Giants Get Much Needed Day Off

For the first time in three weeks, the Giants received a much needed off-day Thursday after taking two of three from the Diamondbacks at AT&T Park. Needless to say, some of the players were running on fumes and looked it lately, so this day off couldn't have come at a better time.

Cabrera up to .373

The Giants got off to a good start in their series with Arizona, taking the first two games and holding the D-Backs offense to just 2 runs in 2 games. Then the much anticipated match-up of Tim Lincecum vs. Ian Kennedy came around Wednesday, and the Giants bats were nowhere to be found. For the first time in almost a month, Lincecum pitched solidly, allowing just one earned run over 7 innings of work, but he did walk 5 batters and couldn't quite match the D-Backs ace. All the Giants hits came out of the top-5 slots in their lineup, and their problems with the bottom half of the lineup continue to bite them in the worst possible situations. Luckily for them, they may have found at least a short-term answer at 2nd base with Ryan Theriot. The Giants took him off the DL 5 days ago and he's raised his average 20 points since then. It doesn't hurt that Bochy has slotted him in between a few of the hottest hitters on the team in Melky Cabrera and Gregor Blanco. That should help him see some hittable pitches and he's a guy who can put the ball in play and allow Bochy to do hit and runs when Blanco gets on. Also, speaking of the "Melk Man", his average now sits at .373 after he set a Giants record for hits in a month during May with 50. Without a doubt, he gets my vote for player of the month for this team, and he has a real shot at winning that honor for the whole NL as well.


If only they could have worked around the Giant-killer, Paul Goldschmidt, the Giants may have been able to pull out the sweep. That's the only thing about Lincecum's performance Wednesday that had me scratching my head. Timmy threw very well, but Goldshmidt has owned Lincecum in his young career, with 4 of his 13 career HR's coming off the Giants ace. Low and behold, he was the guy to come up with the game changing swing of the bat vs. Lincecum. Still though, all in all, the Giants have to look at Lincecum's most recent start

Vogey's ERA Now 2.31

as a breath of fresh air after the way he struggled in May. His record has fallen to 2-6, but at least he got his ERA down out of the 6's and probably would have won the game had it not been for the swing of the bat from Goldschmidt. One guy who's gone in the opposite direction of Timmy lately has been the Giants veteran, Ryan Vogelsong. Vogey didn't get a decision in his start Tuesday, do to the Giants late victory, but he did a tremendous job maneuvering through 7 innings, and striking out 8 D-Back hitters. The 34 year-old has been so strong lately, that some believe he's become the best pure pitcher on the staff right now. Of course Cain and Bumgarner are doing their thing as well, and can't be discredited, but Vogelsong has been the one guy who's mirrored his performance week after week since coming off the DL. The Giants desperately needed someone to step up while Timmy was in a funk, and Vogelsong rose to that challenge. Now if they can get all five guys throwing well together, it would certainly spark this team.

Next up, after their off-day Thursday, they'll play host to the sputtering Chicago Cubs who enter the weekend set at 18-32 on the seasons. This match-up is another one that the Giants should be able to take care of business in, as they're playing much better than Chicago, have a better team and are playing host. This has sweep written all over it if you ask me, and that would put the Giants at 30-24 for the year if they can pull it off, a season-high 6 games above .500. With Sandoval on his way back, and the pitching really rounding into form, the time is know for the Giants to create some separation from the .500 mark. Also, for any of our weekend warriors who play in baseball leagues this summer, with summer kicking off, you can upgrade your game with fastpitch training as well as AETC pitching machines. I got back on the diamond last summer for the first time since high school, nearly a decade, and had a blast. If you get a chance to play in a rec league, I strongly suggest you take it.

Giants Return Home With Win Over AZ

After a tough battle in Miami in which the Giants salvaged the series and ended up splitting with the Marlins in a close game Sunday, San Francisco returned to AT&T Park Monday to play host to the D-Backs for 3 games.

