Could things get any worse for the 2013 San Francisco Giants? Possibly.

They could be forced to move to the American League West. Or told that, as part of MLB's international outreach, they're opening the 2014 season playing the Cubs in Damascus Stadium, Syria.

So, sure, things could get worse but at this point it would have to involve an out of control gasoline truck hurtling towards a fireworks factory.

The Giants have had the following series of unfortunate circumstances happen to them so far this season:

1. Injuries to Pablo Sandoval (strained left foot tendon), Marco Scutaro (left pinkie damaged), Angel Pagan (strained hamstring)-- the 1-3 hitters in the line-up. Also Santiago Casilla (cyst in right knee), and Ryan Vogelsong (fractured right hand).

All teams have injuries and have to work through them. To successfully work through them you have to have a credible bench and this has been one of the team's biggest negatives since Spring Training. Over-the-hill veterans and untested minor leaguers are not usually found on the bench of winning teams.  

2.  Pitching, the cornerstone of their 2010 and 2012 World Series Championships, has left the building.

I don't want to get into a lot of technical jargon about angles of release and delivery mechanics so I'll simply reference the words of the late John Candy-- "They blowed up real good".

>  After 64 games San Francisco starting pitchers do not have a complete game; they're 5th in NL walks (209), 22nd among all 30 MLB teams in ERA (4.27), and 13th out of 15 NL teams with a 1.33 WHIP.

>  Barry Zito (15-8 in 2012, 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA in the post season) has a home/road split that is achieving historic proportions: at AT&T Park Zito is 4-1 / 1.94 ERA; on the road he's 0-4 / 11.28 ERA.
>  Staff ace Matt Cain, at the one year anniversary of his 2012 perfect game, has a 5.09 ERA. And yet he has a miraculous 4-3 record-- world religions have been built on less.
>  Ryan Vogelsong is on the disabled list and everyone seems to be extremely anxious to get him back. Why? Vogelsong is 2-4, 7.19 ERA, 1.73 WHIP.

3. Lack of offense, the ghost that haunts every Giants team since Barry Bonds emptied his locker, is alive and well.

For some strange reason Giant fans have the impression that the 2013 offense has been "better" than in recent years. Maybe it feels "better", but it actually "isn't better":

Average runs scored per game:
2013 (64 games) - 4.33 runs;
2012 - 4.43 runs;
2010 - 4.30 runs.

>  The Giants are 16th of 30 MLB teams in runs scored (277); 7th in the NL.
>  Home runs? San Francisco is 28th out of 30 MLB teams with 47 HRs. Only Miami and Kansas City have fewer (33).
> Giant hitters are 4th in the National League in grounding into double plays (GIDP) with 58. Sabermetric models have shown that hitting into DPs has an even bigger negative impact on a game than simply making two outs.
>  Extra base hits (XBH), specifically doubles and triples, have been the mother's milk of Giant offenses the past several seasons. But so far San Francisco is 9th in the NL with 180 XBH.

Speaking of ghosts, the 2013 return of several former Giant players is not working out so well. Reliever Ramon Ramirez is toting around a 11.12 ERA (2.47 WHIP) in the bullpen and doesn't look anything like the reliever he was in 2010. Ramirez should be the first player the Giants cut loose.

The organization has quality alternatives in Fresno, including lefty Dan Runzler and possible future closer Heath Hembree. It's past time to bring Hembree up and find a role for him in the bullpen.

But here's the most amazing thing about this particular bottom of the barrel. The San Francisco Giants are 33-31, three games out of 1st place in the NL West.

After 64 games in 2012 they were 36-28 in 2nd place, four games out; in 2011 they were 36-28, in 1st place by two games. And in 2010 they were, you guessed it, 36-28, in third place 1.5 games out.

There are 98 games left on the schedule. Plenty of time for the Giants' front office team of GM Brian Sabean, President Larry Baer, Vice President Bobby Evans, and Manager Bruce Bochy to take some chances and exit the damn barrel.

This is not a drill. The San Francisco Giants are in emergency mode and the goal is not to just hold ground in the National League West, but to find some new momentum.

On one side the injury to third baseman Pablo Sandoval is a huge blow to an offense that has struggled for consistency all season. He has a left foot tendon strain and will be going on the DL as reported by Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Buster Posey may be the rock in the center of the Giants' line-up, Marco Scutaro is one of the best off-field hitters in the game, and Hunter Pence is proving to be a reliable run-producer so it's not a one-man show.

But Pablo Sandoval is one of the game's best pure hitters and a sparkplug in the dugout; at the plate he's unpredictable, smart, and at times explosive.

