after our Game 1 romp, I think I'm able to look around (so to speak) and really revel in the moment without the neurosis and paranoia that came along with the Torture.

Regardless, we don't know what tomorrow holds, so enjoy this Giants fans! You never know if you'll be back!

Non-stars the key to success down the stretch

There are no two ways about it, the remainder of the regular season is going to be difficult.

Sure there are nine games remaining against the Dodgers and six against Arizona remaining. There's that four game series against Atlanta at AT&T.

All tough.

The biggest enemies of success for the Giants however, are the Giants themselves.

Let's hope Scutaro stays red hot.

None of us should have concerns about the Poseys and Pences of the world. They're good hitters. Pablo is still not 100%, but he should be okay and should find his stride soon.

The real keys to success are the complementary parts of this roster-- the Brandons, Scutaro, Blanco, Pagan, Scutaro, etc. Them, and oh yeah, our suddenly dysfunctional bullpen.

Brandon Belt for instance, has enjoyed a massive resurgence in the last month or so. Since July 25, he's gone  28 for 74-- good for a .378 average. Even better, he's hitting an incredible .412 in the month of August with an OBP% over .400 and an OPS over 1.000. Pretty sweet for a dude who looked deader than a doornail during the span of June 24th to July 24th. For God's sake, he had only 13 hits in the entire month of July, the same number of hits he had during the past three series.

The other Brandon, Mr. Crawford, had a career-high 9 game hitting streak snapped on Friday. During that streak, he raked in a serious way-- to the tune of a .464 average. There's no coincidence that the Giants averaged nearly 7 runs a game during that streak.

Marco Scutaro has hit .333 with 18 RBIs since he joined the Giants. Angel Pagan has chipped in with a .323 average in his last 8 games.

With everything this team has gone through in the last week, it's truly important that these guys keep it going. They need to get on base for the Killer Ps (Panda, Posey, Pence), and Belt needs to keep collecting clutch hits hitting behind them. 

Prior to this season, we could depend on pitching and pray for one more run than our opponents. Now? Not so much.

Vogelsong is struggling over his past two outings. Lincecum and Zito have become totally unreliable. The closer situation is a mess. It's a fact of life right now for this team unfortunately. It's also exactly why all this team's moving parts need to operate in unison heading down the stretch. It's time to come together and step it up in the absence of their former #3 hitter.

They'll get their first real test Monday at Chavez Latrine. Beat LA.

Good news is, it's still May...

The bad news? We're not very good, and there isn't a lot to suggest that we'll get better.

Would Brian Wilson have given up a dong to Marco Scutaro to blow the game? Maybe. Maybe not.

Would we do better if our knee-jerk reactions to send Brandon Crawford down to Fresno came true? Maybe. Maybe not.

Would we have won a couple more games lately if Panda hadn't have gone on the DL or if we had Freddy Sanchez back and healthy? Maybe. Maybe not.

Even with Sandoval, Sanchez, and Wilson, there's just nothing there to suggest that we'd be a significantly better team.

It's so hard to be positive these days, what with the consistent defensive ineptitude and the offensive futility.

Do we have heart and scrap? Sure, but what good is effort when the result is constant frustration and missed opportunities?

The problem with this roster and with our minor leagues for that matter, is that there is no hope in sight. There's no Bryce Harper in Fresno or Richmond-- hell, there aren't even any Brandon Belts down there. 

Right now, the Giants are who they are, and who they are just isn't good enough. We've got a solid bullpen-- better than most of the league. We have a great starting rotation, despite Lincecum consistently pitching like a 5th starter rather than an ace. After that, you know, we're not good. The eight guys on the field, whomever they happen to be on a given day, are just not playoff caliber as a unit.

We have 3 above-average hitters (Sandoval, Posey, Cabrera), two starting caliber players (Pagan, Blanco), and the rest are AAA players. Say what you want about that statement, but the remainder or our hitters are borderline major league players and none are blue chip prospects. Belt, Crawford, Pill, Arias, Sanchez, Culberson, Schierholtz, Huff, Theriot, Burriss, Gillaspie... I mean, what do you expect from those guys?

