The Series: Philadelphia Phillies

The San Francisco Giants took two out of three games against the defending National League Champions Philadelphia Phillies.

I am going to experiment and change the format of how I write the series, please let me know which way you prefer.

PROS:

• Jonathon Sanchez - In five innings of one run ball, Jonathon Sanchez beat Roy Halladay. In the start, he threw for 6 big strikeouts, and only 3 hits. Halladay, the best pitcher in baseball according to the east coast biased ESPN, allowed 10 hits, and 5 runs.
• Eli Whiteside - He only started in one game this series, but he called an excellent game, and went off with the bat. He went 2-3 with a double, and a homerun, both off Holliday
• Edgar Renteria - After a horrific slump, Renteria seems to be on track again. He entered the series batting .274, and left it batting .320. Every game in the series Edgar Renteria picked up multiple hits. Additionally, Renteria picked up a stolen base in the series finale.
• Tim Lincecum - Not a big surprise here. Lincecum pitched 8 1/3 innings, with 11 strikeouts, and only allowed 4 baserunners (3 hits, 1 walk). He left the game with a 5-1 lead in the ninth, but due to a blown save by Brian Wilson, did not get a W.
• Nate Scheirholtz - Nate the Great played outstanding defense in the series. He picked up two great outfield assists, and he kept runners from trying to advance an extra 90-feet. In the final game of the series, Nate went 5-5 with a walk, and picked up two doubles in the game. He came through in clutch situations, and now without a doubt is the starting right fielder for the team.
• Todd Wellemeyer - Wellemeyer picked up his first win of the season. It was the first time he did not pitch against the opposing team's opening day pitcher.
• Giants Offense - As a whole, the Giants offense now leads the National League in Batting Average (.282). Led By Pablo Sandoval (.373) the Giants are hitting unlike years past. Nate Scheirholtz (.378) actually leads the team in batting average, but due to his lack of at-bats he is not eligible to be a league leader in the category. Bengie Molina is succeeding down in the batting order. Now that he is not a clean-up hitter, he is batting .350.
• Giants Pitching - The pitching staff of the Giants is incredible. They are 1st in the NL in Quality Starts (15), WHIP (1.15), Opposing Batting Average (.215), and OPS (.614). They are also second in ERA at 2.78.

CONS:

• Eugenio Velez - On the year, Eugenio Velez is batting .190. You can easily blame him for the loss in the Giants series too. He dropped two balls in the 11th inning. The first one was a tough play, but in an extra inning game, you need to make the catch. The second drop was on a routine fly ball that there is no excuses for dropping. He came up to bat in the bottom half of the 11th, and with the tying run on third base, Velez failed to knock him in.
• Brian Wilson - Every reliever is going to blow a save. It's hard to blame Wilson because the ball hit the foul line. It's just the luck in the game. If the ball was hit a little bit softer, Nate Schierholtz would have took a better route to the ball, and hypothetically could have held the runners on.

San Francisco will now play the Colorado Rockies. They are currently 1 1/2 games behind the Padres for first place in the NL West.

Taylor Mays - Perfect Fit

Drafting Taylor Mays in the second round was an exceptional pick in my opinion. He is a great value at this spot, and will help the secondary of the 49ers immediately.

If Taylor Mays would have left college for the NFL last season, he would of been on the top 10 player on all Big Boards. So he probably would have been a top 10 pick as well. He has all the physical tools necessary to be an elite safety in the NFL. Depending on who's stopwatch you were watching, Mays ran between 4.24 - 4.4 40-yard dash at the combine. That is incredible considering he is 6'3", and 230 pounds. Speed, size, aggressiveness are all part of Mays' game.

Statistically last season was the best year that Taylor Mays had, so it is hard to believe the declined so many draft spots. The one knock on Taylor Mays is that he's not great instinctively, and doesn't make enough interceptions. In his 4-year career at USC, he only recorded 5 interceptions. However, last season at USC, Mays was forced to be responsible for covering more ground than he should have. This happens simply because in USC had a young defense that wasn't all-around as good as it has been. Taylor Mays -- or the 49ers -- do not play that style of football.

Mike Singletary wants his players to hit people in the mouth. There is no question that with the speed, and strength possesed by Mays that he will punish opposing players. He is a hard hitting safety, and fits the mold designed by Singletary perfectly. He can cover well enough, and is terrific in the box. Adding him with the existing cornerback combo of Walt Harris / Nate Clements will help the 49ers with their already great run stopping defense.

