It May Be an Even Year But the Results Will Be Uneven By the Bay

It May Be an Even Year But the Results Will Be Uneven By the Bay

 

The calling card of the San Francisco Giants has always been pitching and defense. This year, they cannot rely on those intangibles like they have before. The bullpen will be solid and Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain should pitch well at the top of the rotation, but after that its question marks all over. Tim Hudson is coming off a devastating ankle injury, Ryan Vogelsong is looking washed up, and Tim Lincecum hasn’t nearly been the same pitcher he’s been in years past. Even though Sergio Romo is a good closer, there may come a point where San Francisco should consider making Lincecum the closer. For quick three or four out appearances his stuff would translate much better now and he could be highly effective.

The Giants signed Mike Morse to bolster the offense, which he should do, but having him play the majority of games in left field will be an excellent adventure that would make Bill and Ted jealous. Pablo Sandoval has committed to losing weight this winter and is coming into the season about 40 pounds lighter. We may need to stop calling him Kung Fu Panda and start calling him Little Bear. Buster Posey is the face of the team and will continue on what has so far been a Hall of Fame career. He should see more playing time at first base against lefties if the Giants are committed to Morse being an everyday outfielder and Brandon Belt being left handed. Belt should continue to improve now that he has made some adjustments to his approach and has Bochy’s confidence. We may finally see the player we had been hearing about for so long. Players have been known at times to put it all together later than usual, look at Alex Gordon on Kansas City. Belt could have a similar type breakout season like Gordon had after everyone had all but given up on him.

San Francisco has the unfortunate task of being in the same division as Los Angeles and Arizona so while I don’t think the playoffs are in their future this season; they can definitely be improved from last season. I’m looking forward to the new look orange jerseys for Friday home games. They may very well be one of the top jerseys in all of baseball.

We will be back tomorrow with a look at the enigmatic Yankees and what to really expect from them this season. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @changingspeeds for all our coverage of the national pastime.