Honestly.

I see exactly what you should see out of a lineup that is 38% (or at best 50%) reliable. It is just is what it is. Belt should be better than he is, but he's lost and nervous, same with Crawford. There's no real solution or explanation for their offensive struggles (and defensive struggles in regard to Crawford). Do you send them down so that they can play with less pressure and regain confidence? Who then takes their places? Are we then a better team?

There's simply no answer or solution, which is the most disheartening part about rooting for this particular team. We don't have the pieces to land a big player via trade, and when you look at 2013 free agents, the chance of landing the two biggest free agents to be, Josh Hamilton and Andre Ethier, the dream just dies. Our best chance to improve is to get Lincecum pitching up to his capabilities, get Sandoval back, get Buster's bat going consistently, and to play good defense.

What we've learned thus far is that we simply cannot depend on the development and success of Brandon Crawford or Brandon Belt-- the two biggest wild cards on this roster. With so much dead weight in the lineup and such awful defense, the best we can hope for is a .500 team, which is exactly what we have.

The good news is that it's only May, and it's a long season. A lot can change, and yet, a lot could stay the same. Let's hope for the best.

So far, so weird...

I believe by definition, that the first 7 games of this season have been a mixed bag. We've been swept, we've been embarrassed, we've been disappointing.

But simultaneously, we've been exciting, we've been heroic, and we've been promising.

Only with the Giants could such contrasts hold so much value at the same time.

I mean, we've got Tim Lincecum on one hand-- "The Ace"-- with the worst ERA in all of baseball.

Then we've got Barry Zito, the "Useless Money Pit", with the best ERA in the league.

I can't explain any of it, and I don't believe anyone else can either, but things are looking up thanks to a suddenly viable offense and at least two of our starters settling down and nearly throwing no-hitters back to back.

Thoughts and musings:

-- It sure is nice to see Bumgarner and Cain settle down and dominate the way they should. Bum took a no-hitter into the 6th in Denver on Thursday, and Cain threw a one hit shutout in the home opener on Friday.

I wish I had a cool stat about those performances, but all I know is that Cain's one hitter was literally the best Opening Day pitching performance by a Giant ever.

-- Lincecum's struggles are serious, and they're not going away. This is reminiscent of a couple Augusts ago when he couldn't strike out his grandmother and effed up his mechanics. Krukow says his release point is off. I don't know. I'm not a pitching coach, but he is seriously off, and when he's off, he's the worst pitcher in baseball-- even worse than Zito. At least when Zito is awful and disgraceful, all he does is walk guys. Lincecum hangs balls up there like batting practice, which is much worse.

I have faith that he will find his groove again sometime this season, but it isn't just something that gets fixed overnight by finally sleeping in your own bed or lighting up a doobie.

-- This is why I'm comfortable giving Matt Cain $112.5MM and I'm becoming a little more skeptical of committing more to Lincecum.

-- Good Lord! Who are you people and what have you done with the Giants' anemic offense? As we speak, we're in the top two in the National League in runs per game. Isn't that incredible? So much of it is thanks to our new acquisition, Melky Cabrera, whom I thought wasn't very good.

Well! Thank you for proving me wrong and then making me eat dirt Melkman! You've really impressed all of us so far.

Dude. He's hitting .414.

-- The Brandon Belt thing is getting uglier. Re-enter stage right, Nate Schierholtz, who managed to hit two home runs in his only start of the season. How can you keep a guy like him buried on the bench now? How can you sit Huff, who now has a HR to go along with a .990 OPS?

Hell, how can you sit Pill (.333 avg, 2nd on team) or Hector Sanchez (.300, 3 RBI) in favor of Belt?

You can if, and only if, you are 100% committed to Belt being the 1B of the future, at the expense of current ballgames. Some argue that Bochy should be doing this, because he pretty much promised to do as much.

Well, I am of the opinion that Brandon Belt, as talented as he is, and as good a hitter as he was in Spring, needs to produce a little bit while he's in there to warrant more starts.

