San Francisco Giants: Hottest Team in Baseball?

Date: Sun, Jul 25, 2010

The second half of the Major League Baseball season is barely 2 weeks old, but since it started, there hasn't been a team hotter than the Giants in all of baseball.

Since the 3 day break, the Giants have gone 9-2, and lost those 2 games by a combined total of 3 runs. It's been the two rookies that have grabbed most of the headlines over the last two weeks, with Buster Posey extending his hitting streak to 18 games on Sunday, and Madison Bumgarner getting stronger with each outing at the big league level. Over that 18 game hitting streak, Posey's hitting .467 with 7 home run and 23 RBI and a 1.300 OPS. Talk about video game numbers! I don't really like making comparisons unless I really see something in a player, but I can't help but be reminded of a right-handed Joe Mauer with even a little more power, when looking at Posey. If Posey can somehow manage to get to the minimum plate appearance number in order to contend for the batting tittle, I'd put my money on him winning it. He's currently sitting at .371 with 178 at-bats and chances are that he will reach that minimum of 450 plate appearances (not sure on exact number needed) that he'd need in order to be eligible for the batting title. I'll tell you this much, he's the hottest hitter on one of the hottest teams in baseball and it's no surprise the Giants are 14-4 over that span. If he doesn't win Rookie of the Month for July, it would be a crime.

The other prominent Giants' rookie to really step up and claim his spot on the 25-man roster for good is Madison Bumgarner. The 20 year-old power lefty was a little bit of an afterthought in Giants fans minds after a sub-par spring and a slow start in the minor leagues, but he's come on strong and is throwing as well now than at any point in his professional career. MadBum won his 4th consecutive start on Saturday, shutting down the Diamondbacks in Arizona with 7 strong innings that included 7 strikeouts. The Giants have to be pleased with the way Bumgarner has responded after taking a couple of tough luck losses in his first 2 starts of the season. A lot of 20-year old's would have lost their confidence and probably let the situation get worse, then ultimately find themselves back in the minor leagues. Instead, Bumgarner stayed focused and positive and all the sudden he's 4-2 a month later. The success of Bumgarner cannot be overlooked, as it really has rounded out, or completed the Giants rotation. For years now the Giants have kept a 5th starter that was basically keeping the seat warm for Bumgarner, and finally, the Giants rotation is flying at full-force, and it's showing. Even with Buster Posey's emergence, and the solid output from Aubrey Huff, without Sandoval and Rowand hitting, the Giants lineup will not be a strength, so for them to be 13 games over .500 at this point is truly a tribute to their pitching staff.

Walking Wounded: The Giants did lose a couple of players to the 15-day DL this weekend. Eugenio Velez took a Pat Burrell line drive off the face in the dugout and even though he ended up OK considered what happened, the Giants will still shelve him for 2 weeks. He's being replaced by Ryan Rohlinger. Joe Martinez also was recalled a few days ago to replace Jeremy Affeldt who has a strained oblique and will miss 2 weeks as well.

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Giants Take 3 of 4 From Mets

Date: Mon, Jul 19, 2010

The Giants offense really started to pick up early in July up until the all-star break, and it looks like they've picked right up where they left off. They started off the 2nd half of the season by taking 3 of 4 from the Mets and like always, got tremendous starting pitching in the process.

Timmy Lincecum started the 2nd half with a complete game shutout on Thursday night, allowing just 6 hits while striking out 5 batters and needing just 110 pitches to get through one of the better lineups in the NL. Lincecum was followed by an even stronger performance by Barry Zito, who allowed just 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 10 in 8 strong innings to earn his 8th victory of the year. It was a big start for Zito who had hit a rough patch over the last month, and only won 1 game after May 16th. Matt Cain continued to add to the Mets offensive frustration Saturday with 7 strong innings, allowing just 3 hits and 2 runs. The Mets did touch up the Giants bullpen for 2 runs after Cain departed, but Andres Torres, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval provided all the offense the Giants would need. Torres and Posey each hit their 8th home run of the season and Sandoval had just his 2nd 3-RBI day of the year and first 3-hit day since May 31st. The Mets were able to salvage the fourth game of the series Sunday, although Jonathan Sanchez continued the trend of dominant starting pitching. Sanchez went 7 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits with 5 strikeouts. Unfortunately, the Mets got to Chris Ray and Brian Wilson for a run apiece which ultimately cost the Giants the game and the sweep.

