If you haven’t been paying attention the San Francisco Giants have been the hottest team in baseball since July 3rd. They are on a 22-6 hot streak right now. The offense has been running on all cylinders. The Giants are currently 1 game back of the Padres in the NL West, and have a 3 game lead in the Wild Card over the Cardinals.
The Giants have won 4 in a row, and 8 out of their last 10 games.Their record against the NL West teams since the All Star break is 10-1. The first half they were 9-21. Talk about a big improvement! If you can’t beat teams in your division, you can’t win it!
Possible Rookie Of The Year?
Stay hottttttBuster Posey!! He had a 3-for-4 night and has hit safely in 24 of 26 games. Posey has played in 48 games, and has a .370 AVG, 8 HR, 33 RBI’s and scored 28 runs.
Possible MVP?
Aubrey Huff leads the Giants in AVG (.310), HR (20) and RBI’s (65). Where would they be without their $3 million dollar man? I’m sure Brian Sabean or whoever the Giants GM is will try to bring Huff back next year.
This post has been written prior to August 4th games.
The recent San Francisco Giants rumor that is floating around in the thick San Francisco fog is the Giants are interested in the Kansas City Royals OF/DH Jose Guillen. It’s also been reported that the Giants will only be interested if the Royals pay most of his salary.
Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star told me (via email) If the Royals eat all (or nearly all) of the salary and are willing to take (next to) nothing in return. The offer will need to get sweeter for anything to happen.
Chris Haft the Giants Beat writer also told me (via email) He hasn’t heard anything concrete but it absolutely wouldn’t surprise him. He’d be a good rent-a-player.
Guillen is currently hitting .279 with 13 homers and 47 RBI’s. He would be a nice bat to add to the middle of the Giants lineup. There would have to be a lot more juggling with with defense and lineup to keep the hot hitters in the lineup. Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell have been in the outfield so Buster Posey could get some AB’s at first base.
If this trade does end up going down. We can see Bengie Molina losing a lot more playing time to the young phenom Posey, and then Burrell or Huff can move to first base to free up room for Guillen in the outfield.
John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Aubrey Huff would love to re-sign with the San Francisco Giants. Huff said he and Pat Burrell are really enjoying it here.
“I would love to be back here,” Huff said when asked about 2011.
The way Huff is hitting right now. I’m sure the Giants would love to bring him back. Possibly even Burrell if he continues to produce. Huff leads the team in AVG at .311. There is a few guys with a higher AVG like Edgar Renteria and Freddy Sanchez, but they have half the AB’s that Huff has had. He also leads the team in homers with 12, runs with 41 and is 2nd in RBI’s with 37.
Side Notes
It’s finally official that they are shutting down Mark DeRosa for the season. He will be having surgery early next week. The Giants are just hoping they can get a healthy DeRosa for next year. I was really hoping DeRosa would be a big part of the lineup this year, but the baseball gods had other plans.
Steve Phillips of Fanhouse tells us who he thinks the buyers, sellers and teams holding are at this years trading deadline. He has the San Francisco Giants listed as buyers, and I would have to agree with him. The Giants are half a game out of the NL West behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
The starting pitching has been there all year for the Giants. It’s been their inability to score runs that has cost them games. This team does seem to have more of a thump in their lineup lately. Freddy Sanchez has returned from his injury and the call up of Buster Posey has really helped ignite the offense. They have Juan Uribe and Aubrey Huff both playing some outstanding ball right now. The addition of Pat Burrell also has them producing more runs per game. He brought that right-handed power that the team needed. Plus he seems to have found his stroke. You know what the saying is… “Home Sweet Home”
With that said the Giants can still always upgrade their offense. When you’re not putting out an everyday lineup like the New York Yankees. Then there is always room for and upgraded offense. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star has said in an article that teams may have interest in David DeJesus and Jose Guillen. Bob told me via email that he hasn’t heard any rumors linking the Giants and any Royals players at this time.
The Giants beat writer Chris Haft told me via email that he thinks the Giants may need another reliever more than they need a hitter. The Giants do have the flexibility to move players around to acquire a bat, but the question is who are they willing to part with?
