So the Giants took 2 of 3 from the D-backs before losing last night's 12 inning game 6-5. Really just a lockup bullpen in the 8th would've had us cruising to a sweep in Arizona, but I'll take 2 of 3 on the road any day.
What is especially positive is the recent power surge the Giants have had with Panda going deep in 3 of the last 4 games. Huff hit his first of the season yesterday and Posey hit his second of the season. 5 runs is usually enough for our stingy pitching staff, but Bumgarner never really had control of his breaking balls and the bullpen made an uncharacteristic mistake in the late innings.
Anyway... On to the next one!
Giants start a 3 game series in Colorado tonight with Tim Lincecum on the mound. Timmy is 1-1 with a 1.86 ERA so far on the short season, but he struggled in his last start giving up 3 runs over 5.1 innings for a no-decision. The Giants went on to win that game 5-4 against the Dodgers.
Timmy will face Esmil Rodgers who is filling in for an injured Ubaldo Jimenez. However before you start throwing a little Timmy victory party, Rodgers' numbers so far are 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA, plenty good enough to stymie the Giants and increase the Rockies lead in the West.
The Rockies are probably off to one of their hottest starts with an 11-3 record and proving that they are the main contender for the NL West crown. They'll get a chance to prove it in this series with the world champions
Injury Updates
Barry Zito suffered a foot sprain early in the game on Saturday and was placed on the 15 day DL. Ryan Vogelsong who impressed the Giants in spring training was brought up from AAA Fresno and will serve in the bullpen if the Giants decide to skip Zito's spot in the rotation or could be used in a spot start if Bochy decides to give the other starters an extra day off.
Ross continues to get better and was 2-3 in his rehab stint in the minors. Torres is also looking better but not quite ready for a return. Even if Ross comes back, due to Torres' injury, no moves have to be made right away besides the moves to the starting lineup. Ross might move to RF, with Huff moving to LF and relieve a slumping Pat Burrell.
Rowand who has been on fire lately will stay in Center Field which will provide some interesting issues once Torres is healthy again. One solution is to drop Belt back down to AAA, and have Torres start in LF, and Huff back to first base.
Belt had been doing a bit better lately having a 4 game hit streak broken on Sunday, but since he still has options, it might be better to option him to Fresno rather than to lose Nate Schierholtz who is still valuable to the team on defense.
And so goes the musical chairs sequence in the outfield. One guy who isn't getting any consideration in the outfield is DeRosa who is rumored to be a trade piece or a guy the Giants might drop. But with a 6 million dollar price tag, and as one of the most versatile players on the roster, not to mention a great presence in the clubhouse, I think he has greater value to the club than to be dropped.
Again it seems like depth is our greatest problem, but what a great problem to have...
Laws of the Day
So far this season Panda is hitting .340 with 4 home runs... should we be excited? Cautiously... in 2010 Panda was .368 with 3 home runs for the month of April, and ended the season hitting .268 with 13 home runs.
It's true we definitely have some "good" problems, i.e. a variety of versatile players with varying degrees of ability in the field and at the plate. I def love to see Panda getting better and I think Belt will be worth while in the long run. Mota did awesome the other night! It seems this quirky mix of players plays to Bochy's strengths as a master shifter of player positions...but we'll see:)
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