Every other guy I just mentioned has been as hot as Kate Upton at the plate to start the year, and Belt has looked like a newly-birthed baby giraffe. I think one day he'll be very good, and it might be this year at some point, but I cannot justify playing him over Huff, Pill, Hector Sanchez, OR Nate Schierholtz at this point.

Let's hope he gets his stroke and confidence back the next time he gets a start, because .091 with 5 strikeouts in 11 at bats is not going to cut it on a roster that is suddenly brimming with offensive ability.

-- Jeremy Affeldt is fired until further notice...

-- Speaking of terrible hitting, Angel Pagan seems to be exactly who I thought he was. Paging Gregor Blanco...

-- Let's give Zito some credit where it's due. The guy came out of the sewer to make one of the most impressive starts I've seen since Matt Cain just one upped him on Friday. How he did it? I have no idea, but he did. He showed that he's capable of goodness or perhaps really goodness, if he just has his shit together.

I won't hold my breath for a good season from him because he's teased us before in the first half of seasons, but IF he is able to string together a year with 14 wins and an ERA of 3.50, it will do wonders for our playoff chances and his own confidence... especially with Vogelsong returning on Sunday. It's possible that we could have 5 really good starters-- something we'd love to have.

-- Hector Sanchez seemed to have a lot to do with Zito's comfort level. I am absolutely thrilled by this development. It has a two-pronged effect. Sanchez can flat out rake, and is an ultra-dangerous weapon to have. Seriously? A 22 year old, switch-hitting catcher that makes Zito better? YES PLEASE!

I also like the idea of Sanchez being Zito's personal catcher. It means that there's a little more method to the starting lineup madness every week.



The season is young, and we've had our hiccups, but the ship has almost completely righted itself, and I for one am excited!

Now... let's get Timmy fixed...

Roster reactions & a look at 2012

I have to say that for all the complaints we Giants fans may have from time to time, I cannot say that management is incompetent. Cheap? Sometimes. Gunshy of big free agents? Yes. But inept? Absolutely not. With the group that reported to Scottsdale this spring, I really believe the best 24 came back to The City with the team.

"But Dodgerhater, isn't it a 25 man roster, not a 24 man one?"

Yes, but you forgot about Zito.

:'-(

Other than that waste of money, management did the best possible things to put the Giants in a position to win (with current talent) and to lock up the future (Cain).



I am a bit surprised that they designated Whiteside for assignment and traded Chris Stewart. Many believe that Hector Sanchez is too raw behind the plate to be counted on to play there 2-3 times a week as Buster does first base duty or gets a day off-- but here we are, for better or for worse.

Hey, I say it's for the better! Based on the way the kid is hitting and the way he skipped through the minors in a Sandovalesque fashion, why in the hell isn't it better? This offense has been too sickly and bitch for too many years. Finally Sabean and Bochy came to an agreement that they needed every single offensive weapon possible on the 25 man roster come Opening Day, and that's what happened.

Eli Whiteside, Mike Fontenot, and Chris Stewart-- you're all good guys and I wish you the best, but the guys that replaced you are just better with the lumber.

In regard to Whiteside, I will miss you the most, with your fitting white hair, your Mississippi Delta accent, and your Led Zeppelin entrance music. You were like a character out of a John Grisham/William Faulker book and I will miss you a little bit. Even if you never play another game in the big leagues, you helped us win a ring, and no one can take that away-- same with Fontenot.

The other surprises to me were that both Brandon Belt AND Brett Pill made the roster. The Giants are now loaded with first basemen, and I don't know how everyone will get ABs.

You'd think Huff is the primary, right? But is on a short leash, so if he sucks, he sucks, and that's the end of him. Grab a significant piece of pine, Meat.

Then there's Belt-- another lefty-- who seemingly has no place to play. Of course then there is Posey, the righty, who we have heard, nearly ad nauseum, will play there about twice a week, probably against lefties, while Belt sits.

But wait! There's more!