Belt Goes 2-4 Monday

Game one went a lot like Game four went in Miami, a pretty low scoring affair in which the Giants jumped out early and their strong pitching made the lead stick. Barry Zito continued his home dominance, improving his record to 4-2 and ERA to 3.33 after a 7-inning, 2-run outing in Monday's game. It was largely the same recipe for success that the team has been having lately, as once again their outfield helped carry the offensive weight for the team. Melky Cabrera (.368) and Angel Pagan (.309) each went 1-3, and Gregor Blanco (.290) had a 2-4 day at the dish, but perhaps the guy that needed a big day with the bat the most, finally had one. We all know how second base has been a black hole for this team ever since Freddy went down last June, which we'll discuss more of below in the next paragraph, but another spot that has been vastly underachieving has been the collective group of first basemen the Giants have used early on this season. Aubrey Huff's anxiety issues and under-performance really opened the door, but nobody has stepped in yet. The consensus is that Brandon Belt will eventually be the guy to take off and take that position by the reigns, and he made a stride in that direction Monday going 2-4 with a triple and an RBI. It would be a huge relief for Giants management if Belt can lock this down before the trade deadline and prove to Bochy and Sabean that he can be their guy down the stretch.

Arias Hitting .260

Now, back to the second base position, which has been bad news all year for the Giants. Manny Burris was out there Monday, but his .219 batting average is less than inspiring. Also, the Giants noted over the weekend that Freddy Sanchez had yet another setback with his surgically repaired throwing shoulder, further putting into question if he'll ever make a return for the 2012 season. One potential option for the Giants could be to move Joaquin Arias, who's played decently of late at third in Pablo Sandoval's absence, over to his more natural position once the Panda returns, but I still think Sabean may go outside the organization for help in this department. The thing is, they may need to wait awhile before someone they have interest in becomes available. I mean, just going up and down the list of teams that are pretty much out of it already, there aren't many impressive options on those teams. The one guy who I do like and will probably be available at some point is Toronto's Kevin Johnson. However, he's a lefty and the Giants are already pretty left-handed heavy. That's what makes Sanchez so vital to this team. Not only is he another solid bat you can count in the lineup, but he balances that lineup out greatly as the team's 2nd best right-handed bat next to Buster Posey. That's also an attribute that Arias has in his favor as well, and I think the Giants do like Arias as a potential utility guy, but if they have a chance to upgrade over him at 2nd when Panda returns, they have to jump all over it.

Lincecum, Bumgarner Roughed Up By Marlins

Well, just when it appeared the Giants were starting to put together a nice string of ballgames, they again witnessed their ace get knocked around Friday night, then saw the same happen with Madison Bumgarner Saturday.

Lincecum's ERA: 6.46

After Thursday's blowout win, and the team taking an early lead in Friday's game, it went all down hill. Lincecum started out the game pretty nicely, going into the 6th with a 3-1 lead, just what he needed to take some pressure off. However, like he has so often the last month, he came unraveled in the 6th inning, surrendering 5 earned runs, never to make it out of that horrendous 6th. It seems like it keeps on being one huge inning in which Timmy just loses everything, command to the zone and perhaps most importantly, confidence. You can read it in his body language that the dude is just not in sync out there right now. I mean, he was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Friday, looking brilliant through 5 innings, then out of nowhere just melting down. It was his 5th consecutive start in which he didn't earn the coveted "quality start" tag, and it seems like it's just getting worse for the right-hander, with his ERA now at a career low for this deep in a season at 6.46. His bad luck rubbed off on Madison Bumgarner Saturday, and the Giants star lefty has yet record a victory since May 5th. Now, Bumgarner is throwing a whole lot better than Lincecum currently is, but he typically thrives in games after tough Giants losses, and it was tough to watch him get lit up a bit by the fish. His ERA rose up over 3.00 for the first time since April 23rd, and his record is now 5-4 after starting the season 5-1. To Bumgarner's credit though, he's had some tough luck, most recently his last start in Milwaukee in which he was brilliant but didn't get any offensive or defensive support, and Timmy can't really say the same thing. Am I worried about him yet? Absolutely not! But I also don't think this team is a playoff contender with Lincecum throwing the way he is.

