Season Predictions and Giants Updates

The regular season is right around the corner, with the Giants opener on Friday.  Some games have already started in Japan, with the Athletics and the Mariners starting their season there.  Now, it's time for the Giants to make the call on who gets to stay in the bigs and who is released/sent down to the minors.  Gregor Blanco looks to be the fourth outfielder on the roster because of his torrid .348 batting average during spring training.  As far as the infield goes, it looks like Fontenot and Theriot are going to have even less of a role as previously imagined.  Emmanuel Burriss looks as if he is going to start the season at second base in place of the injured Freddy Sanchez.  Burriss is hitting .360 during spring and is showing exceptional defensive skills around the diamond and good base-stealing ability.  Also, Joaquin Arias, a shortstop that had been in the majors before, has impressed mostly with the glove during the spring.  Although being merely average with the bat, .275 average during the spring, his glove should make him a viable back-up for rookie Brandon Crawford if he befalls injury or begins to struggle with the bat.

On the back of their excellent starting pitching and bullpen, I do not see the giants losing more than 70 games unless their rotation is absolutely crippled.  With the return of Buster Posey and eventually Freddy Sanchez, as well as the addition of Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan, should lead to an improved offense.  My prediction for the Giants record is 97- 65, which should be good enough to win them the NL West.  I'm willing to bet that the Giants will be a playoff team once again and will be geared for a playoff run with their stellar pitching.  LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Pre Pre-Season Updates

Preseason games start tomorrow on March 1st the Giants are in a frenzy trying to get everyone healthy and ready.
Injury Updates and Recovery Watch:

Buster Posey: The most important position player on the Giants is making a swift recovery, he has been catching pitchers and taking batting practice against live pitching, Romo and Affedlt both pitching to him.  Posey has been performing well in batting practice and feels good to be back, but is still not back to his normal form.  Posey will be sitting out for the first few games due to precautionary measures but he is actually quite all right.

Freddy Sanchez: Freddy Sanchez, who was out last year with a dislocated shoulder, has recently began to start throwing to first but has not begun turning double plays.  Sanchez will not be playing in the preseason games at first, but will hope to get back in on the action soon with DHing and maybe even playing a few innings in the field.  He is on track to being able to play by Opening Day.

Tim Lincecum: Lincecum suffered from a mild back strain, but recovered quickly and is back to pitching.

Brian Wilson: Wilson played through an enflamed elbow almost all of last season, but looks to be healthy again this year and is able to throw full-effort in the bullpen.

Ryan Vogelsong: Vogelsong suffered an injury early in preseason camp while balancing on a balance ball and lifting 70-pound dumbells and it looks to be a somewhat serious injury.  Although Vogelsong will probably be back soon and be able to start the regular season, Bruce Bochy has changed up the starting rotation by putting Bumgardener in the 2 spot just in case Vogelsong can't start the season.  Sandwiching Bumgardener between Cain and Lincecum would ensure that there wouldn't be three lefties in a row at the tail-end of the rotation.  The three-in-a-row situation would occur if Eric Surkamp (who looks to be the No. 6 starting pitcher right now) started in place of Ryan Vogelsong.  And him, along with Barry Zito and Madison Bumgardener, would make left-handed pitchers start at the 3, 4, and 5 spots.

Position and line-up changes:

The starting outfield almost for sure will look like Melky Cabrera in left, Angel Pagan in center, and Nate Schierholtz in right.  It seems like Angel Pagan will leadoff, with speed that Bochy said is even a little bit better than Andres Torres.  The only other position of contention is first base and Aubrey Huff is given the obvious advantage because of his extensive track record, but Brandon Belt and Brett Pill (who had a very nice end of season last year) have an outside shot of winning the job.

Giants season is around the corner, folks!  Make sure to check out how your favorite players are performing over the next few weeks worth of games!