Pablo Sandoval and the 2011 Giants Offense

A few weeks ago, the Giants re-signed Guillermo Mota to a minor league deal. Lou Piniella is joining the organization as a consultant. Oh, and Jeff Suppan signed a minor league contract as well. Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean got their options for 2012 picked up. And just yesterday, the team gave another one of those minor league pacts to Mexican Pacific League star Justin Christian. None of this news has been blogged about on this site because we suck (And really, who cares about Jeff Suppan?). Sorry about the lack of Justin Christian analysis, though. I guess I've gotten caught up in following the pathetic seasons of the 49ers and Kings and put the Giants on the back burner, which is absolutely shameful. But FanFest was yesterday, and while it's a chaotic event that I will never ever attend again, it's pretty cool that it was so crowded with fans that the team had to tell people to STOP coming. So, I'm starting to get pumped up for baseball to start again.

Not to mention that the subject of this post, Pablo Sandoval, has started a Twitter account and it's been great. Whether it's pictures he's posted, tweets explaining his intense workout regimen, or visual accounts from various people, all reports are that Pablo looks great and has lost about 30 pounds of fat while adding lean muscle. This is HUGE news.

Something lost in all of the post-World Series win euphoria has been the fact that the Giants did not have a very good offense in 2010 and haven't really done anything to improve it, which means improvements will have to come from within. Maybe that will come from top prospect Brandon Belt, but he's not likely to start the season with the team and not all rookies can impact a team like Buster Posey did. Speaking of Posey, having him for a full season should help, but there's no guarantee he'll outperform his pretty great 2010 numbers. Miguel Tejada as an improvement over Edgar Renteria/Juan Uribe? It's quite likely that that is the opposite of an upgrade.

Let's consider a few more areas where the Giants may actually regress in 2011. Andres Torres is somewhat of an unknown, as he's really only had 1 full season of playing time. He had a great 2010 and was crucial to the team's success, but he struggled some later in the year, carrying just a .303 OBP over the second half of the season, which is not ideal production from your leadoff hitter. Aubrey Huff was perhaps the Giants' offensive MVP in 2010 and they are expecting that he'll be an extremely valuable part of the offense in 2011, which is a little scary. Huff is another valuable piece from 2010 who we can expect some regression from in 2011. Just one year removed from having an OPS+ of just 81, it's entirely possible his 2011 production won't approach his 138 OPS+ of 2010. After August 1st, Huff batted just .255/.360/.426 for the rest of the season. That's not bad, and maybe it was just a late-season slump, but considering Huff's inconsistency over the last few years, it's still cause for concern. Huff is 34 and if the later part of 2010 represented a true regression, it's not going to be good enough for the middle of the order hitter the Giants are expecting him to be. We also need to remember that despite his postseason heroics, Cody Ross had a regular season OPS+ of just 93 in 2010. Pat Burrell is getting older and his 2010 with the Giants may have been somewhat of a fluke, considering his 2009 and 2010 with the Rays. I've already mentioned how maybe expectations for Buster Posey and Brandon Belt should be tempered. Basically, this offense doesn't seem to have much upside for improvement.

Enter Pablo Sandoval, the Giants' best chance at a significantly improved offense. Fans have been begging Sandoval to lose weight for a long time now and the Giants even threatened him with a demotion to the minors if he didn't get in shape. I've never bought into the idea that losing lots of weight was going to help Pablo's offense. Sure, it'd help with his agility and range, which would improve his defense, but he's always been a big guy and his weight didn't seem to affect him at all in 2009. But losing weight and adding muscle can't HURT his offense and the most exciting part about this is the dedication he seems to be showing. If you believe Sandoval, he's been working out 6 times a week, twice a day for a couple of months now, while laying off the soda and chips. And not only is he working out, but he's been talking to Barry Bonds about improving his plate discipline, which was the real reason for his struggles at the plate. If this news doesn't get you really excited, I don't know what does. So soon people forget that Pablo Sandoval posted an OPS+ of 144 in his first full major league season, at the age of 22. He struggled in 2010, posting an OPS+ of 95 and batting just .268/.323/.409, but that happens to young players. At age 24, Sandoval is still extremely young and has a ton of time to get back to how he was playing a year ago. As a fan, you have to at least appreciate that he looks willing to do whatever he has to do to reach his potential. And most importantly, if all of this offseason work pays dividends on the diamond, the Giants could be adding a legitimate middle of the order bat without even making a transaction.