Nate Schierholtz can't hit!

That means what I just wrote got simpler and was completely pointless in writing and this article just took you 20 seconds longer to read than it should have!

It's looking like Nate Schierholtz and his cannon are now riding the pine, and HUFF is the one playing the OF. Whoa.

Look, it scares me too, but Huff will be playing LF-- not RF like he embarrassingly attempted to do early last season. He's not going to win any gold gloves out there, but at least against right handers, he adds some badly needed power (hopefully) to a lineup that desperately needs it.

There are three main lineups that Bochy will use:

Lineup #1: Right-handed starter

1) CF Pagan (S)/Blanco (L)
2) RF Melky Cabrera (S)
3) 3B Pablo Sandoval(S)
4) C Buster Posey (R)
5) LF Aubrey Huff (L)
6) 1B Brandon Belt (L)
7) SS Brandon Crawford (L)
8) 2B Emmanuel Burriss (S)

Note* - When Freddy Sanchez comes back, he hits 7th and Crawford hits 8th. I may be wrong and Crawford hits 8th from the get-go, but does it really matter?

Lineup #2: Left-handed starter w/Posey catching

1) CF Pagan (S)/Blanco (L)
2) RF Melky Cabrera (S)
3) 3B Pablo Sandoval (S)
4) C Buster Posey (R)
5) LF Aubrey Huff (L)
6) 1B Brett Pill (L)
7) SS Brandon Crawford (L)
8) 2B Emmanuel Burriss (S)

Lineup #3: Left-handed starter w/Posey playing 1B

1) CF Pagan (S)/Blanco (L)
2) RF Melky Cabrera (S)
3) 3B Pablo Sandoval (S)
4) 1B Buster Posey (R)
5) LF Aubrey Huff (L)
6) C Hector Sanchez (S)
7) SS Brandon Crawford (L)
8) 2B Emmanuel Burriss (S)

*Note - Depending how Crawford is hitting lefties (.133 against LHP in '11), don't be surprised to see Ryan Theriot (R) play 2B, and slide the switch-hitting Burriss over to short.

A few notes about all this...

-- Good God, do we have a lot of switch hitters! Five to be exact, but that is still crazy! (Pagan, Cabrera, Sandoval, H. Sanchez, Burriss).

-- Looks like the only time that Schierholtz will start will be to play RF against a righty when Huff is struggling or needs a day off, sliding Melky over to left.

-- Expect Bochy to play late-inning musical outfield every day with Schierholtz. We're used to it by now. The names have changed, the concept hasn't. Nate comes in for Huff, plays right field, and Cabrera moves to left. It will be a daily occurrence.

-- Can Melky play RF at AT&T as well as Nate? Well he's going to get a crash course in weirdness right away, and I hope to God that he's taking line drives off the archways as we speak so that he gets a feel for the caroms that the ball takes. As for the wind and the bullpen mound... well that comes only with trial and error, bud.

As for covering Triples Alley with Pagan or Blanco, yes, he is fast and covers a lot of ground. I don't think Melky will have any trouble chasing down fly balls to the deepest part of the yard.

-- Brandon Crawford is really important to the every day success of this team. We know the kid can field, but can he hit his weight? He's listed as 215 lbs.

Based on his stellar spring (18-54, .333/.410/.556, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 7 BB), I'd say he's capable of hitting at least .250. That seems to be everyone's wish. All I read about is "If Crawford can only hit .250, they'll be okay..."

Based on how awful he was at the dish last year, .250 would be awesome, but let's raise the bar a little bit higher than that.

I believe Crawford's contributions with that bat are the difference between making the playoffs and not. It's that important.

-- Who will replace Zito when he inevitably sucks?

Eventually it will be either Eric Surkamp or Yadsl;fknc,i Petit. Surkamp had his Spring cut short when he strained the flexor tendon in his elbow about a week ago. That sounds like he won't be ready for a minimum of 3 weeks-- probably around the time that Zito has fallen to 0-3 with a 9.00.