What was a little surprising to me was that Bruce Bochy didn't give Travis Ishikawa some more at bats in the Mets series. Ishi was arguably the hottest Giants' hitter going into the break, and got just 1 start in the 4-game set. He did get the call to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth inning of Sunday's game with the tying runs in scoring position, and he delivered a game-tying single off of ace closer Francisco Rodriguez which pushed the game into extra innings. Right now, Ishikawa is as hot as any Giant not named Buster Posey or Aubrey Huff, and I think he needs to be given a steady 2 weeks worth of at-bats to see if this hot streak of his is real or not. If it means that Torres, Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell need to rotate in the 2 outfield spots next to Aubrey Huff in order to get Ishi into the lineup more, then so be it. Another positive in giving Ishikawa playing time right now is that he could be showcased as possible trade bait. The July 31st trade deadline is less than 2 weeks away and with the Giants right in the thick of the playoff race, and knowing that they haven't reached the postseason since 2003, something tells me they're going to be active. They may not make an earth shattering addition, but I do think they're going to attempt to upgrade somehow. There just hasn't been a ton of trade talk on the Giants front so far. I mentioned in our last post a list of premiere hitters who could likely be had for the right price, but the only name that has been directly linked to the Giants is the Brewer's Corey Hart. The right fielder would be a very nice add to the Giants lineup, just not sure the Brewers asking price fits with what the Giants are willing to part with.

Up Next: Now the Giants will play host to the sputtering LA Dodgers. The Dodgers just got swept by the Cardinals in St. Louis and only mustered up 9 runs in the 4-game set. I'm stoked to see how Madison Bumgarner does in his first second half start after looking so good in his first couple of starts.... Also, in roster news, the Giants recalled Eugenio Velez and sent down Joe Martinez to make room.

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Giants Set to Begin Second Half

Date: Thu, Jul 15, 2010

The 2nd half of the Major League Baseball season officially begins tonight, and the Giants hope they will pick right up were they left off before the break when they won 6 of 7 and had their offense clicking on all cylinders.

What really kept the Giants afloat for much of the first half was their spectacular starting pitching. All of their starting pitchers have era's below 3.76 and all of them and all should have winning records, although Matt Cain has once again pitched through some terrible luck. For a while there in early-mid June, it looked like 4 of the Giants 5 starters had legit shots at making the all-star team. All of them (besides Todd Wellemeyer) had era's under 3 and had winning records. They were thriving even though they weren't getting consistent run support. Unfortunately, they haven't really been able to get their offense and starting pitching clicking together at the same time. For much of the first half of the year though, the Giants offense has been very inconsistent. It took them a while to find their best leadoff man (Andres Torres) and a couple of their big hitters like Aubrey Huff and Juan Uribe really didn't get going until May and June. The guy they were counting on really carrying the offense, Pablo Sandoval, has not been nearly the factor that he was in '08-'09, and I think that was a big reason why the offense was so slow out of the gate. However, ever since Buster Posey's arrival, it seems like the Giants offense has stepped it up a notch.

Posey's emergence has helped equal out the under-performance from Sandoval, and has really solidified the middle of the Giants batting order. That along with the solid outputs they're getting out of Aubrey Huff and Juan Uribe has helped shape the best Giants lineup since the early 2000's. Keep in mind also, that they are doing this without Mark DeRosa (out for season with injury) and without getting very much out of Aaron Rowand (.238, 8 HR, 27 RBI). Even though Posey has been a big part of the Giants offensive turnaround, he wasn't the most valuable player for this team in the first half. That honor would have to go to Aubrey Huff, who's quietly put together one of his best halves of his career, and has turned out to be an absolute bargain at $3 million for 2010. Entering the 2nd half, Huff is hitting .295 with 17 bombs and 54 RBI to go with a .921 OPS. There were plenty of people who didn't even think Huff would hit 17 homers all year playing at AT&T Park after hitting just 15 last year with Baltimore. I'd have to say the two biggest contributors and most important pieces to the Giants lineup in half #1 were Huff and Andres Torres. The 31 year-0ld Torres has been huge at the top of the lineup where Aaron Rowand failed so miserably. He's cooled off a little lately, but his .281 average, .378 OBP and 17 steals at the leadoff spot has given the Giants their best production out of that slot since when Ray Durham was used there in his first few years in San Francisco.

It's all going to come down to offense for the Giants in the second half, and that's pretty much what everyone was expecting all along. The trade deadline is just around the corner (July 31st) and the Giants could go out and really put themselves in a good spot with another big bat. Their bullpen is rock solid, and their starting pitching, especially after the arrival of Madison Bumgarner, doesn't need any work. Even their lineup is starting to round into shape, but if they could just get one more corner outfielder, or possibly even a first basemen who could rake, it would really help their chances of winning this division. They may have found that extra bat in one of their own, Travis Ishikawa, who's been on fire since being inserted into the starting lineup. If they're going to go outside the organization, there are a bunch of options out there. A few that come to mind right off the top of my head are Lance Berkman, Prince Fielder, Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, Dan Uggla and Garrett Jones.