I guess the post turned into more of a depressing, worst-case-scenario look at the Giants' offense instead of an optimistic Pablo Sandoval commentary. Or maybe it can be both. That's just it, as an objective fan, I look at the team and I worry about that offense a little bit. Remember, the Giants barely got into the playoffs despite GREAT pitching. The offense can't afford to get any worse. So Pablo Sandoval will be huge in 2011. In all likelihood, he won't get back to being one of the league's best hitters in just one year, but his progress and commitment are extremely exciting. And if he does return to form, the Giants could have a very good offense for a long time. Think about a Posey-Sandoval-Belt heart of the order for a second. It's a wonderful thought.

Giants Sign Miguel Tejada

Although it isn't official until his physical, we can safely say that former MVP Miguel Tejada will be the Giants starting shortstop for 2011. Tejada's deal is for 1 year, $6 million. In essence, he'll be replacing Juan Uribe, and when you look at the 2 players and the contracts they each got, the Giants situation appears quite favorable. Before Uribe joined the Giants in 2009, he had just had 4 seasons with an average OPS+ of 77. He may not be that bad ever again, but giving him a 3 year contract is pretty foolish. Meanwhile, Tejada will only be with the Giants for 1 year, and isn't costing a lot. Looking at it purely from that perspective, the move isn't bad at all. Also, there are a lot of positive things to say about Miguel Tejada.

He was one of the better shortstops in baseball most of this decade, thanks to his ability to make hard contact and hit for power from the weakest (or 2nd weakest) offensive position on the diamond. His career defensive numbers aren't pretty, but they aren't atrocious either. He is considered a great clubhouse leader and continually competitive, motivated player, who even at 36 is in better shape than many major leaguers. All those qualities are impressive and admirable. So, having established that Tejada for 1 year is "okay" (because it's more favorable than keeping the current SS, Uribe), and going over what his reputation is as a player and teammate, you might wonder why I dislike this signing as much as I do.

It isn't nearly as popular to criticize Brian Sabean these days as it was a mere, oh, 5 months ago. A World Series trophy, somewhat rightly, buys a lot of credibility. But I think the Tejada signing represents just another uncreative move by Sabean to fill a position with an aging veteran. And just because we all hated the Aubrey Huff signing last year, and he succeeded beyond anyone's expectations, doesn't mean the Giants should AIM to spend the offseason picking up the players no one else really wants. You can only get lucky like that so many times. And there's really no reason to refrain from fair criticism of Sabean simply because the team just won the World Series. This offseason is now about winning it in 2011. 2010, as magical a year as it was, has nothing to do with that.

So why do I think the Tejada signing is uncreative and disappointing? Simply because it appears that better shortstop options are in fact out there to be had. JJ Hardy (#JJHardyorGTFO) could be available, either in a trade or simply as a free agent if the Twins non-tender him (this might be less likely than I hope; the Twins seem to have ideas of other options at SS, but all analysis points to Hardy being their best option). Marco Scutaro and Jason Bartlett are both trade options, and the Red Sox and Rays want middle relief in return, something the Giants have. If you were to go just by last year's performance, Tejada is very close to all 3 of these guys, or better. I think you could reasonably expect that all of them might end up giving the same production in 2011 (1.5-2.5 WAR). But the other 3 possible SS all have something that I believe Tejada lacks: the potential to have a big year. Hardy had 4.3 and 4.9 WAR seasons in 2007 and 2008 (and positive UZR numbers in every season of his career; how the hell could the Twins not want to keep this guy? I think maybe they will keep him). Bartlett had a huge offensive season in 2009, then a total dropoff in 2010. The same for Scutaro, on a smaller scale. Now, of course, Tejada has had a much more productive career than any of these guys. But Miguel Tejada is going to be 37 next season. His skills have been diminishing every season. His power is mostly gone. His defense is not good. And he'll be playing one of the most demanding defensive positions, everyday. He doesn't strike out a lot; he never has. Going hand in hand with that, he doesn't walk much either (never has). Although Tejada doesn't make as much contact as he used to, he will still hit his share of singles and doubles, and most of his offense comes from that. But his age and free swinging tendencies also means lots of double plays. Tejada has led the league in double plays 5 times. Yeah. I've come to the conclusion that Tejada isn't actually a disaster. But it remains to be seen if the Giants could have done a lot better.

