Giants’ Report: Bust Out the Panda Hats

Pablo Sandoval

Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

Last week, injuries became a concern for the San Francisco Giants. This week has been much the same. Angel Pagan is hopeful that his shoulder injury will not keep him out of the lineup for any prolonged period of time, and should be available this week. Tim Hudson was scratched from his Friday start due to a hip strain. Huddy also hopes to be available this week, aiming for a Friday start against Minnesota.

If either Pagan or Hudson is lost for any length of time, the Giants could suffer a major setback. Hudson has been the team’s best starter thus far, and Pagan is a catalyst at the top of the order. The Giants don’t have the depth to absorb injuries to these two players.

The Giants went 4-3 this past week and are 6-4 in their past 10. Their 28-17 record is good for first place in the NL West, 3 games over the Colorado Rockies and 5 above the rival Dodgers.

Tyler Colvin and Gregor Blanco have performed very well in left field, with Michael Morse taking over first base while Brandon Belt is out. Colvin announced himself to his new team on Monday night with a “High, Deep, Outta Here” smash into McCovey Cove. On the week, Colvin hit .381 with a HR and 4 RBI.

Last week’s Who’s Hot winner, Buster Posey, cooled off considerably. Posey hit just .100 in 20 ABs, driving in 4 and scoring once.

Last week’s Who’s cold recipient, Pablo Sandoval, went on a tear. Panda now has a 9-game hitting streak, and this past week hit .370 with a HR, 3 RBI and scored 4 times.

That leads us to this week’s winners!

Who’s Hot

This week’s winner is Hunter Pence. Pence started the season off slowly, but has been heating up of late. This past week Hunter hit .387 with 1 HR, 3 RBI and 4 Runs scored. With some games coming up against Colorado this week, look for his hot streak to continue in the Mile-High city.

Who’s Not

Pablo Sandoval. But Jason, you just said he had a stellar week, what gives? Well, last week he was listed here and since he totally reads this, he responded to prove me wrong. Last week I said that he would be listed here until he hit above .200 on the season. He is doing that now, batting .220. Let’s see if keeping Panda here one more week keeps his bat hot. Baseball is full of silly superstitions, and this is definitely one of them. Disagree if you’d like, but it’s for the good of the Giants!