Sandoval is the one offensive piece this team needs to succeed.

For now GM Brian Sabean and Manager Bruce Bochy are planning to use a semi-platoon at third with Joaquin Arias getting the majority of ABs and newly recalled Nick Noonan picking up the rest. But Pablo Sandoval is a #3 hitter with power and neither Arias or Noonan will be hitting anywhere in the top six spots in the line-up.

On another front it looks like Brian Sabean is in full acquire mode to get a quality starter. Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reported the Giants are looking at the Florida Marlins' Ricky Nolasco and Bud Norris of the Astros, among others.

Since Nolasco will be a free agent after this season, the Marlins have let it be known that Nolasco can be had for several mid-level prospects. And San Francisco's minor league system is well-stocked with players in that category.  

Let's hope the Giants' front office goes hard for the thirty year old Ricky Nolasco who is a quality starter with a history of success at AT&T Park.

Nolasco has a lifetime 79-71 record with a 1.295 WHIP. His best year was probably 2008: 15-8, 1.102 WHIP, and 186 SO in 212.1 innings pitched. More to the point, since 2008 Ricky Nolasco is 4-0 in four starts at AT&T Park with a 0.87 ERA.

Not only do the Giants need to replace the injured Ryan Vogelsong, they will likely need to replace the healthy Ryan Vogelsong. As noted in previous posts, Vogelsong has pitched poorly the past four consecutive regular season months (August and September 2012, April and May 2013).

Nolasco (or someone like him) also provides insurance if Tim Lincecum continues his struggles to find consistency. Whether or not Lincecum finally clicks, trading for a starter should allow the outstanding Chad Gaudin to move back to the bullpen where he added much needed strength and depth.

San Francisco has three or four very promising pitchers in the minors but none look to be ready by 2014. Luckily, the Giants not only have the resources to get a quality starter like Nolasco, they have the budget to sign that starter to an extended contract if his three month audition works out.

These are troubling times for the Giants. There are offensive issues beyond the Sandoval injury that need to be addressed, the Lincecum watch continues without a definitive resolution, and all fingers and toes are crossed that Pablo Sandoval will be back and healthy very soon.

Believe me, I understand. The mainstream sports media needs an angle about the 2013 San Francisco Giants, so they've made it all about the problems the Giants' starting staff has experienced in April and May.

It's irresistible because these are virtually the same pitchers who led San Francisco to World Championships in 2010 and 2012.

But with 105 baseball games yet to be played it's clear what's really holding the San Francisco Giants back: a chronic lack of run production from key spots in the line-up and on the bench. And that's the real story angle about the 2013 Giants.

In their biggest back-to-back series of the year so far, the Giants just faced the Oakland A's in a four game set followed by three with the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium. San Francisco went 2-5 in those games, and it wasn't the pitching that did them in.

Over those seven games the Giants averaged 2.86 runs per game, their opponents 5.43 runs per game.

San Francisco was shut out once (8-0 by the Cards), and scored one run each in two other losses (7-1 against St. Louis and 4-1 against Oakland). And they lost another game to the A's 6-3.

Let's see, that's five runs in 36 innings.

For me, it was disheartening to see Gregor Blanco leading off playing center field, Andres Torres starting in left field, and (unbelievably) Brett Pill starting two games for Brandon Belt at 1B, and then playing half a game in left field. I realize Belt needs to have time off, but I'd rather see Posey fill in at first base and give two key players a rest.

Sure, Angel Pagan was sitting on the bench injured-- but why did the Giants play short and not call up their best outfield bat when Pagan went down? Also injured during part of the week was Pablo Sandoval, again on the bench unable to play and no replacement brought up.

I understand there are a variety of issues regarding the 40 man roster but other teams seem to effortlessly work that out when they have a starter injured and unable to play, but not sent to the disabled list.

For the record, in his 11 games and 24 at-bats with the Giants the past month, Brett Pill has a .567 OPS, a .192 OBP, and is batting .167. Yikes.

In Gregor Blanco's last 10 games he's hitting .139; this season Blanco's OPS is .638 and he's batting .255. Andres Torres has a mediocre .711 OPS and his defense now looks shaky even on routine plays. Torres must lead the National League in balls fumbled, misjudged and just not thrown back to the infield on time.

[And, please, skip the anecdotal crap-- i.e., "But, dude, Andres hit a home run the other day... ". That's the Nate Schierholtz defense: "I saw him hit a home run on TV the other night, so he's great. Right?"] 

One more offensive stat to track this season: so far, Blanco and Torres have hit into 8 double plays.