Despite their ace going through some hard times, the Giants offense really needs to be given credit for pulling their weight, especially when you take into account they are vastly underachieving at first, second and third base. Luckily for them, they know they have third base covered and will have their man back in a few weeks. Unfortunately, they can't say the same about first or second. I've been pulling for Brandon Belt to get as many at-bats as possible and Bochy has given him a lot rope lately, but he's just not grabbing the bull by the horns like everybody was hoping. That doesn't mean I'm ready to give up on him, but the answer for him

Blanco Has +.800 OPS

could end up being to go back down to Fresno for a bit, just to rebuild some confidence if nothing else. I know he doesn't really have anything left to prove in the minors, but he's of no use to this team if he's not hitting for power or average or getting on base. Thankfully, their lack of offense in the infield has been offset greatly by their thriving outfield which we talked a great deal about last post but it's tough to go a day without these guys doing something great. In the first couple of games in this series, we saw Melky Cabrera take over as the league leader in hits, and on Saturday we saw Gregor Blanco show his abilities with a 3-5 day putting his average at .290. I think the Giants ought to seriously consider looking into extending all three of these guys, but most importantly, Melky Cabrera. I mean, the dude is built perfectly to hit at AT&T Park, and his tremendous start to the season is not a fluke. It's only and expansion on what he started last season in KC. He'd be at the top of my list in terms of extensions if I'm Brian Sabean, and not far beneath him should be Pagan and Blanco. I think all three are liking it here in San Francisco, and their play is reflecting that. The Giants already have a tough enough time luring hitters here, so when they find guys that work like they have, they need to find a way to keep them.

Outfield Play Defining Giants

The Giants put out their best offensive performance of 2012 Thursday in Miami, as they backed Ryan Vogelsong's strong outing with a 14 run, 15-hit parade in their series open win vs. the Marlins.

Giants Beat Miami

The Giants made their first appearance in the new Marlins park, which has been one of the most pitching friendly confines in the Major Leagues early on in the season, but you wouldn't have known that by watching the Giants hit Thursday. The Giants beat Miami with a football score, 14-7, and the big reason behind their offensive surge was the play of their 3 outfielders. Blanco, Cabrera and Pagan combined for 7 hits, 7 runs and 8 RBI in Thursday's win, accounting for half the team's hits and over half the team's runs scored. The 3 outfielders have continued their steady play throughout May and have really given this team an offensive identity in absence of Pablo Sandoval and while Buster Posey was getting going. Now, Posey's heating up, and Panda's only a few weeks out, so this team still has some major upside coming on offense. Buster's raised his average back over .300 for the first time in weeks, and now leads the team with 6 homers and 24 RBI after another 2-hit effort Thursday. It's taken nearly the first two months of the season, but this Giants team finally appears to finding their offensive identity. However, not everyone is hitting and luckily for the Giants, Cabrera's outstanding .362 batting average has helped make up for the lack of production the team's currently getting from it's corner infielders. Brandon Belt saw his average dip back into the .220's after Thursday's game, and whoever the Giants have put in Sandoval's place at third has not answered the bell. As long as they stay afloat and keep above .500 until they get Panda back, they should be just fine. Sandoval is expected to come off the DL in early June, barring any set-backs.

Lincecum Needs Win!