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Giants Cruise Into All-Star Break

Date: Sun, Jul 11, 2010

Heading into July, the Giants were sputtering and fans started to panic a little bit. However, over the last 10 days, the Giants seem to have hit their offensive stride, it's just too bad they did it just in time for the all-star break.

All of the sudden, over the last week, the Giants offense has just exploded. They've scored 53 runs over their last 7 games, good for about 7.5 runs per game, and they've gone 6-1 in that span. One guy who's really flown under the radar in this first half has been huge over the last week, and that guy is Travis Ishikawa. Before July 1st, Ishikawa had just 36 at-bats all year, but since July 1st, he's collected 25 at-bats and has been extremely productive with those ab's (.385 with 1 hr and 8 RBI). Ever since the Giants traded away Bengie Molina, they've they've been working with some extra at-bats and Ishikawa has taken full advantage. So much so, that Giants fans are going to be expecting to see more of him when the Giants resume play on Thursday against the Mets. When Ishikawa plays first, Aubrey Huff has moved back to left-field, which once again takes the bat out of either Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowannd or Andres Torres hand, but with the way Ishi is playing, you have to do it in order to make room. Also, besides his clutch hitting, Ishikawa has always been a plus defender over at first base and although Huff has done a very good job over there this year, having Ishi there really strengthens the infield defense.

Speaking of Aubrey Huff, Giants management has to be pleased with the way his year has gone as we hit the un-official halfway point in the year. I remember before the seasons started, he was asked a ton about how he's going to deal with that huge right field space at AT&T, and early in the season, he had a few balls knocked down out there that would have been home runs almost anywhere else. However, he's showed his veteran savy, and has figured it out. He's hit 9 of his 17 first half home runs at home, and looks to be quite comfortable hitting in the pitcher-friendly confines of this yard. There hasn't been many left-handed power hitters who have come in and had success here, outside of Barry Bonds, but Huff looks to be one of those rare cases. Because of that, I think it would be wise for the Giants to try and extend him another year right now if possible. He's probably going to hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs and will get a multi-year deal somewhere if he hits the market, so why not give him a 1 year, $7 million extension right now if he'd do it. If Ishikawa continues to emerge in the 2nd half of the year and claims first base, then Huff can play the outfield in 2011, as he's shown the ability to do so this year.

Up Next: Up next here at The Giants Baseball Blog, we'll get into our first half review of the Giants season up to the All-Star break and discuss what needs to change in the second half in order for the Giants to win this wide-open division where 4 teams are separated by 4 games or less.

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Giants Minor League Report

Date: Tue, Jul 6, 2010

With the draft in June taking up most of our organizational focus, it's been a couple months since we've had a chance to take a look at whats happening down on the farm with the Giants' minor league affiliates.

Since our last minor league update, the teams top-2 prospects have finally been called-up to the Big Leagues, and I think it's for good this time for both guys. With those two up with the Giants, the guy who has stepped into the spotlight in the minors this year has been Brandon Belt. The 22 year-old put up ridiculous numbers in the first half of the year in San Jose (.383 avg, 10 HR, 62 RBI, 18 SB and a 1.121 OPS in 269 at-bats). Then the 6'5" first basemen got the call-up to AA Richmond last week, and arrived with a bang there as well. In his first 3 games with the Squirrels, he's got 5 hits in 11 at-bats, including 2 more solo home runs. The Eastern League has traditionally been a tough hitters league, so if he can keep this up there, that would be huge. The way Belt has kind of came from under-the-radar to bust out like this really reminds me of the way Pablo Sandoval did it in 2008. He had a few solid years in the minors prior to that year and was a guy on the rise, but nobody saw an offensive explosion to the extent that he showed in '08 at all levels he stopped at. Not saying Belt is going to be the next Panda, but he very well could be the next young successful hitter to join Buster and Pablo up with the Giants at the big league level.