Out of 30 MLB teams, San Francisco is tied for last place with the Twins for the least runs scored by left fielders in 2013: 20. Giant left fielders have a cumulative OPS of .693, which is 22nd out of 30 MLB teams.

The killer here is there's very good run production coming from virtually every other position on the field:  Marco Scutaro at 2nd base, Buster Posey at catcher, Pablo Sandoval at 3rd base, and Hunter Pence in right. Brandon Belt at 1st and Brandon Crawford at shortstop have also been very good run contributors.

Also: let's not forget that when Angel Pagan is healthy and playing he absolutely adds to the offense at lead-off.

But your team is in trouble if:
>  on a daily basis you are relying on only six productive hitters in your line-up. For 162 games;
>  your bench consists of marginal older minor league players, or younger players without experience, instead of professional hitters; and,
>  when one of your six quality position players is injured for a week or more you decide not to replace that player, you hope he heals quickly.

Again, I understand that if Angel Pagan will get well in 10 days you really don't want to put him on the 15 day DL. But when you do that, not only is the offense playing short for over a week, there's an expectation by management that the player (who you didn't DL) should get back on the field as soon as possible.

Which is just the kind of desperation that can lead to reaggravating the old injury or incurring a new one.

Here are three critical offensive problems the Giants need fix in the next 50 games:

1)  there needs to be better management of the 25 man roster during the season from the front office, especially when a key player is injured but not put on the disabled list;

2)  the everyday line-up needs to have a run-producing left fielder; and,

3)  the Giants desparately need a legitimate right-handed bat off the bench. Sooner than later.

The San Francisco front office has plenty of time to address their 2013 issues. And I'll reprise Giants' President Larry Baer describing how a successful baseball season should work: the first 50 games are to assess the team you've got; the second 50 games are to make the necessary adjustments; and the final 62 games are all about wins.

I believe it was John Madden who said, "Well, you got your, ah... , your numbers, all that stuff, you know, the stats thing...  then you got, umgh...  ah...  your, you know, results." Or maybe it was President Eisenhower. No matter.

The 2013 season has been a serious challenge to the talents (and patience) of Manager Bruce Bochy and Pitching Coach Dave Righetti. The on-the-surface story is that the celebrated Giant pitching staff is in the tank but the team is actually hitting better.

That's why those stories float on the surface and, if you get close enough, smell. Because while the Giants' pitching isn't going down for the third time, Giant run production is in trouble. Again.

At the 57 game point, with 105 left to play, the San Francisco Giants are in that middle third of the season bubble when smart teams assess themselves and make adjustments to the 25 man roster.

I often quote Giants COO and President Larry Baer who succinctly laid out the blueprint for a winning season: the first 50 games are to assess the team you've got; the second 50 games are to make the necessary adjustments; and the final 62 games are all about wins.

We're smack inside the second 50 games and we will watch as the San Francisco front office decides what it will take to push the accelerator down on this 2013 team.

A quick look at all 30 MLB team ERA rankings shows the Giants at #20 with a 4.21 team ERA. Just behind San Francisco is Tampa Bay with a 4.22 team ERA. Only the Giants have 30 wins and 27 loses, and Tampa is 31-25.

Way up near the top at #6 is the Washington Nationals with a 3.58 team ERA-- and a 28-29 record. (Of course hitting counts too, but Part 1 is about pitching.) 

As usual, John Madden is right. You got your numbers then you got your results. The Giants' starting rotation is 17-19, which is not good but hardly a reason to grab the kids and move to Canada.

Matt Cain has been terrible but he's 4-3; Madison Bumgarner is 4-4 but has a 1.05 WHIP; Barry Zito is 4-3 with a 3.88 ERA. It's really Tim Lincecum and Ryan Vogelsong's combined 5-9 / 5.98 ERA that has sunk the starting staff in 2013.

While Lincecum's fall from pitching glory is well-documented, more ominous is the fact that Ryan Vogelsong has been pitching very badly for 4 consecutive regular season months between this year and last year.

During the last two months of the 2012 season Ryan Vogelsong put up a 6.38 ERA in 11 starts (6.32 in August, 6.46 in September).

In a twist that no one would have thought possible two years ago the Giants will likely pick up Zito's option (or renegotiate a new contract) at the end of this season, and cut Lincecum and Vogelsong loose. But there should be no panic among the sports talk radio community-- as noted in previous posts, the Giants have the resources to hit the free agent market harder than wet on water.

Last Sunday the team opted to go with bullpen long reliever Chad Gaudin to start in the injured Vogelsong's place, and that produced a much-needed 6-2 win over the Cardinals. But the previous week was, well I wouldn't say last week was actually "disastrous". I think "catastrophic" is a much more apt description.