Right now, the guy that is first in line is the healthy Yusmeiro Petit. I rather enjoy hitting random keys after the capital 'Y' in his name, but I looked up how to spell it anyway.

Petit, a former Diamondback, last pitched in the bigs in '09 with Arizona, and wound up with a 5.82 ERA. He apparently blew out his shoulder, wound up in Oaxaca pitching in front of donkey carts, then ended up back in Venezuela pitching in front of Socialists and Giants hitting instructor Hensley Meulens. The rest is history. Check out the whole story from Baggs here.

The guy has pitched well in Spring, so bottom line, with Vogelsong on the DL for a few weeks, Surkamp out for a few weeks, and Zito sucking more than usual, Yadlfncamds;' Petit may be making a start for the Gyros sooner rather than later.

-- Also noted in that Andrew Baggarly article at CSNBayArea.com is that one of the guys that Petit pitched against in the Venezuelan Winter League was none other than Gregor Blanco, the speedy outfielding surprise that made the roster.

I don't know much about the left-handed Blanco other than the guy is major steal threat and plays a great OF. Also, apparently his nickname is "Tiburon Blanco". And for the 3 of you that are new to California, that means "White Shark".

Get it together people.

With Angel Pagan sucking big time thus far as a Giant, not getting on base, and making us miss Andres Torres and his Puerto Rican porno walkup music, there is a growing contingent of people that believe Angel Pagan will be overtaken by Blanco sooner rather than later as the starting CF.

The contingent begins with the all-important Me, and also includes KNBR's Larry Krueger and apparently (but subtly) CSN Bay Area's Andrew Baggarly.

Blanco's career stats aren't a lot to go by, but he holds a career .358 on base percentage and has safely stolen 26 out of 35 bases. In the OF, he has 12 outfield assists versus only 4 errors. Hey, I'll take it.

I have minimal rational reasons for why I think Blanco will usurp Pagan's spot. I basically think Pagan sucks and is a 4th OF at best. I also think that Pagan's name is obnoxious. It's like, okay, you're an angel AND a pagan? Pick one or the other dude...


Obviously we can speculate all day about what will happen and who will be awesome or who will suck. We don't have all day. We have TV to watch and work to go to and food to eat. With that said, Opening Day couldn't have come soon enough, and I'm looking forward to another maddeningly amazing year of Giants baseball.

Uncertainty is the name of the game

When your fellow Giants fans ask you, 'Are you excited for the season??!!', your automatic response is 'Yeah! Can't wait!'.

Mine is the same. Of course I can't wait. It's the Giants, it's BASEBALL for God's sake. How could one not be excited? I mean, you'd have to be some kind of Communist foreigner not to be excited about the 2012 season.

Beyond that initial excitement for Giants baseball and my upcoming fantasy drafts, I feel very uneasy.

I feel uneasy about the lineup again. I feel uneasy about management's willingness to do what needs to be done about our lack of offense.

I feel uneasy about the Tim Lincecum situation.

I feel uneasy about the Matt Cain situation.

I just don't know what 2012 will bring, and it's beyond "anything can happen, it's a new year" sort of jitters.

For the first time in a few years, I'm not feeling confident. I've always tried to not be a negative fan, but for some reason, I can't shake it right now.

Uncertainty breeds a lack of confidence, and a lack of confidence breeds anxiety, negativity, and a general neurosis-- something that no one wants or needs.

I can't be the only one worried about this season, can I?

Sometimes I fall asleep wondering if Matt Cain will re-sign or if Lincecum wants to stay a Giant his whole career. It scares me to think that we'd lose either of them, but the possibility of losing one or both still exists.

What the hell am I supposed to make of this Huff/Belt/Posey/Pill 1B logjam or the Cabrera/Pagan/Schierholtz/Huff/Belt OF logjam? Are any of these guys any good anyway?

Will Posey return to form? Will Brian Wilson return to his 2010 form?

I just don't know, and no one could possibly know.

Perhaps I've just been watching too much Doomsday Preppers on NatGeo, but I just feel like this roster could possibly be on the verge of chaos or collapse at some point.

