As we have seen through the first quarter of the season (41 games) this is a new brand of Giants baseball, they are no longer the anemic offense, with just enough pitching to win close games. No, the Giants pitchers are no longer afraid that if they get down 3-0 that automatically means they will lose. The Giants have shown this season that the bats have woken up and it has given extra confidence to the pitching staff that allows them to just worry about doing their job and not the score.
As a pitcher myself I find it so much easier to pitch when I know that if i make a mistake or give up a few runs that the offense on my team will pick me up and we still have a chance to win the ball game. The biggest joke last year was people saying that Madison Bumgarner just needs to throw a shutout and hit a home run, that is the only way the Giants can win. That is no longer the case. At this point last year the starting staff had a record of 11-11. This year they are 17-14. One of their biggest helps in the rotation this year has been Tim Hudson, he has been an absolute workhorse and has seperated himself as the ace of this Giants team with a record of 4-2, with a 2.09 ERA, and only 4 walks in 60.1 innings pitched.
The bullpen to this point has been lights out, they are posting the best numbers in the league as far as bullpens go, lead by Jean Machi who is 5-0 with a 0.42 ERA in 21.2 innings pitched. When you are a starting pitcher and you know you have a bullpen that can put up numbers like that, it allows you to ease yourself into the game and know that you do not need to go the distance. You leave with a lead, it will get protected. Sergio Romo is 15/16 in save opportunities this season.
The offense has been the biggest surprise of the 2014 season, the Giants are putting up fantastic offensive numbers thanks to newcomer Michael Morse who has fit in nicely into the Giants everyday lineup. Morse so far this season is hitting .278 with 10 HRs and 28 RBIs. Brandon Belt was starting to show signs of becoming an elite offensive force that the Giants have been waiting for before he got hit in the finger and will be out for some time. Brandon Hicks has been a pleasent surprise, and under the radar signing that they made to take place of the injured Marco Scutaro, although he does not hit for average, he has amazing pop and has hit 7 home runs. Hector Sanchez is developing into a nice backup catcher both offensively and defensively, which allows Bochy to be happier with putting Posey at first base more often. The Giants as a team have scored 188 runs this season and have hit 50 home runs, that's right, 50 home runs. This is shocking considering they finished last year with 107 total home runs. The Giants have hit 3 splash hits in the past week.
The Giants welcomed the Miami Marlins into town for a 4 game weekend series by the bay. The Marlins have held their own at AT&T Park and have done well against the Giants the past few years. San Francisco ended up splitting the series with the Marlins, got grat pitching performances by Matt Cain and especially Ryan Vogelsong who is starting to look like the guy he did a few years ago. Pablo Sandoval is starting to heat up at the right time with Belt on the shelf, he extended his 9-game hit streak on Sunday with an opposite field home run. A split is a plus for the team considering their bad history against the Marlins and will now head out to Colorado to take on the Rockies starting Tuesday night. Madison Bumgarner will be on the hill. Side note: Tim Hudson was scratched from his last start on Friday with back tightness, he is on track though to make hist next start on Thursday.
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