But the reason the Giants went 2-5 in their last seven games wasn't pitching...     [This is a blatant tease to move on to the next post-- trust me, it's worth the trip.]

Every MLB team seems to have two or three regular season series that end up defining their season. Those games can happen early in a season or during the final week; they can be played against really good teams or teams going nowhere.

In reality, these season-defining match-ups are almost always clearly identified only after the season ends. Of course that doesn't stop the endless declarations that dozens of Giant series and games are "critically important" throughout the season.

Broadcasters are paid to hype every series ("they're all critical...") and fans tend to focus on certain teams-- has there ever been a Dodgers series that Giant fans didn't feel was extremely important?

But I think the importance of these kinds of games and series are really about the state of your team. What's happening with the roster, is the team climbing, wallowing, or falling in the standings. Are expectations being met or are systemic failures beginning to pile up.

For the San Francisco Giants I think this weekend's three game series with the Colorado Rockies could be one of the most important series of the first half of the season for a number of reasons strictly about the Giants:

>  the Giants just lost starter Ryan Vogelsong for the equivalent of half a season;
>  they seem to be stuck in a first place mudpile with Arizona and Colorado and can't create any separation;
>  reliever Santiago Casilla just went on the DL and the Giants' bullpen is not the same without him;
>  the jury is still out on just what Tim Lincecum is bringing to the table this year, and this is also a demonstration year for Barry Zito, who faces a potential team buyout option after October.

On the positive side, the Giants are second in the Majors in home wins at 17-8 (the Pirates have won 18 home games), and Colorado pitchers have often seen their ERAs inflate by the inning when taking the mound at AT&T Park. Add to that Pablo Sandoval, Marco Scutaro, Buster Posey, and Hunter Pence are simply smacking the bejesus out of the ball.

Lincecum and Zito will pitch, respectively, tonight and Saturday with Matt Cain throwing the finale on Sunday. Three starters with a lot on the line and a team with significant injury issues.

In the middle of it all, an excellent opportunity to pull out the defibrillator paddles and jump some much-needed life into this 2013 season.

Note: I will add brief analysis and comments here after each of the Colorado games this weekend.

Game 1 - SFG vs COL Friday 5/24/13  --  COL 5 SFG 0
10:40PM Three things defined this lackluster performance by the Giants:

1. Tim Lincecum gave up 4 earned runs in 7 innings, giving his pitches too much of the plate at times. That's a 5.14 ERA, so forget the 8 strikeouts because they really didn't matter in this game.
2. Colorado had 3 RBIs with 2 out; the Giants went 0-4 with runners in scoring position (RISP).
3. Giants' left fielder Gregor Blanco went 1 for 4 (a single with 2 out in the 2nd inning).
Left field has to be a run-producing position for San Francisco and it has not been all year long. Blanco and Andres Torres are killing the offense.
Whenever your left fielder is batting 7th in the line-up (strike 1), and his one hit is a single (strike 2), with none on and two outs (strike 3) = the offense is fractured.
On competitive MLB teams, the left fielder is batting 3-4-5 in the line-up and the offense doesn't come to a stop after the #6 hitter. Like it does with the Giants.

Game 2 - SFG vs COL Saturday 5/25/13 - SFG 6 COL 5
4:54PM  Angel Pagan wins the game in the 10th inning with a 2 run inside the park walk-off home run! The first in 82 years by a Giants player!

But-- yet another game with blown umpire calls which should have been subject to replay review and could have cost San Francisco the game. Major League Baseball cannot get comprehensive replay protocols in place fast enough.

Home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez blew two critical calls: he called Brandon Belt out at home plate in the 7th inning when replays clearly showed Belt's foot hit the plate before Colorado catcher Yorvit Torrealba tagged him.

Then, amazingly, umpire Marquez was up the line at third base in the 8th inning to call Marco Scutaro out on a tag play-- only Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado clearly missed Scutaro who was actually safe at third base. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy raced out of the dugout to protest and Marquez somewhat reluctantly tossed Bochy-- probably because he knew he had blown the call at third.

After being shut out the night before, the Giants put five innings of zeros on the board before they exploded for three runs in the 6th. Andres Torres doubled home the tying run in the bottom of the 7th to make the score 4-4, which brings up my ongoing criticism of the Blanco/Torres platoon in left field.

Sorry, anecdotal performance has nothing to do with comprehensive player evaluation. Torres has a .669 OPS and has never been a defensive standout-- and at 35 he is getting worse by the month. Thanks to Angel Pagan both the poor umpiring and the Giants' continuing lack of a consistent offense was erased. At least for this game.