Mays has blamed his ex-coach Pete Carroll for dropping down in this year's draft class. Now with Pete Carroll in the NFC West, Taylor Mays will definitely play with a chip on his shoulder, and will go out to prove Pete Carroll wrong. MAys is a perfect fit, and was still widely considered a 1st round draft pick. He was a great value in the draft.

Underneath this is a video of Taylor Mays highlights I have found on Youtube. This is the first time I have done this, please tell me if you like this.

The Series: St. Louis Cardinals

The San Francisco Giants bounced back nicely from a sweep in San Diego. They took 2 of 3 games from the St. Louis Cardinals, despite only managing to average 2 runs a game in the series.

Barry Zito appears to be back his Cy Young form. In his four starts this season, Zito is 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA, and and amazing 0.84 WHIP. His WHIP is 4th in the NL though this point in the season. To put this stat in perspective, Tim Lincecum's WHIP in his four starts is 0.93. Having any stat better than Tim Lincecum is very impressive. Barry Zito has not allowed a homerun all season, a problem he has had since putting on a Giants uniform. Zito's dominating start in this series against the Cardinals is extraordinary. In 8 Innings pitched, Barry allowed 0 Runs , 3 hits, and recorded 10 Strikeouts. One thing that I think needs to mentioned about Zito is that this season is basically a contract year. After this season, the Giants have a 7 million dollar buyout option that if purchased would terminate the rest of Zito's contract. Zito has not lived up to to his 7 year-127 million dollar contract he signed over 3 years ago, but if he has an incredibly season, the Giants would most likely not purchase this option, and let him play through the remaining three years of his contract.

Continuing on the dominance of starting pitching in the series, Tim Lincecum also had a monstrous start. The Freak pitched 7 innings, allowed only one run, 6 hits, and stroke out 8. The earned run that was allowed caused Timmy's ERA to soar to 1.00 on the year. Lincecum has received a win in every start this season making him 4-0 on the year. Opposite of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain -- who started the series finale against the Cardinals -- received his first decision of the year. Of course that decision was a loss. Matt pitched a season-low 5 innings, and despite numerous quality starts, failed to pick up his first win of 2010.

After a surprising offensive start to the season, it seemed this might be the year the Giants could manage to score runs effectively. This has been taken back into reality over the past two series, in which the Giants have averaged 1.6 runs per game. Edgar Renteria who began the season as one of the hottest hitters in the world, has seen his average drop to .273. John Bowker who started the season as a the opening day right fielder has seemed to have lost his job. Bowker who took a roster spot away from Fred Lewis, is batting .175 for the year. Once Aaron Rowand returns from injury, it will be interesting to see if Bowker -- who has one minor league option left -- will be sent down to the minors.

Another key note for the Giants is that Pablo Sandoval is batting .361 for the year, and is currently 3rd in the NL in batting average. He is 7th in the NL for OBP (.432), and 9th in OPS (1.015). Pablo cannot carry the team by himself, and for the Giants to be successful this year, the team will need another player to step up his batting.

San Francisco remains 1 game behind San Diego in the National League West standings. The Giants will play the Philadelphia Phillies in their next series.

The Series: San Diego Padres

The San Francisco Giants continued their failure at PetCo Park. The Giants got swept, and lost the lead they had in the National League West.

There are not a whole lot of positives the Giants can take away from this series. Matt Cain had a stellar performance, but failed to get a decision. He is currently 0-0 through three starts, although in every start he deserved a win. Jonathon Sanchez threw 7 innings of ball allowing only 1 hit, and got a loss. The hit allowed was a single, and not even a homerun. Another positive is that Pablo Sandoval is still hitting well, and with a little help from his teammates, the team should be able to end the current four-game losing streak the Giants are on.

Todd Wellemeyer did not pitch effectively once again, and it's no secret that his spot in the rotation is in jeopardy. He lasted only four innings in his start, and is clearly the weak spot in the rotation. Something I saw as interesting was that despite being the Giants #5 starter, the pitchers he has opposed have all been #1 starters. One would not expect a fifth starter to beat a number 1 starter, so seeing this his 0-3 record is more understandable. However, there is no excuse for the his 8.16 ERA, and his 11:11 K:BB ratio over 14.1 innings. He has allowed a homerun in every start, even though he has pitched at two HUGE pitcher parks at AT&T and PetCo Park.