Going into the offseason the San Francisco Giants knew they had to upgrade their offense. Which means everyone knew Brian Sabean would have his work cut out. We know that he has tried in the past to bring in a big bat, but some players refuse to come San Francisco. Sabean offered power hitting Carlos Lee a six year $112 million contract in 2006. Lee declined the offer and signed with the Houston Astros (11-24-06) for a six year $100 million deal. I’m sure that short porch in left field (Crawford Boxes) at Minute Maid Park had him excited to play in Houston.
It’s known that the Giants will have to overpay to land free agents in San Francisco. Sabean did however happen to pull off a couple of steal deals. He brought in Juan Uribe a year ago, and he’s done nothing but produce for the Giants. They even brought him back again this year for a 1 year deal worth $3.25 million. His been a very valuable piece to this team. He’s moved all around the infield, and has been doing yard-work (raking) all season! Uribe has a .289 AVG with 10 homers, 41 RBI’s and 31 runs scored.
Another player that Sabean has brought in this year is the left-handed swinging Aubrey Huff. The Giants were the only team to offer Huff a contract. Which is probably the reason he jumped on the offer ($3 million 1-year). Barry Bonds made it look easy to hit homers at AT&T Park, but all the left handed hitters know that’s not the case at all. Huff has been known to hit monster homers when he hits them, so I’m sure that right field wall didn’t really scare him too much. Eight of his ten homers this year have been hit at home.
Huff is currently hitting .300 AVG with 10 homers, 34 RBI’s and 34 runs scored. Huff and Uribe are a big reason the Giants are playing so well right now. We knew their pitching would keep them in games, and it was up to their offense to score enough runs. Guys like Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez are getting on base while Uribe and Huff continue to drive them in.
Uribe and Huff are hitting a combined .294 (AVG) for the season with 20 homers, 75 RBI’s and 65 runs scored. That’s some pretty nice production from the middle of the lineup.
Now this has been an ongoing issue. I keep hearing people say Sanchez should step up and should already have joined the team. That he lacks toughness. People have to understand that if you’re coming off an injury. You really want to be sure you’re 100%. You don’t want to rush back and risk injury again. A doctor can tell you when you should be back on the field, but that’s not set in stone. No one really knows how your body is. Only the player coming off the injury really knows when they feel 100%.
Sanchez is expected to join the team tomorrow in Arizona, as the Giants face the Diamondbacks. No, he’s not going to dramatically change the everyday lineup. He will however make an impact in it. He’s a career .299 (avg) hitter. He’s also a 3 time All Star, and has won the National League Batting Title in 2006. He’s no Babe Ruth, but he’s going to get his hits and will be on base for Pablo Sandoval, Aubrey Huff and Bengie Molina.
Side Notes
The Jermaine Dye rumor will never die till he’s signed by a team. It’s not likely the Giants will sign him. They know he had a horrible 2nd half of the season last year. He’s also demanding a hefty asking price and clearly a liability in the outfield. I don’t see the Giants feeling desperate enough to pull the trigger on that deal. They will be waiting for a player to step up, or for everyone to be healthy and on the field at the same time.
Mark DeRosa was quoted as saying “I hope and pray I get back into the lineup within a week, be productive and do what I was brought here to do, which is go to the playoffs and win a World Series.”
The Giants are 0-7 against the San Diego Padres this year. Let’s just chalk up the remaining 11 games with the Padres as losses, and let’s rest all of our players on those days. Who’s with me?
The San Francisco Giants dropped another game to the San Diego Padres, and now are on the verge of getting swept at home. I’m really not sure who owns the Giants right now, cause it seems like the Padres do to me. The Giants really need to get the bats going. You can’t win games if you can’t score runs. It’s the same story as last year right now. They are not able to score and drive in runs when they have men on base.
There is one hot bat in the line up right now. That’s first baseman Aubrey Huff. Huff is now second on the team in batting average and has passed Pablo Sandoval in that department. Huff is currently hitting .286 (AVG) with 4 homers and 17 RBI’s. I would say he’s definitely starting to feel comfortable in a Giants uniform. Did you think that’s it with Huff’s stats? Nope there’s more! He has the 3rd highest AVG in the NL since April 30th. He’s hit .425 (17-40) since that date. Let’s just hope the Giants can get some guys on base in today’s game, so he can get a chance to do some damage!
Now I’m not sure how Giants fans feel about this? Do you think DeRosa should just close up shop and get surgery now, or just play through it and get it during the offseason? Either way this goes. It’s going to be a split decision. I have heard fans say he can play hurt, but is that what we really want? Do we want to see him struggle at the plate or give other guys a chance like John Bowker?