Barry Zito pitched a solid 6 innings and gave up 4 runs. More and more, I think the Giants will exercise their option on him for 2014-- and the team may simply work out a new three year contract for Zito.

Game 3 - SFG vs COL Sunday 5/26/13 - SFG 7 COL 3
9:38AM Mon  Giants come back big to take 2 out of 3 in the series.

Matt Cain held on by a thread, throwing 107 pitches in 5 innings before he was pulled. At the time the score was tied 2-2.

In the bottom of the 5th with two out Brandon Belt smacked a two run double, then Andres Torres knocked in Belt with a double. Hunter Pence plated two more runs with a double in the bottom of the 6th inning.

Belt and Pence went 3 for 6 in this game with 4 RBI, 3 RS, and Belt also walked twice. Getting this kind of production from the 5th and 6th spots in the line-up takes the pressure off 3/4 hitters Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey (and Posey went 2 for 4 with a home run).

The Giants continue to make "come-backs" an integral part of their game. They fought back after being down four runs after the 4th inning on Saturday, they came back Sunday after being down 2-0 after the 1st inning, and they came back to take two games in a row after losing the Friday opener.

Now it's on to two very tough series: four games with the Oakland A's and a three games next weekend with the St. Louis Cardinals.

This weekend's test was to take at least 2 of 3 from a second-tier team and start to build some dominence at the 50 game mark of the 2013 season. The coming week is about keeping the momentum going against two very good teams.

This was the season the San Francisco Giants planned to give the 2012 World Championship team a chance to repeat the magic in 2013.

Other than improving the bullpen (Chad Gaudin for Guillermo Mota), changing back-up catchers (Guillermo Quiroz for Hector Sanchez) and back-up infielders (Nick Noonan for Ryan Theriot), this season's squad was the essentially same one that swept the Detroit Tigers four straight games last October.

2013 is the final contract year for starters Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, and Ryan Vogelsong, so Giants' management knew they had to prepare for potentially huge changes to the team's celebrated starting pitching staff.

But, in the time it takes to throw one pitch, 2014 just got bumped up.

In last night's 8-0 win over the Washington Nationals starter Ryan Vogelsong swung at a Craig Stammem fastball in the 5th inning and it connected with his right little finger. Two bones in Vogelsong's right pinkie were broken and a knuckle on the same finger was dislocated.

(Ryan Vogelsong is a tough competetor and one tough dude. If anyone can bounce back from an injury like this, he can and hopefully will.)

Vogelsong is expected to out for a month and a half following surgery on his finger, with maybe another six weeks of rehab-- which puts him out until about August 20th. That's up to 18 missed starts if everything goes well.

Which is why long reliever Chad Gaudin should not be "filling in" for Vogelsong until his return. Not only would that be way too much to ask of Gaudin, more importantly it would disrupt the balanced bullpen GM Brian Sabean and Manager Bruce Bochy crafted going into the 2013 season.

Fans often suggest that bullpen pitchers should easily be able to start whenever needed, not realizing the damaging domino effect that can have on the bullpen, and the season. Chad Gaudin fills a critical role in San Francisco's bullpen, so even if you thought he could take on 15-18 starts the rest of the season, his spot in the bullpen would have to be replaced by a quality long reliever.

Attempting to turn Gaudin into a starter at this point would mean that Vogelsong's injury would end up hurting both the starting rotation and the bullpen. Which is not a good long term plan.

The Giants do have options. Speculation is already out there about bringing up one of two Triple-A Fresno starters: 25 year old Chris Heston (5-2, 5.33, 1.66, 46 SO in 50.2 IP) or 24 year old Michael Kickham (2-4, 4.72, 1.53, 50 SO in 47.2 IP).

And it could well be that Heston or Kickham (or more likely veteran Shane Loux) is brought up for a couple of starts to give the team time to do what it really needs to do: trade for a competent veteran starting pitcher.

The Giants aren't just a world championship team-- they are a world class organization with the resources and commitment to overcome losing any starting player on the team. In this case you're talking about replacing a starting pitcher for nearly half a season.

The only logical solution here is to make the best deal for the best available starting pitcher and continue what has so far been a successful, although somewhat bumpy, 2013 season.

The Vogelsong injury is just the type of scenario that should remind Giants' fans that this organization has the financial resources to go out and get almost any player(s) they need to succeed, without having to depend on their poorly-rated minor league system.

Even in the unlikely case the Giants did end up cutting ties with Lincecum, Zito, and/or Vogelsong at the end of 2013, this franchise is one of the wealthiest and most successful in professional sports.

