Good to be back

I'm so excited that baseball is back in 2012!

First of all, I already think that the Giants will be infinitely better this year than they were last year. Like I said in my last blog post (at the beginning of last year), 2011 was an old team that had a lot to worry about. Burrell, Ross, Rowand, Tejada all led to last year's team being very over the hill very fast. However, my greatest dream came true when Rowand and Tejada were released mid-season and Burrell and Ross weren't resigned for 2012. For the first time since I could remember, Nate Schierholtz was going to get a shot in right field. And boy, did he take advantage of the opportunity. He finished the season with a .269 batting average, but brought speed and a great arm to the right field position at AT&T park. He's also 28. Finally, an outfielder with a potential future.

The first spring training game I saw today only confirmed what I had previously thought. Schierholtz had an RBI and scored a run today. He also threw out a guy at home in the top of the 4th inning. His arm and timely hitting was definitely a factor in the Giants victory today (7-2 over the A's), and I believe he will continue to contribue to the 2012 Giants.

The other great positive that was taken away from today's game was Big Time Timmy Jim. He became the first Giants starter to go six innings this Spring. He moved to 2-0 this month with four strikeouts and, most impressive of all, no walks. Even though Lincecum gave up six hits, he looked dominating at times and had his strikeout pitches working for him from the first batter he faced (who he struck out, by the way).

While the defense is yet again a concern (two errors today, one of Fontenot that led to a run and one on Sandoval), there is definitely time this Spring to work that out.

All in all, baseball is back the Bay Area, and it's coming back strong.