Last night didn’t start that way I had hoped it would. Barry Zito just didn’t look like he did in his previous 6 starts. Zito went 5 innings allowing 6 hits, 3 runs and 7 walks. The San Diego Padres had runners all over the place. I’m just shocked that the score was only 3-2 Padres. It’s nice to know there is another team out there that has trouble hitting with runers on base.
Aubrey Huff had a 2-4 night driving in a run and scoring a run. He did however show his frustration in the 7th inning after fouling out. He snapped his bat in half over his leg. Bringing back a memory of when Bo Jackson would break a bat over his knee (Bo Knows Baseball).
Shotgun Cain (Matt Cain) takes the hill tonight to try to even the series. Cain is 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA. He’s looking to end this winless streak against the Padres so far this season. The Padres are 4-0 against the Giants thus far in 2010.
Side Notes
Mark DeRosa received some bad news on Tuesday. DeRosa said his wrist is completely ruptured again. He’s currently pondering playing with bum wrist and having surgery during the offseason, or having it now. He’s going to have a few days off before having to make that decision.
Freddy Sanchez looked good in his first rehab game with the San Jose Giants. He went 2-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI’s at Visalia. I’m really excited to see Sanchez join the San Francisco Giants soon. Giants fans still don’t know what a healthy Sanchez can do for this lineup.
Bruce Bochy said “It is encouraging, it looks like he’s on his way. Hopefully we’ll have him up here pretty soon.”
Todd Wellemeyer may get his next start pushed back a day. He’s listed to star Friday night against the Houston Astros, but the Giants are considering moving Tim Lincecum up a day. Lincecum would still have his usual 4 days rest. Wellemeyer isn’t holding down the fifth spot in the rotation. He’s currently 1-3 with a 5.97 ERA, but would pitch Saturday so the remaining starters can still get their 4 days rest between starts.
If Wellemeyer doesn’t get things turned around fast. We may see the Wellemeyer project end soon. Which means we can possibly be getting closer to seeing Madison Bumgarner sooner rather than later.
The Giants had a great home-stand against some very “Built Ford Tough” (hope Ford send me a check for that plug) teams. It was a 6-3 record against the ST. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies. The Giants had a chance to sweep each team, but dropped the finale in each series.
Now it’s back on the road for the hot Giants. It’s a mystery to see which Giants team will make the trip. Will it be the hot team coming straight from San Francisco, or the cold team that went 1-5 on the Los Angeles/San Diego road trip. It’s like night and day…
Tim Lincecum gets the start tonight against the Florida Marlins. Let’s hope he can get this road trip started off on the right foot. Timmy has been taking a lot of heat for not being able to pitch in the heat. I’m not sure how hot it will be in Florida at game time, but I’m sure it will be very humid. Timmy has been labeled as a cold weather pitcher. Let’s hope he can show he’s dominate in any type of weather.
This is a two city stop for the Giants on this road trip. They will be in Florida for 3 games, and then New York for 3 more. The Giants need to prove to themselves and their fans that they can win on the road. The Giants have proven that they can hang with anyone at AT&T Park. Let’s just hope Bruce Bochy figures out a way to jump start this offense in other places than San Francisco.
Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says a leading theory posits the Giants will keep Buster Posey in the minors until June to ensure he does not gain an extra year of arbitration eligibility, but team officials have discussed bringing him up sooner.
King of Cali thoughts: Now it’s not rocket-science. If Posey is hitting and Aubrey Huff isn’t. I would bring up Posey, and let him get some games in at first. He can even get some games in when Bengie Molina needs a break behind the dish. This is just to help jump start the offense a bit.
Posey hasn’t been driving the ball so far this season, but he’s still getting his hits. He’s currently hitting .353 AVG with 1 homer and 9 RBI’s in 18 games for the Fresno Grizzlies. We need a guy that can hit. If you place him in this Giants lineup. He’s easily already one of the top 3 hitters in the everyday lineup. That’s how good this kids bat can be. Well then again… him being one of our top 3 hitters isn’t saying much for a team that desperately needs offensive help. Do you think the Giants should bring up Posey now?
The Giants had a great home-stand against some very “Built Ford Tough” (hope Ford send me a check for that plug) teams. It was a 6-3 record against the 
