Last thoughts from the weekend

The Giants beat the Texas Rangers today 2-1. Just a few notes from today's game before daylight savings puts me to sleep:

1. Bumgarner is back.

The 22-year-old left-hander who struggled in the 2012 postseason (going 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA, giving up ten runs in 15 innings), seems to be back in regular season form...or, so far, even better. He's currently 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA (two ER in 9.2 innings). He started today and one-hit the Rangers through four innings, striking out four (three of them looking). Posey, who caught MadBum today, was impressed with his start. "He threw the ball to both sides of the plate as well as I've seen him this Spring."


2. Hunter Pence

The inspirational right-fielder is having a nice, if not the most impressive spring. He's batting .300, but has hit .350 this month after hitting just .200 in February. And today he took some long, awkward strides in the right direction. He had the only two RBIs for the Giants this afternoon, doubling his total on the spring from two to four. He drove in Kensuke Tanaka in the 3rd with a solid double to left field. After Nick Noonan tripled to lead off the 5th, Pence followed it up with a three-bagger of his own to give the Giants a 2-0 lead, which proved good enough to win. Pence hit the ball hard today and showed of his speed a little bit, and looked to be ready for the regular season.


3. Nick Noonan

Yes, again. Like Saturday, he came in as a midgame replacement at 3B, this time replacing Tony Abreu. And, like Saturday, he had a crucial triple. Today, he led off the top of the 5th inning with a triple, missing a homerun by about a foot. And again, similar to the game against the Royals, Noonan had another great defensive play down the line. He's listed as a shortstop, but has been playing different infield positions and has looked impressive at 3B. He's still only batting .143, but he's collected hits in the last three games, including his first two triples and first two RBIs of the preseason. Despite the heavy competition for the reserve infield spots on the 25-man roster, I think that Noonan is really starting to make a case for himself.

P.S. - tomorrow we'll look at a more invasive look at the infield competition that's heating up down in Arizona.

Thanks for reading my thoughts from Spring Training! Baseball season is coming, people.