Another dismal stat in the series is batting with runners in scoring position. As a whole for the series, the Giants hit 1-23. That's a .043 batting average. The lone hit came from Pablo Sandoval, who only came up once in this situation.

An important note to mention is that Mark DeRosa did not play in much of the series with a hamstring injury. He was able to play in the series finale, but only at second base(where he committed an error) because he was not well enough to play the outfield. Aaron Rowand, and Mark DeRosa are players that help the Giants score runs, so with them out of the lineup the scoreboard is expected take a minor hit.

San Francisco will play theie next series at home against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Giants are now 1 game behind the Padres in the NL West. Tim Lincecum will take the mound to try and stop the team's current four-game losing streak.

49ers' First Round

In the first round of the 2010 NFL draft, the 49ers selected two offensive lineman. Anthony Davis, and Mike Iupati were the choices by San Francisco.

The 49ers followed the basic outline I had said. I wrote a post in December basically saying that in the first round, the 49ers need to draft two offensive lineman, unless an elite talent would have fallen to them. Eric Berry, C.J. Spiller, and Joe Haden were the elite talents that had the opportunity to fall, but did not. Instead of getting a second tier talent in other positions, San Francisco decided to improve the biggest hole on the team - the offensive line.

Anthony Davis is a beast. As an offensive lineman he has one of the biggest upsides in the draft. I'm not sure why the 49ers felt they needed to trade up (to #11) to get Davis. It only cost them a 4th round pick, and to ensure you draft the guy that you want, it's a reasonable price. Anthony Davis isn't perfect as a run blocker yet, but given a few years and he could turn out to be one of the best tackles in the league. With Mike Singletary as the head coach, he will make sure to get the maximum effort from Anthony on every play. Singletary should also be able to end the character concerns that come with Davis. In my mind the tiny character concerns of Anthony Davis are not going to be a factor down the road. Davis is far from a "project" and just having raw talent. He should be able to start right away, and contribute to the much improved offensive line.

With their second choice in the draft, the 49ers picked Mike Iupati from Idaho. Iupati is an excellent lineman that can play either Guard, or Tackle. Unless an injury occurs, he will be a Guard in the 49ers offense. He has a unique combination of size (6' 5, 331 lbs) and power. Because he played in the WAC he did not always play against the top defenses, but that doesn't take away from his ability. He shined at the Senior Bowl, and has little flaws in his game. He is a power lineman, that will allow plenty of gaps for Frank Gore, and Glen Coffee to run through.

Both these first round draft picks will help the 49ers succeed. They already have big play makers at all the skill positions, and their defense was perhaps the best in the league among teams that didn't make the playoffs. These players will contribute to Mike Singletary's smash mouth football philosophy. The team that wins in the tranches usually wins the game. Not to mention the extra protection it will give Alex Smith, and the bigger, more consistent holes Frank Gore will be allowed to run through. It always adds quality depth to the offensive line, that suffered with injuries last season. The 49ers have turned their weak link from last season, into a strong link over the course of one day.

The Series: L.A. Dodgers

The San Francisco Giants lost their first series of 2010. It is a statement that was bound to happen, but it's especially tough when you lose a series while facing the Dodgers.

The suffered another huge loss in the series besides the two games they lost. Aaron Rowand, the team's center fielder got hit in the head by a Vincente Padilla pitch. He suffered two small fractures in his left cheekbone and a mild concussion. Rowand has since been placed on the 15 Day DL. In his place it seems like a platoon of Eugenio Velez, Andres Torres, and Nate Schierholtz will play. Schierholtz would seem as the best option to take over an everyday role, however he is not a Center Fielder. Current starting outfielders, John Bowker and Mark DeRosa don't play Center Field, so an outfield with all three playing would not go smoothly.

The Giants also found out that they have to worry about the 5th spot in their rotation. In the opening game of the series, Todd Wellemeyer pitched poorly. He allowed 7 earned runs, all of which came of homeruns, in 4 innings. Combined with his other start of the year, he now has a 9.58 ERA. Wellemeyer won the job out of spring training, but he will have to improve over the next 3-4 starts or he will be sent to the bullpen. The Giants have many options for the #5 spot in rotation in the Minor Leagues. Most notably Madison Bumgarner, Kevin Pucetas, and Joe Martinez. Any of these three pitchers could fill in the rotation if Wellemeyer doesn't improve. Still though, he only has 2 starts, and deserves more chances to prove himself.