Speaking of double plays, I want to end the post with a word on Pablo Sandoval. When we first heard about the Tejada signing, there was talk that perhaps he was being signed to play 3rd base, or to at least pressure Pablo into performing well, because Tejada would be waiting to take over. This I hate. It's truly amazing how our expectations shape our perceptions and observations. We can all agree that Sandoval had a bad 2010 season. But it was still better and more productive than Tejada's in nearly every way (I tweeted the numbers that support this, you can find them by simply comparing their 2010 slashlines, wOBA, and WAR on fangraphs). I fully expect Sandoval to rebound in 2011, but even if he barely did so, he would be better than Tejada. Perhaps we'll need to write a full post on Sandoval this offseason. I am truly mystified how so many fans have given up on a young player so quickly, especially when you consider what he did so recently in 2009 at the age of 22.

SF 4, ARI 1: Giants One Win Away From Playoffs

Madison Bumgarner was able to get through 5 innings allowing just 1 run, but every inning was stressful, which meant an early exit for him. Yet he won his first home game of the year, thanks to a strong showing by the bullpen. Santiago Casilla pitched 2 perfect innings, followed by perfect innings by Romo and Bodie Broadus. Brian Wilson got the day off, although if the game was closer he'd likely have come in for the 9th.

But it wasn't closer, because the Giants kept hitting home runs today. Pablo Sandoval started it off with a splash hit. I won't say that he's "back". We've said that enough. Then Andres Torres made the score 2-1 in the 5th inning. He is back. And Buster Posey, who has been hitting the ball hard, but seen his average drop about 15 points in the last week, hit a typical deep left center Posey HR with Aubrey Huff on base. The man has a beautiful swing.

The Giants magic number is 2 now, meaning they can clinch a playoff spot with just one victory this weekend. 2 victories, or a Padres loss tonight along with 1 victory against them on the weekend, and the Giants would win the division.

FJM Friday: Bench Ostler

I don't know much about Scott Ostler. I always get him and John Shea mixed up. And I rarely read the Chronicle anymore, unless it is ruthlessly/pathetically looking for articles to appear on Fire Joe Morgan Friday. I feel like I've heard him on KNBR before, but that might have been John Shea. Except it was probably Scott Ostler, because I remember the guy being kinda awkward and not very engaging, giving lots of short answers. John Shea looks like a nice guy, who would wanna talk. Scott Ostler looks like, um, someone that might be like that guy I heard on KNBR a couple years ago. Whatever. Scott Ostler wrote some really dumb things in today's Sporting Green, so here they are in bold, with my thoughts in regular text.

Bench Panda. The Giants are making a dash for the playoffs. They need runs. Time to bench Pablo Sandoval.

Uh oh. This can't be going anywhere intelligent.

Sandoval's batting average is 61 points lower than last season, 76 points lower than 2008. Hello. Something is wrong.

As long as you're going to use the sarcastic "hello?" as a device in your article, please include the recommended question mark, a punctuation tool that provides the tone necessary for accomplishing your intended sarcasm. Also, did you really just cite his 2008 batting average? When he had 154 plate appearances?

