The middle infield for the San Francisco Giants has received a facelift for 2009.  While 2008 was a year of unproven rookies and veterans in decline, this season proves to be somewhat more exciting as a tale of two positions. 

At shortstop, Omar Vizquel is gone, replaced by big dollar pickup Edgar Renteria.  While this move caught a bit of guff from the faithful, it could only be an offensive improvement on the 2008 combination of the aforementioned Vizquel and Brian Bocock.   True, Renteria’s numbers for Detroit in 2008 were below his career average (though they did improve in the second half of the season).   However, rumors are that he came to camp in shape and career averages suggest that he tends to be more comfortable hitting in the National League.   Again, it would take a complete collapse for this move to blow up in the Giants faces.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the diamond, the ground isn’t quite as settled at second base.   Unlike 2008, there is no veteran presence at this position.  It will be officially a three way fight between Eugenio Velez, Kevin Frandsen, and Emmanuel Burriss.  Frandsen is the more solid all-round of the trio and should have the inside track going into spring training.   He probably would have started in 2008 last season if not for the achilles tendon injury that sidelined him for the season.  This is his chance to break out.  He is a hard nosed player who will give you the intangibles.  However, the position is not his, as yet and he will be pushed by second year man Emmanuel Burriss.   Burriss played well at shortstop and second base after being thrown into the fire following slow starts by Velez and Bocock.   It will be interesting to see how he does this season as primarily a back up.  Rumor has it that he will probably get some reps in AAA if the Giants get concerned about him to getting stale on the bench.  If he does play, he’s a speedster who plays solid defense.  No real power to speak of.  What Burriss lacks with the stick, Velez showed off last season (especially toward the end).  However, less than spectacular defense will probably keep him out of the starting lineup.  He shouldn’t be starting.  If he is, then look forward to a long season. 

Free agent minor league signees Juan Uribe and Rich Aurilia should be able to fit nicely in spots in 2009.  However, if either is starting regular, then see the final line in the last paragraph for the probable outcome. 

The San Francisco front office finally heard my anguished screams this offseason.  While the more vocal wing of the Giants fan base shouted for radical moves (signing Sabathia, Man-Ram, Burrell, and/or Dunn.  Cain for Fielder, Cain for Hardy, Cain for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the nation of Lithuania, and a dozen Domino’s death disks), Sabean and company at long last decided to have a little faith in the young players by making minimal changes via free-agency. 

The signing of future hall of Randy Johnson stands head and shoulders above the rest of the transactions (no pun intended….really).  The veteran replaces the underachieving 2008 back end of the rotation (Correia, Misch, and Hennessey), bringing an elder statesman who can still hurl the ball 90+ miles per hour.  That can’t hurt.

In the ‘perhaps you overspent, but we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt’ department lies the 2 year $18 million contract tossed to Edgar Renteria.  While I was against this at first, it has actually grown on me.  Barring a complete and unforseeable falling apart, it will be an immense offensive upgrade over either Bocock or Vizquel at the position.  And, though I love Emmanuel Burriss, perhaps it’s better for him to be over at second base, thrashing it out with Frandsen and Velez for playing time. 

Another place where the Giants upgraded wisely and precisely is the bullpen.  The additions of Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry, coupled with minor league deals tendered to both Ramon Ortiz and Justin Miller, should serve to strengthen the bullpen over the malaise found at times in 2008.  The key is, if you can’t get the lead to Brian Wilson, he can’t drop the hammer.  That should be better now.

And that leads us to another strong point in this offseason.  Rather than breaking the bank on a high money free agent, the team snapped up a string of seasoned veterans at bargain basement rates.  ‘Kinda’ sluggers Josh Phelps and Juan Uribe will come to spring training, minor league deals in hand, and should be ready to step in should a youngster falter.  Ditto Rich Aurilia, leading the ‘re-signed’ category of this year’s free agents.  

The San Francisco Giants scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning but they were unable to score the tying run and lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks by the score of 7-6. I’ll give the Giants credit for coming back after Brandon Webb left the game, they were just put in to big of a hole early in the game by the pitching staff.

Starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez gave up six hit and six runs in only 3 2/3 innings. Three walks and one home run really hurt Sanchez in the game. Kevin Correia also gave up a home run and one run in two innings of relief.

Omar Vizquel led the Giants at the plate with two rbi in the game and then was followed by for other players with one rbi each. Rich Aurilia, John Bowker, Bengie Molina, and Pablo Sandoval all chipped in with one rbi each.

The Giants and D-backs will play one more game in the series on Thursday night. Tim Lincecum will be taking mound so try to catch the game on tv or out in Phoenix if you can.

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Rich Aurilia and Omar Vizquel both hit doubles in the 8th inning as the San Francisco Giants came from behind to beat the Washington Nationals 6-4.  Aurilia’s two run double put the Giants ahead by one run and then Vizquel knocked in Aurlia to put the Giants by two runs.  The Giants have now beaten the Nationals the first two games of the three game series and will be looking for the sweep on Thursday afternoon.

Giants starting pitcher Kevin Correia did not have a very good game as he gave up 12 hits and four runs in only 5 2/3 innings.  The bullpen did a great job however as they held the Nationals to those four runs the rest of the game.  Alex Hinshaw, Osiris Matos, E Espineli, and Brian Wilson all pitched out of th pen. Espineli ended up getting the win while Wilson picked up his 27th save.

To go along with Aurilia’s two rbi, Bengie Molina also had two rbi.  Both of his rbi came on two seperate doubles in the 1st and 5th innings.  Aaron Rowand also had a rbi double in the 1st inning for the Giants.  The Giants weren’t hitting the long ball but they sure hit plenty of doubles to score some runs.