Lincecum, and Zito pitched wonderfully in their starts during the series. Timmy picked up the lone victory of the series against the Dodgers, while Zito got a no decision, but deserved a win. An interesting stat I saw was that Tim Lincecum is the first Giants pitcher since 2007(when Noah Lowry did it) to record three RBI's in a game.

San Francisco also found out some good news while playing the Dodgers. Unlike some recent years, this team is going to fight late in games. In game 1 of the series, the Giants entered the top of the 9th inning losing the game 3-10. They could have easily gave up, and thrown in the towel. However, they managed to rally and score 5 runs in the ninth. This is a good sign for the team, and hopefully this effort will continue for the entire season.

Even though it is early in the season, the Giants offense has improved drastically. This season they rank 3rd in the NL in Batting Average, Runs, On Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, and OPS. This is incredibly impressive. Just last season the Giants were lower than 10th in all of these offensive categories. What hasn't changed from last season is the pitching, and to follow suit, the pitching statistics. The Giants are at least 2nd in the NL for all major team pitching stats.

The Giants are currently tied for the best record in the National League, and hold a 2 game edge in the National League West. San Francisco will now play the San Diego Padres in their next series. In 2009 the Giants were 2-7 in PetCo Park.

Ginn-tastic Trade By 49ers

I think the move the San Francisco 49ers made to get Ted Ginn Jr. from the Miami Dolphins for only a 5th round draft pick is fantastic. It fills multiple needs the 49ers had, and gives the 49ers more freedom in the upcoming draft.

Ted Ginn Jr. is an elite return man. He is considered to be one of the five best returners in the NFL. The 49ers could not find a returner with the ability of Ted Ginn Jr. in the 5th round of the upcoming draft. Not only can he return, but he is also a big play wide receiver. He has burning speed, and is athletically gifted. He was a selected #9 overall, so there is no question whether the talent of Ted Ginn is there. Mike Singletary has a way of getting maximum talent out of his players, as is clear through Vernon Davis. In addition, Ginn can compliment Michael Crabtree very well. Crabtree is more of a possession receiver. Perhaps more importantly, Ted Ginn Jr. gives another legit target to Alex Smith in the passing game.

As is true with every player, there is a downside to Ginn's game. He is not consistent at catching balls. In fact, he was 4th in the league last season in dropped pass percentage. However, With Mike Singletary as the head coach, Ginn will have to change this trend if he plans on seeing any playing time. If nothing else, Ginn should be able to run deep passing routes and open up space underneath for both Vernon Davis, and Michael Crabtree.

Receiving wise, Ted Ginn's numbers were not very good as a Dolphin. However, he never had the chance to excel for two reasons. First off, the Dolphin fans never liked him. He was booed from the second he was picked 9th overall by the team. The fans of Miami wanted Brady Quinn. Hindsight tells us that selecting Quinn would have angered the fans as well. Finding a new place of scenary should relieve tons of pressure. Secondly, Tedd Ginn Jr. never had the quarterback to help his game. Ginn is a deep threat receiver, and his quarterback in Miami -- for the most part -- was Chad Pennington. Chad Pennington is an accurate short ball passer, but doesn't possess the arm strength to through deep routes. Alex Smith doesn't have the strongest arm either, but his is considerably stronger than that of Pennington.

Another aspect the trade accomplished is that now the 49ers do not have to spend a draft pick on a kick returner. Ted Ginn Jr. fills the hole of kick returning, and does so tremendously. This allows much more flexibility in the draft to add depth to other positions in higher need.

Overall, I think this is a wonderful trade for the 49ers. They get a big play, fast, and talented wide receiver/return specialist for almost nothing. Even without a GM, the 49ers front office is still improving the team.

Who will fall?

As the draft gets nearer, the more exciting it becomes. With two first round picks this season, picks #13 and #17, the 49ers are poised to improve the team dramatically. The question becomes: who will fall? Last season it seemed unrealistic that Michael Crabtree would be available for the 49ers to draft.