He cannot hit right-handed. Against lefty pitchers, he's at .233. With one home run. One.

Yes, Pablo Sandoval has struggled mightily this year against lefties. But splits, especially single year ones, can be very deceptive, and should be analyzed with caution. Here's why:

Sandoval, right handed, 2010: 146 PAs - .233/.288/.316/.603
Sandoval, right handed, 2009: 159 PAs - .379/.428/.600/1.028

Pablo Sandoval can't hit left handers. Pablo Sandoval CRUSHES left handers. Which is it? Well, it's neither. Sandoval was simply a better hitter last year, and it happened that he was STRONGER from the right side. This year, for whatever reason, he is struggling as a hitter, and he happens to be weaker from the right side. Why? Quite simply, randomness. That's what it is. It's random. If Sandoval had a serious problem seeing lefties or with his right handed swing, he wouldn't have made it this far as a switch hitter. And he wouldn't have OPS'd over 1.000 last year as a right handed hitter.

He would be better off batting lefty against lefty pitchers, so at least he could concentrate on grooving his lefty swing. That's not going to happen.

This is not a good idea. There is a reason that switch hitters are switch hitters. It is an advantage to hit in the opposite direction of the pitcher. Yet I hear this a lot, that a switch hitter should just focus on the one side. It's usually the side that he is appearing to hit well from. But that kind of thinking ignores what I presented above, that switch hitters don't naturally hit better from a particular side, that it is randomness that makes it appear so.

But at the very least, Sandoval should sit down every time the other team throws a lefty. Take a seat.

Please stop writing with the short phrase style of Ernest Hemingway. "Take a seat". "Hello". "One". We get it. You are making a point. This is not a telegram. Stop. (Yes, I did do right there EXACTLY what I just told you not to.)

Juan Uribe can play 3rd. Aubrey Huff. Freddy Sanchez. Get hot bats in the lineup.

You didn't seriously just suggest that Aubrey Huff play 3rd base. Okay, you did. And yes, Aubrey Huff has played 3rd base in the past. But still, hell no. Aubrey Huff should not play 3rd. Of course, all 3 of these players CAN conceivable play 3rd base in place of Sandoval. But they all already have positions in the starting lineup. So who replaces them?

Shortstop (Uribe): Renteria = Not better than Sandoval
2nd Base (Sanchez): Fontenot = Not better than Sandoval
1st Base (Huff): Ishikawa = Not better than Sandoval, ESPECIALLY NOT AGAINST LEFTIES!

None of these players is better offensively RIGHT NOW than Sandoval, nor do they have the offensive potential of Pablo. So this does not improve the Giants scoring in the least.

I'm not saying the Giants should give up on Panda. But the final 3 weeks of the season is all about now; it's not the time for a reclamation project.

You're right, and if the Giants had a better hitter to put in the infield, then it might be the right move. But any of the hitters that would ostensibly take Sandoval's place as an everyday player are NOT better offensively. Any defensive improvement is negligible at best. So stick with Sandoval, because there's nothing else to do, and he COULD always suddenly heat up.

Oh, one more thing before the clock strikes midnight. Brian Wilson is not a candidate for the NL Cy Young. And he shouldn't be. No reliever should ever be, unless he pitches maybe 100 innings, has a perfect save percentage, and allows .500 baserunners per inning. Only then. Goodnight.

CIN 12, SF 11: The (Almost) Best Game of the Year

Wow. I was at the ballpark today, and that was a crazy game. The game had three stages: Extreme Boredom, Overwhelming Jubilation, and Mild Disappointment. I'm going to break down all 3 stages and it means a lot coming from me, because I was there. Live. This is first-hand experience, people. So, listen up!