Speaking of hitters, one of the Giants top-5 prospects has really started to turn his season around, and that guy is Thomas Neal. I discussed Neal a bit a few posts back, and even though his overall numbers for the year don't jump out at you (.283, 8 hr, 44 RBI), he really has gotten stronger as the year has gone on. Again, he's in that Eastern League, so I didn't expect big time numbers from him anyway, but was still expecting 20 hr/85 RBI and around a .300 avg and I still think he could make it there. A couple other Giants prospects in AA haven't had quite as much success though. Roger Kieschnick (.251, 4, 23) and Brandon Crawford (.244, 7, 22) and a guy I had some expectations for after the spring he had, Darren Ford (.235, 4, 26, 25 sb) really have struggled all year. I was hoping Crawford would fair a little better, seeing that he's already spent some time in AA prior to this year, but that hasn't been the case. The only real notable arm in AA currently is 22 year-old Clayton Tanner who's been decent, going 4-5 with a 3.28 era and a .239 BAA. Only negative with Tanner is his inability to strike people out. He's got just 39 in 82 innings of work.

Down In San Jose, the Giants have one guy I'm keeping tabs on, somebody who's been in the system for a few years now, but just turned 21, and that guy is Charlie Culberson. The 2nd basemen has really found his swing in his 4th professional season. It's kind of a surprise too, because prior to this years breakout (.322, 10 hr, 51 RBI, 12 sb, .894 OPS) he was carrying a career minor league average of .254 and had only 6 home runs in nearly 1000 minor league at-bats. The rest of the young Giants prospects, and most of the guys who were taken in the '09 draft are with low-A Augusta. Third basemen Chris Dominguez, who I really liked when the Giants took him in the third round last year, is hitting .275 with 12 homers and 53 RBI. 2nd rounder Thomas Joseph hasn't been quite as good, but has been heating up and has 9 homers and 44 RBI on the year (.325 with 3 jacks and 7 RBI in his last 10 games). Zach Wheeler has been out since the middle of May, so there's nothing new to talk about with him, but he's scheduled to return after the all-star break, so hopefully we'll be seeing the 6th overall choice from 2009 back in action very soon. Also, although he's not in Augusta, Emmanuel Burris has come back from his groin injury and has started off well in Fresno now giving the Giants a versatile and speedy middle infield option if they need one in a pinch.

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Giants Deal Bengie Molina to Texas

Date: Thu, Jul 1, 2010

The Giants traded away one of their longest tenured position players on team, sending Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers for reliever Chris Ray and a minor leaguer.

Bengie wasn't exactly tearing the cover off the ball lately, and started to lose more and more playing time after Buster Posey was called up towards the end of May. He'll always be remembered best for his clutch hitting, leadership and his ability to catch and call a very good game. A big reason why the Giants signed him to come back this year was because of the way he has handled their young staff and nurtured these guys along. He's been basically the only catcher the Giants' young arms (Cain, Lincecum, Sanchez, Bumgarner) have ever thrown to at this level and although I expect them to be fine on their own, they now have a new responsibility with Bengie Molina no longer back there for them. Eli Whiteside got the first start back there on Wednesday, but I fully expect Buster Posey to be the everyday catcher for this team by the end of the year. They still may play him a couple times a week at first base to keep his legs fresh, but he's going to be behind the plate more often than not.

The Molina trade also opens up the outfield log-jam a little bit. It will allow Aubrey Huff to return to first base full-time, leaving the 4-man rotation of Pat Burrell, Andres Torres, Aaron Rowand and Nate Schierholtz to carry the load. Unfortunately, this means Aaron Rowand gets his full-time gig in center back, which really is hurting the lineup with this funk he's in. The Giants just don't have many other options right now outside of Rowand though. Schierholtz isn't really hitting, and even though John Bowker keeps tearing up the PCL, he can't seem to get it together each time he gets called up to the show. The one guy who I'm keeping an eye on is a prospect who's been mentioned here plenty in the past, and that is Thomas Neal. He started off slowly in AA ball, bat has really come around of late. In his last 10 games in AA, he's hitting .341 with 4 homers, 12 RBI and a 1.107 OPS. In one of those games, he hit 3 home runs in 5 at-bats. Now, he's not getting a call-up anytime soon, but if this is a sign of things to come, he could definitely be on the radar come August.

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Draft Interview with The College Baseball Blog

Date: Tue, Jun 29, 2010

We recently had a chance to catch-up with our draft/amateur baseball expert and webmaster of The College Baseball Blog, Brian Foley, to get a little bit better look at some of the players the Giants selected in the '10 draft. Here is the interview:

Q: With their first pick in the 2010 draft, the Giants took speedy centerfielder Gary Brown out of Cal State Fullerton. What's your take on him and how quickly do you see him moving through the Giants' system?

BF: Brown was injured late in the 2010 college season which cost him a chance to play in the NCAA Tourney. He is a speedster who I was surprised was drafted so high but on all the draft boards that I saw he was included as a number 1 pick. I saw him in the Cape Cod Baseball League where he was a decent player but I thought there was a couple of other better outfielders with five tools.

