Article:SF Giants Weekly Reports (March 31st-April 6th)

So the first week of the Major League Baseball season has gone by and so has much of my hope in the San Francisco Giants. Don't get me wrong, I still have all the faith in them and there won't be a bone in my body that doesn't think they will finish above last place because I know they can and will. People will be suprised this year with the Matt Cain/Tim Lincecum duo. The Giants opened there season in L.A. versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. We pulled out a win in that series then we stayed on the road and got swept by the Milwaukee Brewers. After taking in the first week o fGiants baseball on man won't leave my head and that is Barry Zito. The biggest bust in Giants history, as of right now. Zito looks like a bottom of the rotation guy, but we signed him to be our ace. We are also paying him $10 million a year to be our ace. Good news is that the Giants are keeping pace with defending National League champions, the Colorado Rockies.

Divisional Standings

 * 1) Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2
 * 2) Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2
 * 3) San Diego Padres 4-3
 * 4) San Francisco Giants 1-5
 * 5) Colorado Rockies 1-5

The Giants have a big upcoming series against the Padres (Mon 7th-Wed 9th). As I write this the Giants are down eight to three in the bottom of the ninth. We can gain ground and stay in the race by winning at least two games that series. If the Giants are going to have a chance at making a playoff run they have to just stay in the race, they don't have to do exceptional, but they have to keep up. Play consistent. The most important games for the Giants are the division games, they are 1-2 against divisional opponents.

March 31st-April 2nd @ Los Angeles Dodgers

 * Game 1 0-5 L Loss to Barry Zito (0-1)
 * Game 2 2-3 L Loss to Keiichi Yabu (0-1)
 * Game 3 2-1 W Win to Tim Lincecum (1-0) ''Save to Brian Wilson (1)

April 4th-April 6th @ Milwaukee Brewers

 * Game 1 4-13 L Loss to Jonathan Sanchez (0-1)
 * Game 2 4-5 L Loss to Keivn Correia (0-1)
 * Game 3 0-7 L Loss to Barry Zito (0-2)

Rising Stars Report

 * Eugenio Velez .238/1SB has played second base and outfield throughout the week.  He has amazing speed and is one of the young prospect that the Giants need to build this team around.  He can play many different positions and should be in the line-up day in and day out.  He is one of those players than can change the game by himself.  His bat continues to look better also, but still has a lot of work to do.
 * Brian Bocock .222/2SB is the guy replacing injured Omar Vizquel.  He jumped from Single A to the Majors over Spring Training once Vizquel decided to have knee surgery.  Now that Vizquel's return has been setback, Bockock looks to be staying in the Majors for a while longer.  While his defensive looks amazing, his offense still needs a lot of work.  He wasn't expected to give a lot from the plate due to him skipping Double A and Triple A.  Hopefully he will get that bat going and continue to better his chances fo staying up in the big show after Vizquel returns.

Things to bite your fingernails over
I am keeping this to one thing...OFFENSE...It's horrible plain and simple. We are averaging two runs a game and went our first three games with one extra base hit by Jose Castillo. Castillo added three more doubles to his total during the Brewers series, Randy Winn and Aaron Rowand each had one double, and Velez added a triple giving the Giants seven whole extra-base hits through six games. Oh and there is those two homeruns; both Ray Durham and Benjie Molina had one homerun in the Brewers series. (Including the Padres game today) The Giants team batting average is .220 and the team era is 5.80. The Giants batting average ranks 30th and their ERA ranks 30th. YAY...so I guess I brought pitching into it also, thanks bullpen and Zito for the great ERA!

Upcoming Series (April 7th-13th)

 * 1) San Diego Padres 3 game series {Cain, Lincecum, Sanchez}
 * 2) St. Louis Cardinals 4 games series {Correia, Zito, Cain, Lincecum}