Stage 1: Extreme Boredom

Madison Bumgarner was terrible today. Absolutely terrible. As a result, the Reds went all Giants on the Giants. I hope that makes sense. Right off the bat, the Reds scored 4 runs in the 1st inning. Then they scored 4 more in the 3rd. At that point it was 8-1 and Bumgarner was out of the game. Then it was 10-1. The Reds were just piling it on. It must've been the same way Reds fans had felt for the past 2 games. Awful. It was complete boredom. The combination of terrible pitching, a lackluster offense, and the hot sun made me want to take a nap. Luckily, I don't do that at baseball games. The Giants would cut it down to 10-5, but still I had pretty much conceded this game to Cincinnati. Stage 1 lasted until the 7th inning.

Stage 2: Overwhelming Jubilation

Stage 2 had maybe the most 8th Inning Weirdness we've seen all year. But it was good Weirdness. At this point the score was still 10-5. Jose Guillen singled to start the inning. Pablo Sandoval followed by also hitting a single. The next batter, Juan Uribe, hit a 3-run homer right over the wall. Unbelievable. Uribe has fallen pretty far over the course of the season (his OBP is below .320), but he has had a few very important home runs. If nothing else, his power is very valuable in the 7th spot of the order. The Giants were now down just 10-8 and there were still 0 outs. Then a pair of new Giants, Cody Ross and Mike Fontenot, each singled. Up came Andres Torres, who roped a double down the left field line. Seeing Fontenot rounding third to score the tying run was amazing. Four innings ago, no one would've thought the Giants would be in a position to take a lead in this game. And you know what else? Still. 0. Outs. So, Andres Torres was on 2nd and Buster Posey came up. Buster was the only Giant without a hit today, but in his most important at-bat of the game, he came through with a sacrifice fly to move Torres over to 3rd. One out. Next up was Aubrey Huff. Huff hit a fly ball not too deep to right field, but it was good enough for Torres. 11-10 Giants. Un. Freakin. Believable. Onto the next stage.

Stage 3: Mild Disappointment

In the top 9th, the Reds tied the game at 11-11, and it was pretty much all Pablo Sandoval's fault. On a sharp ground ball to 3rd base, Sandoval rushed the throw to 1st and it went over Huff's head. Drew Stubbs advanced to 2nd on the throw, and there was just 1 out. A single from Paul Janish would bring Stubbs home to tie the game. It would've been great if the Giants could shut down the Reds after such a great comeback, but it didn't happen. Sandoval's error was 1 of 5 Giants errors in the game.

The 10th and 11th innings were quiet, but because the Giants have been carrying just 11 pitchers, Barry Zito had to come out and pitch the 12th. Zito wasn't too sharp, giving up a double and then an RBI single to give the Reds the lead. The Giants weren't able to score in the bottom of the inning and the game was over.

The disappointment was just mild because the Giants showed resiliency. They came back from a 9 run deficit, not giving up after falling behind so early in the game. It was certainly good to see and at least I didn't have to sit through a completely boring game.

Brandon Belt was promoted to AAA today. This is his first year in the minors and he's jumped from A to AAA. I love him. Keep an eye out for a post on him tomorrow.

SF 16, CIN 5: The Bats Will Not Sleep!

Tonight, the Giants won 16-5. Yes, 16-5. There is a whole lot of parade raining I could do right here. I could talk about how the obscenely hot weather has had at least SOME effect on flyballs at AT&T in these past 2 games. I could mention that Jonathan Sanchez was not pretty today at all. Most of all, I could mention that just because a hitter has two straight 4 hit games does not mean he has earned the right to hit 2nd again. But all of that later. Especially the Freddy Sanchez situation. We will go DEEP into that on Friday. Logic will prevail, I promise. But for now, let's just enjoy this amazing offensive outpouring from a below average offensive team.

Freddy Sanchez has had quite a series. He has 8 hits so far, including a very impressive HR tonight. Good to see. Like I said, the conversation surrounding him is complicated and full of illogical thought patterns, so for now, congratulations, Freddy. I DO hope you stay hot for a long stretch of the season.

More power from Pablo Sandoval. This is a good thing. Slugging percentage is up to .416. We've already asserted that he's back. Is he REALLY back? Maybe...

