The Giants sit ten games back, ten games below .500 and in last place in the NL West. While I wouldn’t say they’re out of it yet, I’m not too optimistic about the Giants chances this year. That doesn’t mean the team won’t be in the spotlight though with Bonds just four homers away from tying Hank Aaron. And there’s no better way to kick off the second half then at home against the Giants arch-rivals.
The talk of Brian Sabean coming back was a little disappointing and I find the whole “he’s had to build around Bonds” arguement lacking. If you have the best player in baseball, you should be building around him, the Giants just never found the right parts. And things went downhill once Jeff Kent left the team because from then on, the Giants lost their real one-two punch.
Only Baseball Matters talks about the less then stellar chances of A-Rod coming to the Giants. My bet is he signs with the Angels, but we’ll see. Some good stuff though from my favorite Giants blog.
There’s little doubt who the MVP of the first half was, because Barry Bonds should be the MVP league of the again. A .512 OBP and a 1.101 OPS says it all and Bonds is on pace to walk well over 170 times. With the leading hitter in the NL hitting just .342, you could also see Bonds contend for another batting title if he has one of those awesome second halfs.
The best pitcher has been Noah Lowry, with Barry Zito being the most disappointing. Lowry leads the team with nine wins and the left hander, while he’s walked his share of batters, has also held lefty hitters to a .195 batting average.
Matt Cain gets the start tonight and the Giants will face Chad Billingsley in the opener. If the Giants are going to make a move, they need to do it now and the Dodgers are on of those teams the Giants need to make progress against so this is a pretty big series.