So the Giants started their 4-game weekend in Miami off with a bang Thursday, but in order for them to take this series, they're going to need their pitching on point. The Marlins yard is a offensive graveyard, and the Giants should not expect to go out and put up crooked numbers like they did Thursday, each day this weekend. That said, there will be a lot of eyes on tomorrow's game especially, as Tim Lincecum will try and get back in the good graces of Giants fans who have started to wonder what's gone wrong with the ace right-hander. His stuff is still there, as evident by his strikeout ratio, but what's killing him right now is his lack of location. It would be a huge swing of momentum of the Giants can get behind him Friday and help get him back on track. It won't be an easy assignment though as he draws the Marlins ace Josh Johnson. Again, I'm not expecting another offensive outburst like we saw Thursday, but a couple runs early on to help take some pressure off Timmy could go a long way. We've seen him go through this kind of funk before, and he righted himself in time for the Giants run to a World Series Championship. Luckily for them, his struggles have come early on and not in August, so he's still got some time to hash things out before the race picks up. Still, the sooner the Giants get Lincecum back to being Linceucm, the better off this team will be as a whole. Right now he's looking like the 4th or 5th best starter in his own rotation, when he came into the year as one of the top-5 in all of baseball. It's been nice to see the offense step up, especially the newly acquired outfield, but this teams' best asset is still their starting rotation, and they're going to need Timmy right down the stretch.

Crawford's Error Costly, But Giants Still Hang On

Madison Bumgarner provided one of his better starts of the season, but it still took the Giants 14 innings to take game one of their series in Milwaukee thanks to a tough defensive mistake. The normally sure-handed Brandon Crawford committed his 9th error on the season in the 8th inning, leading to a big blow that cost Bumgarner the win and a shot at a complete game.

Bumgarner and Buster

Brandon Crawford and Joaquin Arias each came up with crucial errors late in the game to help allow Milwaukee climb back from a 3-1 deficit. The Giants got on the board early with a big swing of the bat by Buster Posey, as their star backstop connected for his 5th home run of the season in the top of the first inning, giving MadBum some breathing room right off the bat. Bumgarner hasn't won since May 5th, but the left-hander went 7 2/3 strong, allowing 1 earned run on 5 hits while striking out 10. Unfortunately, Bumgarner was also charged with 2 unearned runs, which cost him a shot at his 6th win, when Ryan Braun hit a 2-run jack in the bottom of the 8th. Luckily for the Giants, their bullpen was up to the task Monday night and provided 6 scoreless innings of relief, capped off with Santiago Casilla's 2-inning finish to earn the win. Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt, Clay Hensley and Javier Lopez each had scoreless appearances as well. There were two things to like about this game; the late inning heroics and clutch hit by Hector Sanchez, a guy I continue to get more impressed with the more I see him, and also the way the team kept it together and held on after their defense almost cost it for them. The Giants have been walking a dangerous line with really poor infield defense all season long know, and it really got worse after Pablo Sandoval went down. These dumb errors have cost the Giants many of games so far, but they managed to play through the mistakes Monday, and that win gives me some inspiration that things are on the upswing.


However, if this team wants to create some separation between them and .500, they're going to have to make some improvements. It seems like this team has been playing really good ball of late, and yet they still sit just 2 games over .500 heading into play Tuesday. We mentioned one big reason for that in the last post, that being Tim Lincecum's early season struggles, but the other thing that's killed this team has been their inadequate defensive play. Surprisingly, this teams offense is scoring some runs. Melky Cabrera is a monster and Angel Pagan is starting to catch up. They've helped keep the offense afloat in absence of their slugging

Sanchez Still Having Trouble

third basemen, and had this team gotten consistent defensive play through the first 2 months of the season, they'd be sitting a lot prettier than 22-20 right now. I've never seen defense be such a problem for a Giants team in many seasons. They've taken steps at ensuring strong defense behind their excellent starting rotation over the years, and they've always played fundamentally sound ball up until this year. A big part of that has been the shuffling going on in the infield with Panda and Freddy Sanchez out. Not to mention, one of their prime middle infield backups signed in the offseason, Ryan Theriot, has also been on the DL for most of May. At some point, this team is going to have to make a move for some insurance at 2nd base. Arias is not the answer, Culberson is not ready and Manny Burris is not a starting caliber player. I still am very surprised they couldn't woo Orlando Hudson to come north and play for a winner after San Diego released him. I mentioned him in our last post and the more I look at potential targets coupled with the fact the Giants will have to deal more prospects, the more Hudson made sense for this team. They could have gotten him for nothing at all, and despite his slow start, he'd have been heads and shoulders above anyone else their currently trotting out to 2nd base and given them defensive stability up the middle.

