Sunday, May 25, 2014

Giants win the pennant?

The SF Giants are now 31-18 and are the best team record wise in the National League. After winning the World Series in 2010 and 2012 recently, history shows 2014 might be their year also. They have pitching and for the first time they have a team that hits dingers! I can cry about all the solo home runs but it beats 2010. They had to hit four singles just to score a run...torture!  Another  difference is in the previous championship runs was the Giants finished as Wild Card teams. Being division champs doesn't guarantee a parade. One thing that is for certain is the Giants are the best team that gets no coverage from the media. The best team no one talks about. Giants still aren't respected after the past two championship runs and experts still refer to their rings as luck. This season there is a different feeling about the Giants.
With star pitchers going down...amazing that the player who throws the most sliders in the game Sergio Romo still has an elbow! Giants teams have always been a team built on pitching. It's not surprising that at the start of free agency they targeted Tim Hudson. He was old(38) and just had his ankle surgically repaired. Having just gone through Buster Posey's ankle issues they knew Hudson would be ok and his sinker would be perfect for AT&T Park. Hudson completes the starting rotation with Cain, Bumgarner, Lincecum, and Vogelsong. Truth is the Giants bullpen are the real heroes of the team. They have he second most wins(13), Third in majors in era(2.26), first in saves(19), and most importantly first in walks allowed(41). Romo closes the door except in Coors field where that slider doesn't slide!
 The luck so far has been the Giants are winning without they're key hitters...hitting! Pablo Sandoval is batting .227 with 6 home runs. Buster Posey is batting .265 with 7 home runs. Hunter Pence is batting .285 with only 5 home runs. How is this team winning? The only stat of note is Giants are first in 2 out base hits with runners in scoring position. The non stat reasoning is you can't buy chemistry... Dodgers! The Giants never won with Bonds and Kent...just saying. Giants do have some issues with Brandon Belt and Marco Scutaro out with injuries. As always the Giants love bargins. While I was screaming at the Giants to sign Shin-Soo Choo...they pick up Tyler Colvin? Granted he was a first round pick. He was unwanted and picked up off the scrap heap. When Scutaro, 38 years old wasn't ready for spring training they were lucky to have a player like Stephen Drew still available  having just winning the World Series with Boston. Yet they signed Brandon Hicks? Yes, he is only batting .195 but, he has 8 dingers and can actually take a step to the left for a ground ball which couldn't be said for Scutaro even when he was healthy! The one guy I was happy they signed was Michael Morse. My man has light tower power. Nicknamed the beast for a reason and works out with Frank Gore in the off season. My only complaint is he plays left field instead of first base. To be honest he hasn't looked so bad in left. He leads the team with 10 dingers.
 Do the Giants have what it takes to win the pennant? Staring pitching...check. Bullpen...check. Dingers...check. Hall a fame manager...check. It will be interesting to see what they do at the trade deadline. I'm not so sure who will be available but, right now do the Giants need anything? Yes, you can always improve your team. I would love to trade for Jeff Samardzija from the Chicago Cubs. There top prospect Kyle Crick would definitely be needed to be included in that trade to get done. All the fuss about losing Zack Wheeler in Carlos Beltran trade. Wheeler is 1-5 and has 4.31 era right now. Giants have 14th pick in this years draft they can add a quality arm back in their farm system in June.
 Yes, the Giants will win the pennant...Samardzija will help them win another World's Series!

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