They may still hope their fans believe the myth that San Francisco is a "small market" team, but in reality they are fully capable of entering the trade or free agent markets to solve just about any roster problem.

The 2013 National League West simply will not stand still and cooperate. And it's annoying to the national sports media who are scrambling to do their best to write this season's pre-packaged NL West story-- i.e., which team will finish ahead of the San Francisco Giants.

Most pre-season predictions about the NL West are disappearing faster than executive careers at the IRS.

In March virtually everyone with a laptop anointed the Los Angeles Dodgers and their newly purchased team as the favorites to take the West this season.

When that appeared to not be happening by the end of April, the nation's sports media mavens moved on to their next NL Western Division "big story"-- the Colorado Rockies were for real and it looked like they just might make a big move in 2013.

But a topsy-turvy April is slowly sorting itself out and actual performance is beginning to replace wishful thinking:

> The early favorite Los Angeles Dodgers and their $220 million payroll are in last place at 15-22 and the team's 9-13 home record is giving their easily distracted fans more reasons to stay home and watch reality shows on their 72" TVs. 

>  LA Manager Don Mattingly seems to be a wonderful guy-- but while Dodger ownership can apparently print and shred money, they can't win with Mattingly. He's as laid back as a Santa Monica surfer and there are sharks in the water.  

>  Oh, and this breaking news just in from CNN: the Colorado Rockies are probably not going to outplay the San Francisco Giants or the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013 and take the National League West. The Rockies actual "big story" this season would be to try to finish in third place ahead of the flashy Dodgers and the young and talented San Diego Padres.      

>  The San Francisco Giants at 23-15 have the second best record in the National League (St. Louis is 24-13) and are scoring an average of 4.58 runs per game-- just enough to support their pitching.

>  Giant pitching is only 8th out of 16 NL teams in WHIP (1.27) and ERA (3.71). Still, they lead the NL in strikeouts (320), are in second place with 13 saves (the Pirates have 16), and are 2nd in NL shutouts with 5 (St. Louis has 7 shutouts).

But the broken record plays on: the Giants have to increase run production.

>  Giant rookie outfielder Francisco Peguero was just sent back to Triple-A Fresno after 16 at-bats and three hits. GM Brian Sabean has always over-valued veteran ballplayers, so he is holding on to the Gregor Blanco/Andres Torres solution to the left field problem.

Torres and Blanco have a collective .678 OPS this season and they've combined to hit into 6 double plays in only five weeks of baseball. Let's hope Peguero gets a longer look sooner than later and is given a chance to contribute the real offense San Francisco needs.

>  The Giants called up minor league first baseman Brett Pill from Fresno. Pill has put up good numbers at Fresno (batting .341) but his MO has always been that he hits well in the minors and then can't get it done at the Major League level. Pill had several call-ups in 2011 and 2012, but he hit .239 with a mediocre .702 OPS in 62 games for San Francisco over that time.

Brett Pill will be 29 this year and it's not a coincidence that he isn't listed on any top 20 (or 30) lists of Giant prospects. Worse, since Pill can only play first base his presence on the roster means that Brandon Belt will lose playing time, which is not good for Belt or for the team.

Belt could be moved to left field, but here's the problem: the possibility that Pill has magically morphed into a very good hitter, after a history of being an underperforming hitter, is slight. To disrupt Brandon Belt's development to get a temporarily hot bat into the line-up seems short-sighted at best.

Brandon Belt brings world class defense at first base and is starting to be the extra base power hitter the Giants desperately need in their everyday line-up. Why mess with that?

In a move reported by San Francisco Chronicle beat writer Henry Schulman, the Giants have called up outfielder Francisco Peguero from Triple-A Fresno, where he was batting .415 and scorching the baseball.

To make room on the roster San Francisco optioned their #3 catcher, Hector Sanchez, to Fresno. The 23 year old Sanchez was Buster Posey's back-up throughout the team's 2012 Championship season and a switch-hitting pinch hitter off the bench who had shown great promise.

But management was not pleased when Sanchez reported to Spring Training out of condition and then proceeded to go into a hitting slump. His OPS in 11 April games was .411 and he was less than agile behind the plate.

Francisco Peguero, 24, had an outstanding 2013 Spring, hitting .328 with an .833 OPS. and would likely have made the team but the math worked against him. Hoping that Sanchez would straighten out at the plate, the Giants took the rare step of going with three catchers to start the 2013 season. And Peguero was shipped to Fresno.

Despite a good 16-12 start to the Giants' season, two things have become very clear: first, the Andres Torres/Gregor Blanco platoon in left field is not only hurting the offense but Torres' average-at-best defense is declining right before our eyes.