Q: Is Brown the guy you would have taken at pick 24? There were some really good hitters still on the board.

BF: Not at all, I would have taken Bryce Brentz and Zack Cox over him who both are going to be outstanding hitters at the next level.

Q: With their second pick, the Giants went after another speedy outfielder in Virginia's Jarrett Parker. Tell us a bit about him and how he compares with Gary Brown.

BF: I have personally seen Parker play at least eight different times and every time he has had a terrible game striking out multiple times. Parker had an outstanding sophomore year which made him jump up all the draft boards but had a tough 2009 Cape Cod League season batting .188 with a homer and 13 RBI in 29 games. This is a wood bat league so his power might not transfer over to the pro level.

Q4: One of my favorite picks for the Giants in this draft was the big lefty out of South Florida, Andrew Barbosa. What are your thoughts on him, and did he last longer than you thought he would in this draft?

BF: Barbosa was a true walk-on at South Florida and the coaches were awed when they found out he could throw mid-90's. He had a dominating season for the South Florida Bulls where he went 8-2 with a 2.40 ERA while striking out 95 batters in 86.1 innings. He also held batters to a .228 average.

Q: Give us an arm and a bat that were taken after round 10 that you

BF:Brett Bochy is an arm to watch as he was outstanding at the end of games for the Jayhawks before he got injured thus missing the last 3/4 of the season. Dan Burkhart could work himself into being a backup catcher for a long time in the league behind Buster Posey.

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Bumgarner Takes Loss in '10 Debut

Date: Sat, Jun 26, 2010

Madison Bumgarner couldn't have asked for a tougher assignment to start his 2010 big league season. The 20 year-old lefty was opposed by the Boston Red Sox's dominant lineup and their prize young righty, Clay Buchholtz (who actually left the game after the first inning).

Bumgarner didn't throw particularly bad, as his line for the day was 7 IP, 5 hits, 4 runs, 5 K's and 1 BB. His only blemishes though came on two pitches, to Darnell McDonald and Mike Cameron in the 1st and 2nd innings, that both left the yard. Other than that though, he was nails, and Bruce Bochy and Dave Righetti have to be pleased with how he rebounded after those rough first couple of innings. I think like with Buster Posey, Bumgarner is going to be given every opportunity to let this be his last call-up, and I think he's going to respond. The way he threw against Boston will definitely give him confidence. I'm kind of surprised the Giants couldn't get to the Red Sox's bullpen in order to give Bumgarner some support. The Giants offense only mustered up 6 hits and 2 runs, both driven in by Buster Posey, and they got to face the Red Sox bullpen for 8 innings rather than their stud young righty, Clay Buchholz. MadBum's next projected start, assuming that he's not sent down for some reason, would be against the Colorado Rockies in Denver, so it's not going to get much easier for him, but it's going to be a good solid test for him right off the bat. So far so good.

On Friday night, the Giants' bats showed up. Although they only scored 5 runs, they banged out 12 hits, including Juan Uribe's 12th homer of the year. Buster Posey had a 3-hit ballgame to get his average back up to .321, and Uribe and Sandoval each had a couple of hits apiece. The Giant who really needed to get some hits this series, Aaron Rowand, has gone 0-7 through 2 games so far. I understand that the Giants don't want to site a guy making 13 million dollars this year, but if he were making 3 million instead, he'd probably be a rare-start, defensive replacement, if he'd even manage to stick on the roster at all. I've met Rowand at Giants' events in the past and I like the way he plays the game and will always root for him, but Pat Burrell, Andres Torres and Aubrey Huff need to be in the outfield when Buster Posey's at first base. With Pablo Sandoval's sophomore slump dragging towards mid-season, the Giants can't really afford to sit their best hitters. When Sandoval was hitting .330, it would be easier to play Rowand a little more often. Here is how I'd like to see the lineup constructed more nights than not; 1. CF Andres Torres 2. 2B Freddy Sanchez 3. 1B Buster Posey 4. SS Juan Uribe 5. RF Aubrey Huff 6. LF Pat Burrell 7. 3B Pablo Sandoval 8. C Bengie Molina.

Giants Blogs Interview with NESN: For the rest of the interview done with NESN that I previewed in our last post, you can view it here, and if you do, I urge you guys to drop some Giants comments cause there was a bit of Giants/Lincecum bashing going on from the Red Sox fans. It was all in good fun though, but it definitely is making me root for the Giants and Timmy with a little extra incentive in Sunday's finale.

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Mark DeRosa Out for the Season

Date: Wed, Jun 23, 2010

It shouldn't come as a surprise to most Giants fans, but Mark DeRosa was officially pronounced out for the season and placed on the 60-day DL on Wednesday.