Cody Ross was the one who started it all off for the Giants with a 2 out base hit in the 1st inning. He's got a kind of Ryan Braun swagger in the batter's box. I'd hate him if he wasn't a Giant. But he is, so I love him.

Left handed hitters should be ashamed for complaining about AT&T Park after what Buster Posey has been doing. He's hitting HRs to right center in places Adam LaRoche can only dream of. Juan Uribe and Andres Torres also had multi-hit games, and the Giants as a team had 18. I'm expecting 21 runs tomorrow.

Game Recap: SF 3, SD 2

Last night was a rough one for Pablo Sandoval, but today his big HR in the 7th inning was what allowed the Giants to get back into the game mentally. Up until that point it was ugly. The Padres had runner all over the bases, and even though only 2 of them had scored, it looked like that would be enough with the way that creep was pitching. Then Latos threw a pitch way up in the zone, and Pablo turned it around, crushing it onto the arcade. The next inning, Aubrey Huff almost did the same thing against Luke Gregerson with Mike Fontenot on base, but once again the park held kept the ball in, though this time for a double. That set up the RBI groundout by Pat Burrell to tie the game. Burrell, the hottest current Giant, went 0-5 today, but that at bat was productive and well played.

Buster Posey in the 11th inning looked like Josh Hamilton from last night. He hustled to turn a ground ball up the middle into a double, forcing the Padres to walk Sandoval and pitch to Juan Uribe. Thankfully, Bruce Bochy must have read my recap from yesterday and realized how bad an idea bunting is. So instead of asking Uribe to lay one down, he let him hit, and Uribe blooped a single into right field on the 1st pitch. Buster Posey read the ball beautifully, and the play at the plate wouldn't have been close even if the throw had been on line.

Good game from Mike Fontenot. 2 hits, plus some nice plays at 2nd base. Still shouldn't be hitting 2nd. I'LL NEVER STOP SAYING IT! Jose Guillen also got his 1st at bat as a Giant, grounding out as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning.

I keep thinking to myself: This Padres lineup has to be one of the worst first place offenses ever. So why do they keep hitting the Giants? This better stop tomorrow with Lincecum going. I think he'll have a good game. He has to. He's too good.

Game Recap: SF 8, CHI 7

It's early to say that Pablo Sandoval is back. But the biggest thing I came away with today is how balanced and pretty his swing is looking. Even when he fouls balls off, he looks good. And his 2 huge hits today were vintage 2009 Sandoval. Yes, it's only been a short stretch, but this stretch could be different from the other fake "Panda is back" stretches we've seen in the past few months. For the 1st time in a while, he's hitting the ball FAR. Hopefully he keeps it up. The confidence he'll get from this past series should only help him.

Now for a little negative: if I'm willing to put 1 foot on the Panda bandwagon, I refuse to go near the Freddy Sanchez one. He still shouldn't be hitting 2nd. And Aaron Rowand shouldn't be leading off. By batting him leadoff, Bochy guarantees more at bats for the player who makes more outs than anyone else on the team. I know I repeat that over and over, but it's necessary until some sense is brought to the way a lineup gets configured. Dream lineup for the SD series: Torres, Posey, Huff, Burrell, Sandoval, Uribe, Ishikawa, Sanchez, Pitcher. Burrell is killing the ball right now. Sure his BABIP is kinda high for him, but not drastically so. He's just hitting the ball HARD all the time, and his patience at the plate is as good as it's ever been. How can we account for his amazing turnaround in SF? I don't know.

Matt Cain did not have a great start today. His pitch count went way to high early, a product of Cubs hitters fouling off pitches and then hitting weak singles. But even with his high pitch count, he only walked 1 batter while striking out 9. With just a bit of luck, his line could have looked much better.

The bullpen did not have a good day, and it was mostly Guillermo Mota, who has been pretty good lately. Chris Ray gave up a single run in the 7th. Lopez walked the 1st batter of the 8th and was removed. That's the problem with having a guy who's only safe pitching to lefties. Mota was clearly not on, giving up rockets to the outfield. Sergio Romo came in and successfully limited the damage as best he could, setting up the Giants for their walkoff in the 9th.