With that being said, there is a lot of players that should be drafted in the top ten, that could fall. Eric Berry (S), C.J. Spiller (RB), Joe Haden (CB), Dez Bryant (WR), Ronaldo McClain (LB), Bryan Bulaga (OT), Trent Williams (OT), or Anthony Davis (OT) are the most likely players to fall in the 2010 draft.

With one of the first two picks in the draft the 49ers NEED to draft an offensive tackle. Outside of tackle, the team does not have an immediate hole on their team that needs to be filled. This leaves the 49ers in a position to draft the best player available with one of their two first round picks.

Previously I wrote that Joe Haden would be the best pick if available, but I'm changing my mind to C.J. Spiller. Along with Frank Gore, and Glen Coffee, the 49ers would now possess one of the best NFL running back tandems in the league. He would also electrify the return game, plus he can catch the ball out of the backfield. He would also take playing time away from Frank Gore, and decrease his chance of injury. It would also give the 49ers great depth at the Running Back position, in case an injury does take place. The only downside to selecting C.J. Spiller would be the concern of only having one football in the game. Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, and Michael Crabtree all are great players that want the ball, and need to have the ball for the 49ers to be successful. Adding another great Running back will take away opportunities for these stars to shine, and egos could start to erupt causing issues for the team.

Spiller falling to the 49ers is still an IF. There is no guarantee that he will be available for the 49ers to draft.

Joe Haden, the cornerback out of Florida would still be a great option, if available. He is the only elite cornerback prospect in the draft this season. He would certainly improve the secondary of the 49ers. However, with Walt Harris returning from injury, the improved play of Shawntae Spencer, Nate Clements still as a solid cornerback, and Tarrell Brown's recent progression, I'm unsure if the little improvement the 49ers would gain at secondary, would be worth such passing on Spiller.

I think the 49ers should draft a player who has fallen to them. Whether Spiller, Haden, or anyone else that falls. On draft day, the top of the 1st round will have stretches made by teams that will mock drafts ripped apart across the country. Like last season when Michael Crabtree, a top 3 prospect, fell down to the 49ers, another elite talent will fall down the draft board again this year. Hopefully the 49ers will make the right choice, and draft that player.

The Series: Pittsburgh Pirates

Pitching, pitching, pitching. Pitching was once again the main factor for the San Francisco Giants winning the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Barry Zito, Matt Cain, and Jonathon Sanchez, all had great starts for the team. Barry Zito has continued his transformation this season pitching six strong innings. Following in Zito's footsteps, Matt Cain had a similar game... pitching 6 strong innings. To close out the series, Jonathon Sanchez had a wonderful game. In 8 shutout innings, Sanchez only allowed 3 hits, and recorded 11 strikeouts. He had control of the game, and completely dominated.

Edgar Renteria's hot streak has mellowed out, yet he still hitting .382. He made a costly error in the Giants lone loss of the series, but overall his defense has still improved over last season. This is extremly rare to say for a player who is in their mid-30's. Bengie Molina has taken off since Renteria has cooled down, now leading the team with a .455 batting average. Pablo Sandoval has also begin to destroy the ball recently, prompting my conclusion that he will become an all-star, for the first time, this season.

New addition to the team Aubrey Huff has played well. He is currently 4th in the National League in runs scored. This statistic is vital to the Giants, who finished last season near the bottom of the league for runs scocred. Huff also hit an inside-the-park homerun in the series finale. It was his first homer in a Giants uniform. The Giants now have 10 players who have hit a homerun this season, however not one of these 10 players has managed to hit more than 1 homer.

San Francisco is currently tied for the most wins in the major leagues this season. Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens, the Giants new hitting coach has a lot to do with this. In every game this season, the Giants have scored at least 5 runs, except for two. In comparision to last season, through the first 9 games of the season, the Giants scored less than five runs in 7 of those 9 games! New additions to the team have helped the team produce runs, but the change in batting coaches seems to be working out terifficly. It's still extremly early in the season, however if the Giants can continue to score runs, there will be no stopping this team considering the way they dominate on the pitching mound.

The Giants will play their next series in Los Angelos to take on the much hated Dodgers. Last season, the Dodgers won the season series 11-7 over the San Francisco Giants.

Benefit of Cain as the #3 Starter

Unlike most rotations in baseball, the San Francisco Giants have their two best pitchers, Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, not #1 and #2 in the pitching rotation. Looking across baseball, the Giants are in a unique situation. The Cardinals, Mariners, Yankees, Red Sox all have their two best pitchers at the top of the rotation.