DeRosa hadn't played since May 8th, and when he was playing, you could tell there was something going on with him. He was hitting just .194 with a homer and 10 RBI in 93 at-bats and was really hurting the offense more than he was helping. This has to be a disappointment to the Giants, who added DeRosa on a 2-year, 12 million dollar deal this winter. My thinking at the time was that even though I didn't necessarily like the deal, but in the worst case scenario, DeRosa would be a highly-paid utility guy if the Giants had better options. I certainly didn't envision him getting hurt and missing basically %75 of the season. The addition of Pat Burrell is looking even better now and fortunately for the Giants, I don't think they're going to miss him as badly as they were thinking. Buster Posey's emergence along with the addition of Burrell should help the Giants get by without the versatile DeRosa, even though I was really looking forward to seeing what the Giants lineup would look like when everybody was healthy. The one positive in DeRosa having his wrist worked on now is that he'll have plenty of time to recover and get back to %100 for spring training next year rather than having him repeatedly placed on the 15 day DL and playing through the season in pain.

Interview with NESN: I just completed a brief interview with Boston Red Sox flagship media outlet, NESN. The Giants will be hosting the Red Sox at AT&T Park for 3 games over the weekend and the topics discussed include the upcoming series and even getting into some Barry Bonds discussion. I'm not able to post the full interview here yet, as it will be posted on NESN.com Thursday, but I here is one question from the interview:

NESN: The Red Sox' offense currently ranks 1st overall while, on the other side of the ball, the Giants' pitching ranks 3rd. How do you think they'll match up?

GBB: Well, they'll be in San Francisco, so the Red Sox won't get to use a DH. The Giants' rotation lines up so that Jonathan Sanchez, Joe Martinez and Tim Lincecum will start the three games. With the way Lincecum (3-0, 1.67 era, 24 k's in last 3 starts) and Sanchez (2.90 era and .206 BAA) have, it's tough to bet against the, no matter who they're facing. I say the Giant take 2 of 3.

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Tim Lincecum Gets Back On Track

Date: Sat, Jun 19, 2010

During a few of his starts towards the end of May, Tim Linceucm was not himself. He put together a 3-start stretch in which he failed to complete 6 innings, and losing 2 of those 3 games in the process. However, any concern that arouse with Lincecum's struggles in May have been pretty much wiped away as he's had a much more "Lincecum" type of month this June.

His most recent start Wednesday, clinched the series victory for the Giants over the Orioles, and Lincecum was absolutely dealing. The Giants bench got a slight scare though in the 6th inning when Migeul Tejada comeback liner nailed Lincecum right on the back-side of his throwing shoulder. The ball ricocheted right to Freddy Sanchez who threw Tejada out at first which ended the 6th inning, and Lincecum didn't come out for the 7th. His pitch count was high though the 6th inning was going to be his final inning regardless, but I'm just curious as to what would have happened with him had it occurred in the 4th inning instead? Timmy got the win though, and really was in a grove for most of the afternoon. He struck out 10 Oriole hitters, his highest total since May 4th and now is riding a modest 2-game winning streak, but he'll take it. Prior to this personal 2-game win streak, Lincecum had just 1 victory since April.

The Giants' other ace, Matt Cain, continues to do no wrong. With the arrival of Steven Strasburgh and the brilliance of Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Cain has flown under the radar, so to speak. Cain has put together a 4-game winning streak in which he's posted video game type numbers. In those 4 games, Cain had 2 complete game shutouts to go with a 7 and 8 inning start in which he allowed just one run each. His CG shutout vs. the Diamondbacks on May 29th was nearly a perfect game. The only baserunner the D-Backs put on all day was on a 2-out double by Mark Reynolds in the 2nd inning, that wasn't even hit all that well. It's amazing to think that Cain and Lincecum are still just in their mid-20's and are just about to enter their prime. They still haven't even learned 1/2 of what they'll know by the time they're 30. Even Jonathan Sanchez has really come into his own this year. I was expecting Sanchez to step up his game this year, but not quite to the 2.78 era, 1.15 WHIP and nearly 1 K per inning level that he's currently at. He's always had the potential to be this good, and at 27, he's finally realized it. The Giants will only be able to keep these guys together for so long. So enjoy this while you can.

Giants Vs. Jays: The Giants lost game one of a three game set with the Blue Jays Friday night. Barry Zito was again nails, but Edwin Encarnacion got to him a few times and single-handedly beat the Giants and Zito, 3-2. Aubrey Huff had another 2 hits to raise his average to .309 and Pablo Sandoval drove in the Giants only 2 runs. If your keeping tabs, former Giant Fred Lewis went 0-4 with a K. On Saturday, Matt Cain looks to extend his win streak as he goes against Jesse Litsch.