Giants Take First Interleague Series of 2012

The Giants had their first interleague series of the 2012 season this weekend as they played host to their cross bay rival Oakland Athletics. Unfortunately, they couldn't manage to pull out a victory in Sunday's game to sweep the A's, but they did take 2 of 3 from Oakland and have beaten the A's 11 out of the last 12 times they've played at AT&T Park.

Lincecum's ERA Raised to 6.04

It wasn't all a cake walk though, as the Giants ace was once again knocked around in Sunday's start, and it cost the Giants a chance at a sweep. Tim Lincecum had perhaps his most frustrating start of this season Sunday, lasting just 4 innings while giving up 4 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. He also got his clock cleaned at the plate by Colin Cowgill while covering on a past ball, which had everyone holding their breath for a moment there. He appears to be fine physically, but his effectiveness is not there right now. His last good start and victory was over San Diego on nearly a month back on April 28th, and since then Tim's averaged just 5 innings per start in 4 outings, and has given up 16 runs in just over 20 innings of work. He's witnessed his ERA balloon up to 6.04 and his record fall to 2-4 after Sunday's loss. Luckily for him though, the veterans really picked up the slack this weekend, as Barry Zito took care of his former team, with a huge assist from the offense, and saw his record improve to 3-1 in Friday night's 8-6 victory. That was followed up by another strong outing from Ryan Vogelsong, who had his best start of 2012 on Saturday as the Giants shut out Oakland. The 34 year-old right-hander continues to make good on the 2 year/$8.4 million deal the Giants gave him over the winter, and he just keeps getting stronger with each outing. In his start Saturday, he went his typical 7 strong innings, allowing just 1 hit, 1 walk and 0 runs paired with 5 K's. I've said it a few times before, and I'll say it again, the back end of the rotation is really what's keeping the Giants afloat right now. Cain is pitching nicely and Madison Bumgarner leads the team in wins, but Lincecum's struggles have been somewhat neutralized by Zito and Vogelsong's dominance.

Melky Hitting .353

At the same time, the offense is still kind of sputtering along. They need to hit a hot streak in order to create some separation between .500 as they've been hovering around that point seemingly all season long. They had another inconsistent weekend with a very nice night Friday, followed by one good inning Saturday, then being shut down by Bartolo Colon in Sunday's game. There are some players who continue to do their job, but there are too many guys still not pulling their weight, especially in the infield. In fact, the lack of infield depth, coupled with the injuries to Pablo Sandoval and Freddy Sanchez have the Giants in the market for infield help. One guy who's been linked to them over the last few days was Padres castoff Orlando Hudson, but he landed with the White Sox just yesterday. Luckily for the Giants, their outfield had been producing to help make up for the lack of production in the infield. We've talked at length about Angel Pagan's surge in May, and after Sunday's 2-4 effort, he's now got his batting average up over .300 for the first time as a Giant. Melky Cabrera also continues to rake, and now has himself in to top echelon of NL hitters with a .354 average after a 4-4 day Sunday. And finally, there's Gregor Blanco, who's been a huge breath of fresh air in the leadoff spot, allowing the Giants to create some sort of stability while their top offensive threat heals from his broken wrist. Blanco has played so well that he'll likely keep his spot in the lineup when Sandoval does return, with Pagan staying lower in the order. With Blanco out there, the Giants have tremendous speed in the outfield and really have a good formula going there. I just wish we could see this team all healthy, with Freddy Sanchez and Pablo out there and the outfielders hitting like they are. Unfortunately, that day may never come with Sanchez's struggles to stay on the diamond, so don't be surprised if the Giants do deal for a more impacting 2nd basemen.