Secondly, veteran catcher Guillermo Quiroz demonstrated to management he could be a solid defensive back-up to Posey and was not lost at the plate.

So Francisco Peguero, who had a 1.017 OPS and .433 OBP so far this season for the Fresno Grizzlies, will have a chance to to add power, speed and defense to the Giants attack.

Peguero will likely start out platooning with Gregor Blanco in left field, but the hope is that he will step up and take over full-time in left and bring another potent bat to the everyday line-up. Gregor Blanco's potential role as the fourth outfielder would also improve the team's bench with the addition of his excellent defense and pinch running abilities.

Francisco Peguero's call-up should not be a short-term audition. This is a serious promotion for a top-notch organizational prospect and the Giants should be all-in with Peguero until at least the All Star break. No matter how he starts out.

For now, the pressure is off. San Francisco's positive start to the season should allow management to relax and really see what this potentially outstanding young hitter can do.

The San Francisco Giants had no idea the Dog Days of August would make an ugly guest appearance in late April.

A promising 13-7 record kicked off the 2013 season but that delicious ice cream cake quickly melted into a sticky 13-12 mess, courtesy of the Giants' current 5 game losing streak. For diehard fans, stamp the word "Titanic" on the outside of AT&T Park, sprinkle some ice cubes on the ground and many would feel the disaster is complete.

First, San Francisco's celebrated starters seem to be giving up more runs than Caribbean cruise line passengers. And the offense has dipped to 4.28 runs per game. If that number doesn't change Giants' players will have to contact StubHub to attend October baseball.  

Of course the local sport talk radio waves are awash with the kind of desperate, delusional rantings you'd normally expect to hear either from a locked psychiatric facility or Chicago Cub fans. "Trade Lincecum", "move Brandon Crawford to clean-up", "bring Brett Pill up from the Minors to play 1st base", "dump Scutaro".

Someone needs to tell Bruce Bochy to stop calling the talk shows.

But there's good news. Actually great news. Even a brief peek at the numbers beyond wins/losses and Matt Cain's  0-2 6.59 ERA start suggests the San Francisco Giants are having a temporary hic-cup and will shortly rearrange the deck chairs in the National League West.

April Pitching
San Francisco's pitchers have put up a 1.22 WHIP, third best among sixteen National League Clubs. Their strikeouts to walks ratio is 2.86, second only to the Reds (3.52). Which means they're pitching really well and an uptweak in run support will have a huge impact on their win-loss lines.

And the bullpen? Giants relievers are doing their usual outstanding work: 4th in WHIP (1.12) among 30 Major League teams and 4th in ERA (2.62) in the NL. Pittsburgh's bullpen leads the Majors with a 1.09 WHIP and the Atlanta bullpen leads the Majors with a 2.18 ERA.

Bottom line here: sure, Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong may have a combined 1-4 record, but Madison Bumgarner and Barry Zito are 6-1. When Cain and Vogelsong start to come around National League hitters will have to pad their stats somewhere other than AT&T Park the rest of the season.   

April Run Scoring
In their first 25 games of the season the Giants have had 16 games decided by 2 runs or less, 10 games by 1 run. While San Francisco batters are 6th in the National League in runs scored with 107 (Colorado has 127), there are several offensive problems that need to be fixed sooner than later.

Since the 2010 Championship season, the Giants' offensive has been built around extra base hits. Just enough home runs, but a boatload of doubles and triples to drive the offensive engine. In 2010, the Giants were 7th in NL XBH with 475; in 2012 they came in at 9th with 447.

Currently San Francisco's offense ranks 27th among 30 MLB teams in extra base hits with 60. That projects out to 388 for the year and that would define an offensive collapse.

Marco Scutaro (.215/.260/.269) and Brandon Belt (.231/.287/.321) have had slow starts to the season with the predictable impact on run scoring. But time and ABs will eventually bring Scutaro and Belt back as productive hitters.

Meanwhile Angel Pagan (.280, 19 runs), Pablo Sandoval (.812 OPS, 19 RBI), Buster Posey (.877 OPS, 10 XBH), and Hunter Pence (13 RBI, 9 XBH) have been excellent in April, and Brandon Crawford has had a stunning start (.907 OPS, 14 RBI, 11 XBH).

So this is not a systemic line-up crisis.

The Problem
The problem is left field, where the tandem of Gregor Blanco (.664 OPS, 6 RS) and Andres Torres (.587 OPS, .260 OBP) are just dragging the offense down.

Although part time players, Torres and Blanco have already grounded into 5 double plays this season (Michael Young of the Phillies leads the NL with 6 GDP).

