Giants mid-season (plus two games) report card

THERE'S NOW EVIDENCE THAT BUSTER POSEY CAN CATCH!! WHAT A REVELATION !!!
By the way, his 1.585 OPS in early July isn't bad either.

CATCHER - Buster Posey A-

Just finished catching behind a Tim Lincecum shutout and a Barry Zito shutout on consecutive nights, albeit of the Mutts. So I guess all the talk of this kid not being quite ready to catch on the major league level can be put to rest. The fact that the talk came as friendly fire from the organization, one of whom used to be a major league catcher himself in Manger Bruce Bochy just makes the original comments seem that much more baseball illiterate.

The kid is only hitting .350 or thereabouts, batting clean up in the order at times, flashing more power than originally thought and rapidly becoming the possible future face of the franchise. his opposite field laser beam HR's to right-center are a thing of beauty. That type of power may translate into 20-30 HR per year power rather than the 10-15 HR's per year originally envisioned.

FIRST BASEMAN - Aubrey Huff A-

A pleasant surprise. Has hit better and provided more power than anticipated. One of Sabeans's better signings.

SECOND BASEMAN - Jose Uribe and Freddie Sanchez C+

Uribe can go hot and cold, Sanchez too much time on the DL. Time for one of them to take hold of the position for good.

SHORTSTOP - Edgar Renteria B-

Better than expected.

THIRD BASEMAN - Pablo Sandoval C

Not as good as expected.

LEFT FIELD - Pat Burrell and Andres Torres B

Both have been better than expected.

CENTER FIELD - Aaron Rowand D

Need to find his game again or find some bench.

RIGHT FIELD - Nate Schierholz C

BENCH - Travis Ishakawa, Eli Whiteside and the aforementioned Andres Torres, Juan Uribe B

All have contributed well in spots, just what you're looking for in bench / platoon players.

STARTING PITCHING - Lincecum, Cain, Zito, Sanchez, Bumgarner B-

Could be a bit more dominant at times, the offensive output getting better could lift some weight off the shoulders and allow them to pitch more relaxed. Hopefully, Sanchez or Bumgarner are NOT shipped away for a bat like Corey Hart, as rumored. I think I would like to see this unit pitch together for a while longer.

BULLPEN - Brain Wilson, closer, Jeremy Affeldt, set up man. Sergio Romo, Chris Ray, Denny Bautista and Guillermo Mota as long relief. B

MANAGEMENT - Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean

Could perhaps use another veteran arm (lefty - LOOGY type) down the stretch. Dontrelle Willis signing provides a possibility if he's near 100%. Another bat with pop would help, the DeRosa signing has shown up bad here. Although, in fairness, considering the veteran signings of Huff, Burrell and DeRosa, the Giants may have exceeded expectations. Still suffering from Rowand and Renteria signings that are providing significantly less than expectations at key positions.

If they are out of it by mid-September, recent first round pick OF Gary Brown should get the chance to prove himself. Also, future SS Brandon Crawford might be worth a look. Hopefully, the G-Men are still in contention until late September and those guys can mature in the AA-AAA environment, with a late season call-up.

OVERALL GRADE - B-

A 49-41 record after 90 games would translate into about 90 wins. That's only going to be good enough for second place at this point. Need to separate themselves from the Dodgers and Rockies as the top chase dog after the Padres. As of right now, the Giants would be tied with the Cardinals for the wild-card spot. The Phillies Mets, Rockies and Dodgers are also in the WC mix. The Cardinals have the best run differential of all the WC contenders, the Giants next. Right now, they are sitting in pretty good shape. If Panda starts hitting up to capabilities, the offense should provide enough runs to allow the Giants to make a run at the division title. I don't want to leave the Giants playoff chances hanging on a WC bid at this point, I don't see them winning that. The Padres recent injuries to the pitching staff (thank goodness for a wayward sneeze) could pull them back to the pack and make August and Spetmeber baseball on the west coast really interesting once again.