Matt Cain

Bengie Molina didn't win the the San Francisco Giants' Willie Mac Award twice because him teammates liked how he looked in his uniform. He was, obviously, a very popular and respected teammate.

Let's put the idea that his departure to the Texas Rangers will spell doom for Giants pitchers to rest immediately, however.

Take a peek at the San Francisco Giants' active roster and you'll see a curious thing. You'll see Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey checking in at a green 23 years of age—the Kung Fu Panda's birthday is coming up in August whereas Gerald Demp the Third just had his in March.

There's also newbie reliever Dan Runzler, who's recently turned a grizzled 25.

In less than half the year we've had some amazing, and I mean amazing games by pitchers. Three no-hitters from Ubaldo Jimenez, Roy Halladay, and Dallas Braden, with the last two being perfect. Technically we've had three perfect games if you count Armando Galarraga's, which I think we should. Have the pitchers finally taken the lead in fantasy value over batters? Lets take a look…

2010
3 no-hitters (Jimenez, Halladay, Braden)
5 complete game one-hitters (Matt Cain, Johnny Cueto, Jon Niese, Mat Latos, Armando Galarraga)

As the Giants prepared to finish their three-game series in Pittsburgh yesterday, 54 games were in the book. Their record was 29-25, and at the one-third point of the season, it's easy to do the math. If they continue to play at this pace, they can expect to be 12 games over .500, or 87-75.

Much like last year.

Which is to say good ... but not good enough.

In an NL West now characterized by the surprising Padres, the resilient Dodgers, and the Ubaldo-led Rockies, 87 wins will fall short of first and will probably not lead to a wild card spot.

Damn that Brian Sabean!

Bruce Bochy is ruining everything!

Geesh! How in the world could Sabean not anticipate that Mark DeRosa's surgically-repaired wrist ligament would rupture even after DeRosa was given a clean bill of health by team doctors and other physicians?

DeRosa wasn't considered that "old" when the club signed him and then got off to a fast start in April. But, hell, now it's apparent that Sabean just can't help but sign broken down old free agents—like the 35-year-old DeRosa.

After last night's seven-inning, 10-strikeout performance against the Padres, Jonathan Sanchez has caught the attention of the baseball nation once again.

Not only is Sanchez ready to break out (as I hinted this offseason), he is already on his way to doing so.

The baseball season is 162 games long, so some losses just have to be written off and filed away in a folder tagged "Stuff Happens."

The San Francisco Giants' 6-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday wasn't one of those games. Manager Bruce Bochy and his willingness to go by the book cost the Giants the game.

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.

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.

Begin Slideshow