Giants’ Report: Who’s Hot, Who’s Cold in Foggy SF

Giants

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Much like their cross-bay rivals, the San Francisco Giants started their week off by dropping a series. Apparently what they were doing was saving all of their energy to Beat L.A. over the weekend, which is exactly what they did in 3 of 4 games. The Giants took the Dodgers best shot, facing Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw, and left L.A. with a series victory.

Sunday’s win was the most impressive, because it was fueled by grit. While facing the best pitcher in the league, who usually dominates the Giants, SF was able to push 3 runs across the plate. They added another to make it a 4-2 game entering the bottom of the 9th. The ever-reliable Sergio Romo gave up a 2-run shot to Hanley Ramirez which tied the game at 4, and forced extras. It was in extras that the Giants pulled away, and showed their true makeup.

But you already watched all of the games this week. You don’t need a recap from me! What you came here for is insight, affirmation and maybe a little humor.

Brandon Belt hit the D.L. over the weekend and will miss about 6 weeks. Bad news right? Well yes, but the Giants should easily be able to stay afloat. They can plug Buster Posey or Michael Morse in at first base, and won’t lose any pop there. With Posey at first, that leaves Hector Sanchez in the squaaaat. This past week, Sanchez batted .375 with 5 RBI. That is solid production if you couple that with Posey-level production at first.

If Morse plays first, it gets a little dicier. Last week, Morse hit just .160 with 2 RBI. Couple that with Gregor Blanco‘s offensive prowess (he’s terrible at offense, batting .100 in 40 ABs) and the Giants could be missing Belt a lot more. On the plus side of this scenario however, Morse would most likely be able to stay in full games, instead of being replaced for defensive purposes. If he heats up again, this could be a huge addition to the Giants’ late-inning lineup.

Neither scenario is going to work all of the time, but a mix-and-match of the two should serve the Giants’ purpose well.

Now, what everybody is waiting for!

Who’s Hot

It was a tough decision, but this week, Buster Posey gets the nod. Tim Hudson was stellar on the mound in two starts, but Posey hit .455 with a .571 OBP and drove in 4. Brandon Hicks hit 2 HRs and drove in 5, but he is hitting well below the Mendoza Line at .160 for the week. Hitting below .200 will not get you “Who’s Hot” honors. That leads us to…

Who’s Cold

Pablo Sandoval. There is only one line of reasoning for this and it’s that he is still batting below .200 on the season, at .189. Panda hit .269 this week with a couple RBI, but until his average is over .200 on the season, he will be the perennial Who’s Cold “winner”.