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Giants' Lineup Finally Clicking

Date: Tue, Jun 15, 2010

Bruce Bochy has used so many different lineups throughout this year, that it's been extremely rare to see the exact same bunch thrown out there for more than 1 or 2 days at a time. However, over the last week or so, Bochy has found a starting 8 that have meshed terrifically.

The Giants are 7-2 over their last 9 games, and they have done it with offense. In that 9-game stretch, the Giants have averaged about 6 runs per game. With their pitching, if they can score 5-6 runs per night, they are going to be very tough to beat. A big part of the Giants recent offensive surge has been the play of the newest Giant, Pat Burrell. The guy who most casted off as done and washed up has really shown new life here in San Francisco. The 33-year old outfielder has played in just 10 games here in San Francisco, and has only 27 at-bats, but he's contributed plenty, hitting .407 with 2 homers and 5 RBI heading into play Tuesday night and seems to have solidified his spot in the starting lineup. Bochy has been using Burrell in the fifth spot, right behind Juan Uribe and Aubrey Huff and right in front of Buster Posey and it's really working for them. Huff and Uribe have been red hot along with Burrell. In fact, the heart of the Giants order have combined for 5 homers and 12 RBI over the last 4 games, all Giant wins, and have helped move the Giants back into a 3-way tie for first place.

The only issue Bochy's going to be facing is all that money that the Giants have sitting on the bench. Aaron Rowand, who's making 13.5 million this year, has become the 4th outfielder, and 13.5 mill is a tad high to be paying a bench guy. At the same time, who's Bochy supposed to sit? Andres Torres has taken over the leadoff spot and has been playing so well that he's gaining consideration as an all-star ballot write-in. Aubrey Huff has really been the Giants most consistent hitter since day 1 this season, and Pat Burrell has provided the Giants with the legit (30 hr a year type) right-handed power hitter, something they've lacked since Jeff Kent was here. Also, Mark DeRosa and Edgar Renteria are currently on the DL, but those guys will be coming back sooner than later, and they're another 2 who are going to need their share of at-bats. Especially Renteria who was on fire (hitting .326) when he went down. It almost seems as if the Giants are going to have to make some kind of trade or maybe have to bite the bullet and release a player. Mark DeRosa would be my choice since he's hurt and may eventually miss the season anyway, but he's signed for 2011 and the Giants have to pay him whether he's on the roster or not.

Up Next: The Giants continue their interleague series with the Orioles at AT&T Park Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon, before travelling north of the border up to Canada to play 3 against the Blue Jays.

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Interview With Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove

Date: Fri, Jun 11, 2010

We recently were approached by Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove for a quick interview talking Bengie Molina, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval and Madison Bumgarner. Here is one of the questions, the others can be seen right here.

Giants Split W/ Reds: Unfortunately, the Giants couldn't finish off Cincinnati, losing the final two games of the series and ending up with a 4 game split with the one of the biggest surprises in the National League. There was some good to come out of those last two games though. Buster Posey hit his first bomb as a big leaguer, and continues to make multi-hit ballgames look routine. Also, Aubrey Huff has really gotten comfortable in the middle of the Giants lineup and has his average up over .300 and just hit his team high 8th home run. I'd really like to see Pablo Sandoval heat up in front of him, cause Burrell/Uribe/Posey/Sanchez/Torres are all hitting and the Giants lineup could actually be decent with the Panda playing like he should.

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Giants Go For Speed In 2010 Draft

Date: Tue, Jun 8, 2010

The Giants have notoriously gone after pitching at the top of their drafts in recent years, but they switched things up in 2010, taking a couple of speedy centerfielders with their top-2 picks in the 2010 draft.

The draft kind of crept up on us this year, and wasn't as highly anticipated on the Giants front, because they didn't have a top-10 pick for the first time in years. Instead, they picked 24th in the first round, and with that pick, they took Cal State Fullerton speedy centerfielder Gary Brown. The 22 year-old has improved each year at the plate, and has always been amongst the most polished baserunners and basestealers during his time at Fullerton. He's a very good hitter, with the potential to be a plus leadoff hitter in the future, but I don't think he was the best available hitter at that point and I feel the Giants could have made a better selection. Zack Cox and Kyle Parker went with the following 2 picks after the Giants took Brown, and I think a lot of fans would have been happy had the Giants gone with one of those guys with a little bit more thump in their bat. A guy I really liked who I was kind of hoping for was the centerfielder out of Georgia (HS), Chevy Clarke. That kid has legit 5-tool talent, and although he had an up-and-down senior year, he is going to be a tremendously bright ballplayer. I can't help but think of the Upton brothers when watching him. Not saying Brown is a bad ballplayer by any stretch, and I do expect him to catch the fast track to the big leagues seeing that he's had plenty of college and Cape Cod experience.