The simplest reason for splitting up Cain and Lincecum in the rotation is because they have two left-handed pitchers in the rotation. You never want to have two left-handers start back-to-back games. Left handed starting pitchers are unique, and pitching them on consecutive games will cause them to lose their advantage. It's just a rule in baseball that you avoid starting two lefties in a row. Todd Wellemeyer is an obvious #5 pitcher, and should not be moved up to the #4 slot just so Timmy, and Cain can pitch after each other.

Trying to look deeper at the situation, there are many benefits. For example, in any series the Giants play, their opponent will have to face one of these elite pitchers. An opposing team can not get a lucky break, and avoid facing Lincecum or Cain. It essentially guarantees that the Giants will have a chance to win at least one game every series. Of course this applies to a normal three game series. Although Zito has turned into an excellent performer dating back to the all-star break last season, there is a reason he has never won more than 10 games in a Giant uniform. Despite the talent of Jonathon Sanchez, he is still not reliable. It's important to remember that he was sent to the bullpen after his horrible first half of the season last year, and only got the opportunity to shine by throwing his no-hitter because of an injury to Randy Johnson.

Another benefit of Matt Cain being the third starting pitcher in the rotation is the fact that starters don't always match up. I mean #1 starters do not only pitch against other #1's, and so on. An excellent example is in the Giants first loss of the season. Todd Wellemeyer, the Giants number 5 starter, pitched against Derek Lowe, the Atlanta Braves number 1 starter. This gave the Braves a huge advantage. So coming back to the point of Matt Cain, instead of pitching second in the rotation where he will mostly face top pitchers on opposing ballclubs, he will pitch mostly against middle of the rotation pitchers. This in turn, will give the Giants a huge advantage.

Don't get me wrong, I still believe Jonathon Sanchez and Barry Zito will help the Giants win this season, but it's also important to keep reality in check. Barry Zito is notorious for starting slow, and this season has been opposite. He should easily surpass his win total, and lower his ERA compared to his previous Giants season. Sanchez is poised for a breakout year with double-digit wins, and an incredible strikeout total.

The Series: Atlanta Braves

In the home opening series of the year, the San Francisco Giants took two of three games from the Atlanta Braves this weekend. It was also the first opportunity for many fans, including myself, to watch the much anticipated Jason Heyward play.

The most important fact I took away from this series is the strength of the Giants bullpen. In the 13 inning thriller, after a mediocre performance from Jonathon Sanchez, the bullpen went on to pitch 8 2/3 innings allowing only 4 hits, and one run. Every pitcher in the bullpen threw during the game. In game 2 of the series the bullpen wasn't as sharp, but still managed the game effectively, especially considering their labor the previous night. Game 3 only needed bullpen help from Jeremy Affeldt, after a spectacular performance by Tim Lincecum. Affeldt appears to be right where he left off last season, as one of the truly elite relievers in the majors.

Lincecum threw 7 innings in the series finale, allowing only one pitch to hurt him. The pitch is of course the two-run homer to Brian McCann. In the game Lincecum pitched wonderfully, allowing only 6 base runners to reach base, and striking out 10 batters. Todd Wellemeyer pitched a good game, prior to the seventh inning is his start, and showed how he can be a key contributor to the best rotation in baseball. Jonathon Sanchez wasn't too sharp in his start, but thanks to resilient play by the Giants, still managed to win the game.

Once again, Edgar Renteria was key. In the first game of the series he belted the two-run shot in the bottom of the 9th off Billy Wagner to send the game to extra innings. He had a total of 3 hits in the game. His individual play is going to be a major part of how the Giants will fair this season.

Pablo Sandoval racked the ball in the absence of Edgar Renteria, who was resting in game 3. Pablo homered, singled, and tripled, scoring 3 runs, and recording 2 RBIs. Kung-Fu Panda also displayed his aggressive nature at the plate, getting only 6 pitches thrown to him in 4 at bats. This issue should be addressed as the season progresses. Despite his amazing offensive outburst in the series' final game, Sandoval has struggled defensively. In the early part of the season he has recorded three errors, including two errors in this series.

Additionally, in the series Jason Heyward lived up to the hype. His defense was better than I had expected. Not to mention that the ball does electrify off his bat... when he hits it. He struck out five times in the series, but he did hit two homeruns, and got on base 7 times.