Game Recap: ATL 6, SF 3

There's not really much to say about this game. When Jonathan Sanchez isn't on, Buster Posey sits, and Aubrey Huff goes 0-4, it's hard to see the Giants winning. Sanchez was shaky from the 1st inning, and left after 4 innings after giving up 4 runs. The Giants scattered their 7 hits (Freddy Sanchez's single was fraudulent). Torres, Uribe, and Ishikawa were the only ones to really hit the ball hard, Ishikawa getting his 3rd HR of the season.

Todd Wellemeyer did not look good at all in his return. He gave up four hits and didn't get an out. But Santiago Casilla looked strong, going 2 innings, giving up only one hit.

Freddy Sanchez, the 6 million dollar man, was hitting 7th today. It was good to see him finally out of the 2-spot, but his replacement, Pablo Sandoval, didn't make much more sense. I don't like this practice of placing a very mediocre hitter in between Andres Torres and Aubrey Huff. My suggestion: load the lineup towards the top. Go with Torres, Posey, Huff, Burrell, Uribe, Ishikawa as your 1-6. Or something similar.

Interesting quote from Jonathan Sanchez after today's game. Sanchez said "We are going to make the playoffs...San Diego has been winning series all year...But we're going to play San Diego now and we're going to beat them 3 times. If we get to 1st place, we're not going to look back." I have no problem with this. I actually like to hear it from a guy who is often perceived as being too quiet and accused of looking uninterested on the mound. Sanchez has good reason to think that he'd do well against San Diego this Friday; this season he has a 2.57 ERA and .714 WHIP against the Padres.

Game Recap: ATL 3, SF 0

Everyone needs to stop with all the doom and gloom. How can you ask the Giants to win a game when the opposing team doesn't make 2 errors in the 9th inning? There will be plenty more games like last night, don't worry. And there's no reason to think that the Giants are gonna continue hitting like this. They are showing all the signs of a team just getting ready for the stretch run.

Freddy Sanchez has an OPS of .640! 64% is good, right? What do you mean it's not a percentage?

Pablo Sandoval had a hit today. I'm gonna be the 1st one to say it: He's back!

I don't know about you, but I've grown to love when Aaron Rowand whiffs on a slider outside. It's the kind of love that a serial killer's parents must have for their son after he is caught.

Hey! I know what this game needed! Bunting!!!

Is Pablo Sandoval Really Back?

No, this is not an overreaction to Pablo Sandoval going 0-for-7 in his last 2 games. Ever since the All-Star break, he has been hot, and many people, including me, have proclaimed that Pablo is back. This post is going to tell the world if Pablo Sandoval is in fact back.

Pablo was expected to be the leader of the Giants offense in 2010, but as everyone knows by now, his first half numbers were pretty atrocious. His .263/.322/.382/.704 line seemed more like Freddy Sanchez numbers than the Pablo Sandoval we saw in 2009, who looked like a star while hitting .330/.387/.556/.943. His struggles this year have been attributed to many different things. He's been impatient, swinging at the first pitch many times. Maybe the league figured him out and he didn't know how to adjust. He's been swinging at terrible pitches, even though he kind of always does that, and has hit into 20 double plays, the second most among all players in baseball. And perhaps the most troubling part of Pablo's first half was that he stopped slugging. His slugging percentage this year is more than 150 points lower than last year's. Whatever the reason, Sandoval has not produced as expected this year.

You know, I've always thought the idea of a player being a good "second half player" was kind of ridiculous. I mean, just because a guy gets 3 days off, he changes his whole approach and is reborn into a new player? Knowing me, I'm probably not considering some vital piece of information, but the All-Star break just always seemed like an excuse for why a player began playing better or worse. But Pablo Sandoval has certainly looked like a different player since the break.