With their second pick, the Giants took a somewhat identical version of Brown, just a little taller with a little more power, in Jarrett Parker. The 6'4" smooth swinging lefty has a bit of pop, but is mostly a contact/speed type hitter. He did struggle a lot in 2010 which caused his value to drop (many had him as a top-20 pick coming into the year). He kind of reminds me a bit of Johnny Damon, but I don't think he'll project out to be half as good in the Majors. Again, the Giants didn't have a supplemental pick this year, and didn't get another pick in the top-50 like they usually have over the last couple of drafts, so the top of their class isn't as quality as we're used too. I think Parker will end up being like Connor Gillespie with a bit more speed, though I do have some expectations for him. Outside of Parker and Brown, the Giants did grab a couple of intriguing arms in the draft as well. I like the potential of fourth rounder Seth Rosin (Brad Penny Jr. with his motion and stuff) as well as Charlston rightie Richard Hembree, who can really bring it. Look for big lefty Andrew Barbosa to end up being one of the better value picks outside of the top-10 rounds as well... Much more on the draft to come!

Giants Win 3rd Straight: Meanwhile, back in Cincinnati, the Giants have gotten hot all of the sudden, winning their 3rd straight on Tuesday behind another Matt Cain gem. Juan Uribe also went yard again and Pat Burrell continued his hot start in SF with a couple more hits. Jonathan Sanchez will look to further continue his hot streak as well Wednesday as the Giants go for the series victory.

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Burrell Gets Start In Pittsburgh

Date: Sat, Jun 5, 2010

Within a week of signing Pat Burrell to a minor league deal, the Giants wasted no time in getting his bat onto the 25-man roster and into the starting lineup.

Burrell played just 5 games in Fresno but performed well in that brief stint, going 5-16 with a homer and 6 RBI. The Giants are hoping they will get that type of production upon his arrival, and not the Burrell that hit just .213 with 16 homers and 77 RBI in 146 games in about 1 1/3 season in Tampa. He got his first start as a Giant on Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh, but went just 1-4 with a strikeout. Bochy had him hitting out of the 6 hole in between Aubry Huff and Buster Posey. As expected, Burrell got the start in left field, pushing Huff into right and Andres Torres to center field. I don't think we'll see much of that outfield alignment at AT&T Park, but I do expect Bochy to use that mix on occasion during road trips. As good as Aubrey Huff has been in his stint in the outfield for the Giants, I believe asking him to handle right field at AT&T on a nightly basis would be wishful thinking. Also part of the Giants lineup change Saturday had Pablo Sandoval dropped down into the 8th spot. It's no secret that Pablo has been struggling really all year long, so Bochy is going to try and do whatever he can to maybe alleviate some of the pressure off of Sandoval.

While Sandoval has been struggling, 2 guys who have really picked up the slack have been Buster Posey and Aubrey Huff. We talked a lot about Posey in our last post here, and he's done nothing but continue to rip since. He's still got his average up around .450 and seems to be hitting the ball on a line in almost every at-bat he takes. Huff, in my opinion, has been the most consistent hitter for the Giants over the first 2 months. Huff entered play Saturday at .302 with 7 home runs and 25 RBI. His RBI numbers would probably be a bit higher had there been some more consistency at the top of the order, but right now he's projecting out to be right around .295 with 22 home runs and 80 RBI and I think any Giants fan would take that line from Huff come September. Also, Freddy Sanchez has really caught fire since his return and is finally showing Giants fans why Sabean gave away their #2 pitching prospect last summer to get him. Sanchez has hit safely in all but one of his 16 games since his return from offseason shoulder surgery and it has his average up at .389. Now I don't expect him to hit .350 plus all year, but in order for me to feel good about the Giants deal with Sanchez, he's going to have to stay healthy from here on out and hit around .310-.315 and it looks like he's indeed ready to do so.

Up Next: The Giants finish off their 3 game set with Pittsburgh on Sunday, and if they want to be in the playoff race in September, these are the types of series they have to win in June and July. Tim Lincecum will oppose Ross Ohlendorf as Timmy tries to break his personal 2-game losing streak and win his first game since May 15th.... Also, we'll be taking our monthly look down on the farm in our next post, so look out for that Monday or Tuesday!

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