The Giants are now 5-1, and will play the Pittsburgh Pirates in their next series. Coming to town will be Garrett Jones, who single handedly destroyed the Giants last season.

The Series: Houston Astros

Welcome to a new segment, The Series. Instead of daily recaps or breakdowns of individual games, I will instead be doing it of the series as a whole.

The Giants started 2010, in terrific fashion. Like last season, the Giants are led by their starting pitching, which hopes to remain the best in the majors. Starting Pitchers Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, and Matt Cain combined for a 1.37 ERA, 13 hits, and only 1 walk in the entire series. Each pitcher lasted at least 6 innings in their starts.

Besides the starting pitching, the Giants also showed why they have one of the best, if not the best, pitching staff in baseball. The bullpen was fantastic. Brian Wilson picked up 2 saves, and the only reliever to give up a run was Brandon Medders. For added emphasis on the strength of the bullpen, every reliever pitched in the series.

However the most important breakthrough player in the series was Edgar Renteria. If he can play to the standard the Giants believed he could when they signed him last off-season the Giants will surely contend for the pennant this season. In the series against the Astros he batted .727, recording hits in every game, including 5 hits in the series finale. He also walked in every game of the series. Walks were the Achilles' heel of the team last season. Offensively Edgar was impressive, but defensively he was as well. He looked much younger, and seemed to have an extra bounce in his step. With Freddy Sanchez out for at least the rest of the month, the Giants will need Renteria to produce.

With the pitching staff the Giants have, it's no secret they only need a few runs a game to win. New signings Mark DeRosa, and Aubrey Huff, batting .333 and .286 respectfully, also showcased some of their some of their offensive talent in the series. Each accounted for both runs, and RBI's as well.

The Giants new slogan "It's Magic Inside" looks to be true, because the San Francisco Giants are appearing like they are poised for a magical season.

49ers Draft Options

As the 2010 NFL Draft quickly approaches, the 49ers have a big oppurtunity to improve the team. This offseason the San Francisco 49ers have done little to do so through the free agency market, leaving the draft to improve the team.

The two biggest moves the 49ers have made this offseason has been keeping back-up lineman Barry Sims, and signing back-up Quarterback David Carr. Both these moves add depth to the 49ers in key posistions, but neither improve the starting lineup for the team. However, with Vernon Davis, Patrick Willis, and Alex Smith hitting the free agent market next year, the 49ers need to save money in order to keep these stars on the team.

This year is the year the 49ers are poised to take control of the NFC West. Arizona has lost Kurt Warner to retirement. St. Louis is coming off a 1-15 year. And Seattle, had just 5 wins last year, and have many holes on their team.

With that being said, the 49ers have many different ways to go in the Draft. They have holes on the Offensive Line, Secondary, Kick Return, and Linebacker positions. C.J. Spiller would give the 49ers a great Running Back tandem, and could electrify the Return game. Joe Haden would add a Cornerback that is ready to play now, and is the only elite cornerback in this draft. Taylor Mays is a hard hitting, safety with one-of-a-kind speed. Also, Trent Williams, and Anthony Davis, are both Offensive Tackles could solidfy the right side of the Offensive Line.

I personally believe either Tackle will be a starting Right Tackle at best, and one of them will fall to the 49ers at #17 in the draft. With that being said, the 49ers should address another need with the #13 pick in the draft. I know Kick Returners are available later in the draft, and that Frank Gore-Glen Coffee tandem will do good enough to advance the teams to the playoffs. Joe Haden has much more value than Taylor Mays, so with the #13 pick the 49ers should draft Joe Haden, assuming he falls to them. The #17 pick should be used on an Offensive Lineman. In the 2nd round, the 49ers can draft a middle linebacker, a hole that will be left behind when Takeo Spikes retires, or if an injury occurs.

I have set up a poll on the right side of my my blog to see who YOU would like to see the 49ers draft.

Congratulations Don Nelson

Last night, Don Nelson, coach of the Golden State Warriors set the all time win record in the NBA. Although it is not an achievement for the city of San Francisco, it is still in the Bay Area. The Warriors are the lone team in the Bay Area, and setting such an achievement by the bay is terrific. Not to mention, Nelson also contributed to the Warriors draft decision to bring future NBA Star Stephon Curry to the team. For this contribution he should also be congratulated. Congratulations again, on setting the record for most victories in the NBA by a head coach.