In 8 games after the All-Star break, he has been on fire. He's gone 9-for-29 with 5 doubles, 7 RBI and 6 BB while having a much better looking swing. He's been more patient and hasn't been swinging at terrible pitches (at least not as much). His attitude has also changed. He's always been a very happy, cheery guy, which is great, but sometimes when a player is struggling you'd like to see them get frustrated with themselves and Sandoval never really showed that. Now he's getting fired up when he hits a run scoring double and he could be seen excitedly pounding on the dugout when the Giants came back to beat the Dodgers in that crazy game. You know the one I'm talking about. So, Sandoval has certainly given Giants fans a reason to be encouraged.

What I'm about to say is going to shock you. I even shock myself when I think about typing it. We really can't know whether or not Pablo Sandoval is back. What, that didn't shock you? Damn. It may seem like a really obvious thing to say, but I can't tell you how many times in the first half he would hit a home run to deep center field or blast a double in the gap and Kruk and Kuip would say something like "He's really staying back on pitches now, he's starting to heat up". Next thing you knew, he was back to going 0-for-4 and hitting into double plays. So it's probably a little soon to suggest that Pablo is back or that the Giants don't need another hitter because Sandoval is heating up. Eight games simply can't tell us that, considering his struggles this year. He has looked better, but there have been other times this year where he looked like he may be "back". I hope he is back. Nothing would make me happier than to see the 2009 version of Pablo Sandoval. But I care about all Giants fans, you see, and I don't want anyone to get their hopes up, only to see them crushed. I'm a cautious man, and you should be too.

Game Recap: SF 5, LA 2

The Giants tried their hardest to lose tonight, but despite giving it 110% they weren't able to come up with the loss. It's really a shame because I know they wanted it so bad! They should have lost, they really, really deserved it. Wait....what's that you're saying? Teams don't like to lose, they want to win? Well, the Giants certainly could've fooled me.

This game was pretty much the polar opposite of yesterday's. On Sunday, they should've won, but lost. Tonight they made way too many errors and deserved to lose, but they won. A win is a win, so maybe I should be more positive, but I can't help but feel troubled after so many mental errors. Let's see, how many were there? There was Pablo Sandoval choosing to tag the runner heading to third instead of going for the force out at 1st to end the inning, allowing Jamey Carroll to score before he applied the tag (Carroll didn't score before Pablo tagged the runner headed to 3rd, it was a terrible call, but still a big mental error by Pablo). How about walking Garrett Anderson, who is hitting .187 this year, with 2 outs? If that wasn't enough, Sergio Romo walked Jamey Carroll, who doesn't have a home run this year, to load the bases for Andre Ethier. Ethier grounded out, but walking guys like Anderson and Carroll with 2 outs in the inning is just not smart. Ahhh, and finally, Andres Torres forgot how many outs there were and ran on a shallow flyout with just 1 out. That can only be described as a Pablo Sandoval/Eugenio Velez type of baserunning mistake.

Oh yeah, Eugenio Velez is back. Be happy.

A pairing that Giants fans hope to see producing for a long, long time, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval, got the scoring started in the 3rd inning. Posey singled up the middle to bring in a run, and Sandoval proceeded to smoke a double into the left field gap, scoring Posey. It was rather beautiful. Sandoval had another good game with the bat, going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Later in the 4th inning, Nate Schierholtz added a 2-run homer, giving the Giants a 4-0 lead.

Bumgarner had a good start despite only lasting 5 2/3 innings. He was pulled early, mostly because of his high pitch count but gave up just 6 H, 1 ER, and 2 BB with 3 K's. He continues to impress for a guy who is just 20.

A win against the Dodgers always feels good, but the Giants got lucky. They'll have to play better if they want to beat Clayton Kershaw tomorrow night.

Also, the bottom of the 9th turned out to be pretty awesome. Brian Wilson managed to load the bases with 2 outs, and up came Casey Blake. Remember when Blake mocked Wilson's tribute to his father that he does after every save? Well tonight, Wilson struck him out. It was a pleasure to watch.