Root on the Giants Thursday afternoon as they play the Nationals once more and will be trying for the three game sweep!  Giants Baseball Blog

Barry Zito has finally won his 5th game of the season as the San Francisco Giants beat the Washington Nationals by the score of 6-3 on Tuesday evening.  Zito is now 5-12 on the season with a 5.56 era.  Great win for the Giants as they have now taken the first two games in a three game series against the visiting Nationals.

Zito threw six innings while giving up seven hits and three runs.  He did walk three batters but also struckout five others.  It was a decent start for Zito as it was enough to pick up the victory.  Four different relief pitchers combined to throw the final four innings of the game and did not allow a run.  Jack Taschner and Sergio Romo combined to throw the 7th inning while Tyler Walker threw the 8th inning and Brian Wilson notched his 26th save in the 9th inning.

At the plate for the Giants, Bengie Molina hit a two run home run and a solo home run to finish the game with three rbi.  Both of Molina’s home runs came against Nationals starting pitcher Jason Bergmann.  Fred Lewis also hit a solo home run off of Bergmann in the 1st inning.  Omar Vizquel had a rbi double in the 4th inning and Aaron Rowand tacked on a rbi single in the 8th inning.  That was enough offense for the Giants as they doubled up the Nationals.

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Things got a little shaky in the ninth inning but the San Francisco Giants were able to hold off the Cleveland Indians for a 3-2 victory.  The Giants were able to single runs in the eighth and ninth innings to get the victory. Great road win for the Giants!

Jonathan Sanchez tossed  7 2/3 innings and gave up five hits and one run in the game.  Sanchez struckout eight Indians batters and kept the Giants in the game as the offense struggled until the late inning.  Sanchez pitched well enough and and was able to come away with the win and improved his record to 7-4 on the season.

Tyler Walker recorded the last out in the eighth inning and then Brian Wilson earned his 20th save of the season in the ninth inning. Wilson did give up one run (an error really hurt in the inning) in the ninth but struck out Kelly Shoppach to end the game.

Jose Castillo and Omar Vizquel both had a rbi for the Giants at the plate.  Randy Winn scored the other run for the Giants on an error by Shoppach so there was no rbi recorded for that run.  The offense didn’t do much but it was enough to get the victory atleast.

I’ll take a win any way it comes especially on the road.  The Giants now need to string together four or five wins in a row and get things going.

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The San Francisco Giants lost to the New York Mets for the second straight day.  On Wednesday afternoon, it was the Mets coming out on top by a 5-3 score.  The Mets got down 5-1 after four innings and just couldn’t come back in the game.

Matt Cain took the loss after throwing five innings and giving up five hits and five runs.  One of those five hits was a two run home run by Jose Reyes in the fourth inning.  Cain dropped to 2-4 on the season with the loss.

Jack Taschner, Keiichi Yabu, and Tyler Walker pitched the final four innings of the game and did pretty good.  Yabu gave up three hits over 2 1/3 innings but the other relief pitchers didn’t now allow one hit.

The Giants a rbi in the game from the following players.  Jose Castillo, Bengie Molina, and Omar Vizquel.  The Giants struck out five times and left 15 runners on base in the game.

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The San Francisco Giants finished off the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night with a 4-3 victory.  The Giants swept the Diamondbacks in the mid-week three game series as the Giants played very good baseball!

On Thursday night, it was Randy Winn’s home run in the top of the ninth inning that gave the Giants the win.  The game was tied until Winn hit a solo home run off of Chad Qualls for the game winner.  Winn finished the game with two rbi while Omar Vizquel added in one rbi.

On the mound for the Giants Tyler Walker improved to 3-3 as he picked up the win in the late innings.  Brian Wilson was able to secure the game and his 16th save of the season in the ninth inning.  Giants starting pitcher Barry Zito tossed six innings of six hit and three run ball.

Now will this momentum carry over into the weekend series with the San Diego Padres?

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The San Francisco Giants were more less dead until the ninth inning when they scored two runs against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday afternoon.  After the Giants tied the game at two and forced the game into extra innings, they scored another run in the tenth inning and went onto beat the Rockies 3-2.

The Giants got on the board with a rbi single by Bengie Molina in the ninth inning and then scored another run in the inning when Steve Holm hit a rbi double to tie the game.  In the tenth inning, Omar Vizquel hit a sacrafice fly to score Ray Durham for the winning run.

Tyler Walker picked up the win to improve his record to 2-2 on the season.  Brian Wilson didn’t have trouble closing out the game like last night notched the save which was his 14th of the season.

Starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez lasted 6 1/3 innings while he gave up eight hits and two runs to get the no decision.   Billy Sadler and Alex Hinshaw both pitched in relief and did not allow a hit.

Great come from behind win for the Giants.  That is exactly what the needed!  Giants Blog

The San Francisco Giants held off the fiesty Colorado Rockies to win 6-5 on Tuesday night in Denver, Colorado.  Great road win for the Giants as they win a close one against the Rockies.

Tim Lincecum improved to 6-1 as he picked up the win.  Lincecum pitched six inning and allowed five hits and three runs.  He did walk four batters and struck out six others.  Lincecum now has a 2.17 era on the season as he has been throwing the ball very good.

Brian Wilson had some trouble in the ninth inning as he tried to close out the game.  Wilson gave up three hits and two runs but was finally able to get the last out of the game and get his 13th save of the season.

Rich Aurilia and Fred Lewis both hit home runs for the Giants in the game.  Aurilia had a solo shot in the second inning and Lewis had a solo shot in the ninth inning.  Aaron Rowand actually led the Giants with two rbi’s in the game as he had two rbi singles.  Bengie Molina, Omar Vizquel, Aurilia, and Lewis all had one rbi in the game.

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