With another weak and unproven lineup of hitters with no guarantees of who will be playing where on a given day, I thank God that we still have the pitching staff that we do. I know it'll be there for us to keep us close and prevent things from getting out of hand.

With that said, I'm not a believer in Melky Cabrera or Angel Pagan. I think they're both third outfielders and both 6th place hitters that will probably see time hitting some combination of leadoff and third. Call me negative, because that's the way I am right now.

I wanted Beltran back, even with his injury risks because we had the depth already to fill in for him if he went out. Now we just have two more average players vying for everyday roles.

Hopefully once the season starts, I'll see that things aren't that bad, and that we'll continue to scrap out games they way we always do, but with Arizona (the team that beat us and made the playoffs last season) adding Trevor Cahill to its rotation and Jason Kubel to its already superior lineup, it's just hard to stay positive.

I feel like Arizona got better, but we really didn't-- and that's a depressing thought.

Anyway, thought I'd just rain on everyone's spring training parade and I hope getting all this BS out of my system helps get me into a more positive mood about 2012.

Never really been in to Pagan worship...

Yes, yes, I know it's "Puh-GAHN" versus "Pay-GINN" but his name has always bothered me. I can't help but associate his name with a bunch of weirdos worshiping false gods and casting spells outdoors.

The funny name aside, I'm just kinda 'ehhh' on this trade.

I loved what Andres Torres brought to our team in 2010. His clutch hitting and inspiring play warmed even the frostiest heart of the most cynical Giants fan. It was simply a great story-- a story of perseverance and heart by a fringe major leaguer who overcame ADHD and marginal big league opportunities to become a late-blooming World Series contributor.

I also enjoyed his sleazy walkup music that was obviously borrowed from the soundtrack of a Puerto Rican porno. Yes, the ladies loved Andres...

But, alas, Andres regressed in 2011. He missed some time, and he just lost his stroke. It got to the point where he should no longer have been hitting right handed at all, and his lack of contact was maddening.

Regardless, his upbeat presence will be missed by teammates and fans alike.

As for Ramon Ramirez-- well he didn't have much of a presence off the field. By all accounts, he was the quietest guy on the team. But on the mound, he was pretty damned solid. He's the type that keeps his mouth shut and carries a big stick.

Although he was due a raise via arbitration, I will be sorry to see Ramirez go. He was a lot better than anyone will remember. He stepped up last year with 4 saves, had a great K/BB ratio, and was just great arm to have down in the bullpen.

I know we technically didn't need him, but going into the season with Guillermo Mota makes me a little uneasy, simply because of his age.

With Torres appearing to be in decline, the trade worked out about as evenly as it could have for both teams-- barring some horrible or amazing performances by those involved.

As for Pagan, the move confused me a little.

He arrives as another starting caliber OF onto a roster that already had Schierholtz, Huff, and Cabrera penciled in as starters.

Okay, well Pagan is thought of highly as a potential leadoff hitter. And, of course, since we need one of those, where does that leave Brandon Belt's playing time-- especially because Bochy has already confirmed that Buster will play a decent amount of first base?

I don't know what's going to happen. I think Schierholtz and Cabrera are pretty much set as starters, but between 1B and LF there is Huff, Belt, Pagan, and occasionally Posey to get time.

I think the guy who ends up suffering the most here is Brandon Belt, who still needs seasoning, but can only gain that through playing time. With all of these guys clogging up two positions, I'm almost inclined to support starting Belt in Fresno while keeping Brett Pill up with the team.

It's just kind of a weird situation.

As for Pagan-- I think we will be pleasantly surprised by the pop in his bat. He is also very streaky in that his hits seem to come in quick bunches. Couple here, three the next day, and then boom-- nothing for three games. That part concerns me, as well as his defense.

I'm just glad he has experience playing CF in the cavernous OF of Citi Field, so he will feel comfortable at AT&T.

We'll see how this whole thing shakes out, but I don't expect Pagan to be a real game-changer.