Struggling Giants
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by user Ezchinesefats
Well Armando Benitez is gone from the bay area, but Giants fans have more serious problems their offense and bullpen. The starting pitching this year so far has been superb. It easily ranks as one of the best rotations in the National League. With young pitchers like Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Noah Lowry, and the 126 million dollar man Barry Zito the Giant's pitching seems to be great for years to come with all of those pitchers signed long term. also with guys in the minors like Adam Cowart, Jonathon Sanchez, Henry Sosa and the rest of the guys at A Augusta this roation looks nasty! Throw in the Giant's two top draft choices Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson and this club is stocked with live arms. The future of the rotation looks good unless GM Brian Sabean decides to trade away great pitching for rental players.
Now about the struggling offense. Barry Bonds is either in a slump or coming of age and it has thrown his team into a funk. The team has three players batting over .300 which are Benjie Molina, Randy Winn and Ryan Klesko and none of those players have much power which is what the Giants need. This team is full of players who are unable to hit when the pressure is on or when runners are in scoring positions. In other words this offense is horrible. They have lost countless games by the score of 1-0 or 2-1 where they bearly put up any runs. Plus the team has been shutout an astounding 6 times and we're not halfway through the season. Things don't look too much better in the minors. With several solid prospects in the minors they really don't have a great player except for Angel Villalona who is only 16 and at least 5 years away from the majors. Prospect Marcus Sanders probably won't receive the opportunity to play in the majors due to his shoulder injuries however.
So here is a player by player review of their offensive production so far this year. Lets start with the main man Bonds. He is in a slump or just old, but he showed early into the season that his knees were healthy and he could still hit the ball. Rookie Fred Lewis has shown nothing spectacular other than hitting for the cycle against Colorado which may raise his trade value if the Giants are interested in shopping him, it would be wise to hang onto him even though he is already 27 and at his prime. Pedro Feliz the 3rd baseman has always received criticism from fans for his low average and unclutch hitting. Everything has been proven to be true this year even though Feliz is 2nd on the team in home runs he can't hit one unless the team is down by more than 5 or up by 4, he has however shown improvement with his plate discipline. A couple steps over in the infield is Omar Vizquel, he has shown he is no longer the same player he once was at the plate, but he remains one of the games top defensive shortstops. Ray durham has been a disappointment this year. He has one of the lowest averages on the team after he hit 26 homeruns and batted .293 last year which was his contract year. Also in the infield Ryan Klesko the offseason aquisation has proven to be a good pickup. He is batting .307, but has lost most or all of his former power. Benjie Molina another free agent pickup has been superb this year both behind the plate and at the plate. He is batting .303 with 6 homeruns and 33 rbi's. Molina also has been by far the best player in the clutch for the giants. Randy Winn has been superb as well following a somewhat disappointing year last year. He has been a good leadoff hitter and will bat 2nd with the return of Dave Roberts. Speaking of Dave Roberts he has a low average this year, but missed most of it on the DL. Ever since his return though the giants have scored no less than 3 runs which is considered good for this offense. Rich Aurillia is having a terrible year. First pitch swinging and base running blunders is not going to get it done. Dan Ortmeier is a much better right handed hitter than he is a lefty, and he may be a good player in the future. Nate Schierholtz is a good contact hitter who has just been called up yesterday and struck out twice. He needs to be more aggresive while at bat to avoid striking out so much. He can become a great player someday.
Now finally on to the bullpen. The bullpen has some very inconsistent times. Example number one was Benitez who is now a Marlin. He was 7-7 in save opportunities before self imploding and being traded. The bullpen includes the likes of Brad Hennessey who is the new closer, Randy Messenger, Jack Taschner, Kevin Correia, Vinnie Chulk, and Steve Kline. You can say that bullpen is decent at best. The closer Brad Hennessey has gotten few save opportunities, and it is yet to be known if he has closer like stuff. The Giants might be one of the teams looking to find a bullpen or hitter at this years trade deadline. I think they will be one of the teams that will make a push to aquire San Diego's setup man Scott Linebrink or rather Minnesota's Joe Nathan.
This team has the starting pitching to take them to the postseason, but thats not enough for their non-existent offense and shaky bullpen. They should consider giving some of the young guys everyday jobs to prepare for the future. Next year for the Giants to be successful anytime soon must be a rebuilding year. That is unlikely to happen if they re-sign Bonds to keep up attendance. Rebuilding has been long over due and Peter Magowan is reluctant to start it now since he has to keep up attendance to pay for privately funded Pacific Bell Park. The bottom line is the Giants have the pitching they need which is a start, they have a team that knows how to win, a GM that knows how to put together a winning team, and enough money to make some noise during free agency as we look forward to a bright future for the San Francisco Giants
