dream dream dream

This week has been a dream come true for me. At least, as a Giants fan.

Pagan
Cabrera
Sandoval
Posey
Schierholtz
Belt
Crawford
Burriss

Average age: 26.

Though the Giants went 4-3 over the past seven games, the young line-up showed a lot of potential and gave Giants fans much to look forward to (should they continue to get consistent playing time).

Let's start with the defense. In the first game of the double-header against the Mets on Monday, the up-the-middle combo of Emmanual Burriss and Brandon Crawford saved a run and help Tim Lincecum to relax on his way to his first win of the season. That good feeling carried over into Lincecum's start tonight. "Guys making great defensive plays is big," said Tim, "You know, lifts the spirits as well, and...like I said, can lift you up between innings to carry out the next one." Tonight, Melky Cabrera saved at least two hits with his great catches in left field. When the starting pitchers are taking notice and feeling more confident out on the mound because they can trust the defense behind them, you've got a good thing going.

And on the other side of the ball, the youth is finally getting a chance at the plate (on a side note, whatever is going on with Aubrey Huff, I hope he's doing well and is getting whatever help he needs). That being said, watching these young, homegrown players begin to develop with consistent time at the plate is promising. Burriss is batting .260; Posey appears to have found his stride lately, batting .378 with three HRs and six RBIs over the last ten games; Schierholtz has been consistent, batting .288; and, perhaps most encouraging, Belt is up to .278. When asked about Huff being gone and getting more playing time, Belt said, "When they give you that opportunity, you gotta take advantage of it. That's what I've been trying to do here lately. I've been playing every other day pretty routinely lately, so when I get in there I wanna do something to give myself the best chance to play every day." 

Even though it's only been a week of this consistent, young line-up, and there's room for improvement, there are been a lot of good things to take away from the last few games. Fingers crossed that this is only the beginning.

Seriously?

My last post was about how Brandon Belt should start at first base over Aubrey Huff.

Well, here we are. Eight games into the season, and Huff has started seven games, while Belt has started four. The Giants are 4-4, and have won three games in a row. But I'm worried.

Like I said before, Belt needs to be starting at first base. Yes, it's true that Huff is batting .227 and Belt is only batting .091. Huff has one homerun and three RBIs, while Belt has none of the above. However, Huff has 22 at-bats, while Belt has only had 11.

The Giants are at .500, and their pitching is getting stonger as the season goes on (as expected). However, the position of first base is still up for grabs, and this fact alone concerns me a lot. When Bochy was pressed about why Belt wasn't starting at first base he said, "We're trying to win ballgames. ..It's not to get anybody ready." But, based on the season so far, why should we believe that Huff gives the Giants a better chance to win than Belt? And also, why isn't it part of Bochy's job to develop young talent into players that will lead this team into the future?

Tonight Huff went 0-4 and left three men on base. In a tight ballgame (the Giants won 4-3 on an error in the bottom of the ninth), Huff did nothing. He is 35 years old and has always been a very inconsistent hitter.

Tonight, Belt sat on the bench. Who was more effective?