Successful teams use left field as a high run-production position because you can put an average defensive player in left and not be hurt. For San Francisco, left field is the weakest link in their hitting attack and one they can't afford to sustain.

A large number of those extra base hits the Giants depend on getting each year should be coming from left field, and right now it's a black hole. That's something that Brian Sabean will have to address before the trading deadline, or sooner if an opportunity comes up.

Because this thing ain't getting any easier. The upcoming May schedule is going to be a tough test of this team's grit and talent-- they have 11 games against baseball's best teams: Atlanta (4), Oakland (4), the Nationals (3); and also the Dodgers (3).

So we will know a lot more about the 2013 San Francisco Giants on June 1st.

I recently got an email query from Bryan O'Connor of the Replacement Level Baseball Blog. Bryan was asking members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) to answer the following question about the 2013 MLB season:

"What five baseball teams would you most like to see succeed in 2013, and which five teams would you most like to see fail?"

Providing commentary rather than simply a list of teams in each category makes this a fascinating question. Baseball bloggers tend to be fans of specific teams and detached analysis about their favorite team, or the rest of Major League Baseball, is often not a priority.

Maybe that's why they routinely get thousands more hits than I do.

Anyway, here is my response to Bryan O'Connor's query (and check his website to read all the responses when they're posted):

Five MLB teams I would like to see succeed in 2013:
1. Tampa Bay Rays
Maybe the smartest and best organized franchise top to bottom in the game. Manager Joe Maddon has old school crustiness but may be the most innovative manager in baseball-- the Rays actually have different defensive set-ups for every batter their pitchers face. Tampa also has a continual array of super talented minor league players coming up through the ranks, the front office is expert at knowing who to trade and when, and this is a team that actually utilizes sabermetric research on a day-to-day basis.
2. San Francisco Giants
Historic chance to win 3 of the last 4 World Series. San Francisco's dedication to a pitching+defense attack runs counter to modern baseball's increasing (and tedious) reliance on home runs to win games. For decades a poorly managed franchise, the Giants have been reborn and are thriving in the Peter Magowan/Larry Baer era.
3. San Diego Padres
An organization without focus for years, winning just two NL pennants in 45 years. In the past two years the Padres have assembled a fascinating group of talented home-grown players and failed phenoms discarded by other teams. They could be poised to take the next big step.  
4. Oakland A's
GMs are rarely innovative, brilliant, and chance-takers. A's GM Billy Beane is all that and more. The team has a legendary history of success, and is a low payroll team of hard-nosed players who routinely dominate high-priced high-profile teams. And this organization succeeds and makes money despite being ignored and mishandled by Oakland's clueless elected officials.
5. Washington Nationals
A franchise that failed for decades in Montreal is reborn in DC and now poised to be a dominant National League team. The Nats have two of the most exciting young players in the game, Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg. This is a story that deserves a successful ending.

Special Mention: Is there anyone who isn't rooting for the Boston Red Sox to have a great 2013 season after the terrible events surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing? Ease their pain... . 

Five MLB teams I would like to see fail in 2013:
[Note: I don't spend time hoping for failure for anyone or any entity. For the sake of this survey I will list five teams that either annoy me or for which I don't have a high level of respect.]
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
Just because. And now that the new Dodgers' ownership has been tossing millions of dollars into various shredders (doing their best imitation of the 1999 New York Yankees) there are even more reasons to dislike the entire organization from top to bottom.
2. New York Yankees
Decades of arrogance, money to burn, and incredible success have made millions of MLB fans both envious and resentful of the New York Yankees. And now that the Yankees are stumbling in their own poo, there is smug contentment across the land. The MLB revenues distributed to all 30 teams have permanently eliminated the old "big market/small market" models; in the future the Yankees will have to use their heads instead of their wallets to build championship teams.
3. New York Mets
Rarely has a high revenue, high profile MLB organization been so ineptly run. In the decade before the brilliant Sandy Alderson finally took over in 2011, virtually every aspect of the Mets' franchise was mismanaged at levels that would take your breath away. All of which deserves several more years of desultory bottom-feeding in the NL East.
4. Miami Marlins
Marlins ownership has routinely and arrogantly mistreated its fans over the years. There is a trust factor involved in the partnership between sport teams and their fan base. The Florida franchise has trampled on that trust by repeatedly building championship teams then selling off the players for profit the following year. This is not a business model taught in MBA graduate schools, but it's normal (and profitable) operating procedure in Miami.
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
In my lifetime I would like to see an MLB team post 25 consecutive losing seasons. A quarter of a century. And the Pirates only have 5 seasons to go.