In a minor roster move, the Giants added some rotational depth by inking Brad Penny to a minor league deal. Penny was released by Detroit earlier in the season after struggling and comes to the Giants in a very similar circumstance to 2009, when he went 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA in 6 starts down the stretch. The Giants hope they won't need to use Penny as a starter like that this season, though they have very little depth after their starting five right now, so this signing does make some sense. Also, if your looking to do any wagering on upcoming games, check out the TopBet online sportsbook!

Giants Rebound Thursday After Tough Loss

The Giants offense once again hid under a shell for Madison Bumgarner in Wednesday night's mini 2-game series opener vs. the Cardinals. However, they rebounded just in time in Thursday afternoon's match-up to avoid being swept by the reigning World Champs.

Crawford's 2-Run Single

Matt Cain did not provide one of his better starts of the 2012 campaign, but the Giants offense showed up in bunches throughout Thursday's game in order to overcome an early deficit and take the game over in the late innings. They took big advantage of some defensive mistakes by St. Louis, and it was finally good to see the opposing team struggle in the field for a change. The Cards put up two early runs against Cain in the first, but as he does so often, he got stronger as the game wore on. He left after 6 innings, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits with 6 K's, but the Giants did manage to score enough for him to provide him the victory. The two Brandon's each really stood out in this ballgame, as they combined for 3 doubles and 3 RBI. It was especially nice to see Belt hit with a little bit of authority. I know he's had some moments here early on in 2012, but for the most part, he hasn't been driving the ball like the Giants were hoping, and that changed Thursday with his first career multi-double game. Also, looking for some way to spark the Giants stagnant offense, Boch made some moves in the order Thursday, and I'll be curious to see if they stick moving forward. Brandon Crawford was moved up to the two spot in the order, and despite his low batting average, I'll tell you what I like about that move. The one component Crawford has displayed as a young big leaguer, is the ability to take some pitches, and the Giants were getting too many quick outs from the top of their order since Pablo went down and changed everything up. I wouldn't mind seeing Crawford in the 2-hole a few more times after the solid performance Thursday. Until the surging Angel Pagan can get back into the top of the order, they need production there, and Blanco has provided it out of the leadoff spot, but that 2-hole has been a problem since Cabrera was moved to the 3-spot.

Casilla: 9/10 in Save Situations

Also, I must say, I was thinking that Santiago Casilla would only be a short-term answer at closer, and that the Giants would have a different man in that spot by the trade deadline, but he's been brilliant in the role since the Giants lost "The Beard". So good in fact that he'll likely get some All-Star votes. Most of these Giants wins have been close ballgames, nail-biters, and Casilla has surpassed all expectations in my book. The Giants bullpen is still not quite clicking on all cylinders, as they still haven't adequately replaced Guillermo Mota and need to get Jeremy Affeldt back in a groove, but other than that, the pen has held up decently for losing two key cogs early on. Thursday may have been a move in the right direction for Affeldt, as he had his second consecutive perfect outing after a pretty rough April. The good thing about Affeldt, is he has a rubber arm and can go 2-3 innings when needed, plus when he's on, he's just as effective vs. righties as he is vs. lefties, and could be huge if he could lock down that 7th inning bridge to Romo/Lopez./Casilla. I still think Heath Hembree will be up at some point before September, probably not as closer, but with the Giants lacking some in middle relief now, he could be their savior if they can't find a reasonable arm on the market.

Roster Notes: It's been over a week now since Aubrey Huff was recalled from the DL, and he hasn't gotten a single start since and has only 1 hit in 6 at-bats. I have no idea what the Giants plan is for Huff, but at this point, he's really serving no purpose other than a left-handed pinch hitter who isn't doing all that much off the bench. He managed to make contact in a key spot in Thursday's game, but hit a weak grounder to third that David Freese made a throwing error on. I wonder how much longer the Giants will give Aubrey to work through things. One factor that is favoring him is that none of the Giants young hitters are coming up and making a statement. Charlie Culberson hasn't shown much of anything, Gillaspie did nothing and Joaquin Arias and Manny Burris are not MLB starters. It's amazing how much one injury (Sandoval's) effects the whole outlook of a roster.