Aaron Rowand

Even after absorbing Tuesday's loss to the visiting Baltimore Orioles, the San Francisco Giants are humming along now that May is but a memory.

Since the calendar flipped to June, the Gents (quick note—I don't care that the New York nickname was Gints and neither does anyone else in the Bay Area) are 9-5. If you include the last five games of a mediocre preceding month, San Francisco is 13-6.

So things are good for the baseball-conscious in the City.

Nevertheless, there are three glaring and potentially enduring problems with the club.

So far in 2010, we're beginning to see why the San Francisco Giants have earned their new tag line. In case you haven't heard Giants announcer Duane Kuiper say it, he sums up the season in the following sentence.

Giants baseball. It's torture. 

And it has been.

During the first month of the season, the Giants were seemingly the real deal. They led the National League in batting average in April (.280), and went 13-9 to grab a firm hold on second place behind the upstart Padres.

The Giants have recalled Buster Posey and signed Pat Burrell to a minor league deal, leaving some to question where all the pieces will fit if things go as the club would like.

Posey started with a bang on Saturday night, playing first base. Let's imagine that he is in the big leagues to stay. And, let's pretend that the veteran outfielder Burrell uses his time in the minor leagues to prove he belongs in the big leagues.

During my time here at Bleacher Report, I've been given plenty of praise and plenty of hate in the comments section of my articles.

Now notice I did not say "fair share" of both, because honestly the majority of criticism is unwarranted.

Am I saying this simply to toot my own horn?

Three games down, 159 to go.

What a three games they were.

The San Fransisco Giants completed an opening series sweep of the hapless Houston Astros this afternoon. The Giants ended the series with an offensive explosion that doomed Houston in a 10-4 defeat.

So what did we learn about the 2010 San Francisco Giants?

Well, one thing I think we all know is that they can pitch.

Whoa, Nelly, can they pitch.

Ask around Major League Baseball and most people close to the game will tell you the same thing about Spring Training—it's an incredible window into the game that a true fan needs to experience.

I've never gone myself, so I can only trust in the wisdom of those words, but my faith is strong.

Granted, the same thing that I'm sure makes the Show's exhibition run so exceptional is the same thing that makes it confounding to professional prognosticators—it's utterly meaningless.

The San Francisco Giants are one of baseball's toss-up teams this season. They could either have sustained success due to the depth of their starting pitching rotation, or miss the playoffs once again based on their offensive deficiencies. These five factors could make the difference between a long playoff run and an early end to to the season.

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There was something to be said for growing up in the 1960s and only being able to hear San Francisco Giants exhibition games on my transistor radio.

I felt all the hope of spring without actually seeing Jim Ray Hart butchering ground balls at third base or the parade of inadequate starting pitchers behind Juan Marichal.

When Street and Smith's baseball annual had the Giants picked to win the National League, I knew everything I needed to know about the club and the glorious summer that was surely ahead.

San Francisco should be a very fun and interesting team to watch this season, and should be able to possibly win the NL WIld Card.

But don't expect for the Giants to be able to win the NL West, because they won't be able to beat the Rockies. The Rockies are just to good.

San Francisco's success will be based on their pitching again, which is still very strong, and possibly even better than last year's pitching. The Giants have some of the best young players in baseball with Tim Lincecum and Pablo Sandoval, along with other young studs on the team.