Article:Giants Struggle Through Home Opener

I know it's still way early on in the season and even though the Giants weren't expected to be very good this year, the way they have opened the season has been a little worse than I was expecting. They suffered their 4th lose in as many days in their home opener Monday. The starting pitching, outside of Tim Lincecum's warrior like performance at Dodger Stadium, has been below average, and that was supposed to be the clear cut strength of the team. Matt Cain got lit up on Monday, one day after Barry Zito lost for the second straight start in Milwaukee. Cain struggled to find his command all day and got himself in trouble by getting behind early in the count against practically every batter he faced. Cain has these kinds of days once in a while and he was probably a little amped up about the opener. Zito had the same problem in LA and to a lesser extent Milwaukee. Amazingly, the bullpen has been more of a strength than the starting pitching this season. Everyone in the pen seems to be throwing well besides Brad Hennessey, who has been awful in his 3 appearances this year, and closer Brian Wilson, who just hasn't really had an opportunity to get consistent work yet.

The offense continues to be in shambles too, so much so that fans were sporting "Bring Back Barry Signs" at the opener Monday. They only managed a few hits off Greg Maddux as he had the young, aggressive Giants bats off balance all day. Rich Aurilia and Dave Roberts are quickly working themselves out of playing time. Roberts is hitting .118 and Aurilia isn't sitting much higher at .190. Jose Castillo has had a few good at bats, but for the most part, he is looking like Pedro Feliz without the power and solid glove. I wouldn't mind seeing the Giants consider giving Justin Leone a shot at third. The lineup needs some pop and Leone has more power than Castillo and probably a little better glove. Although the lineup has been lackluster to say the least, their are a few guys who have been fun to watch at the plate. Aaron Rowand is hitting the ball well and is showing his grittiness by playing through a couple bruised ribs. Eugenio Velez and Fred Lewis are also making cases to be regulars. Velez had another triple in Monday's game and Lewis had a hit and reached base 2 times. These guys need to be playing 4-5 times a week at the very least. The Giants are certainly looking like a 100+ loss team at this point in this very tough division and there is no reason why those two shouldn't get 400+ at bats.