Kuzul

At this point, there should be no need for Giants fans to debate over whether or not Bruce Bochy is a quality big league manager.

Simply said, he isn’t one.

Why? Because quality managers put the eight most useful position players on the field day in and day out and place them in the ideal spots in the lineup.

But San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy has done neither in every single game of the season since his bosses acquired Pat Burrell off the free agent wire back in late May.

In the 22 games since Burrell’s arrival to the 25-man roster, the Giants have played with their best available offensive and defensive lineup a grand total of zero times.

Now those of you reading this might be gawking at my opinion and thinking to yourselves “who is this kid and why does he think he knows more about baseball than a big league manager? I mean he’s not a paid writer, he’s barely an adult who writes for Bleacher Report free of compensation.”

But please, anyone with that mindset needs to realize you don’t have to be a professional to understand baseball.

It is widely agreed upon by writers here, and the “professional” news outlets that the best eight position players the Giants could put on the field are as follows:

LF: Pat Burrell

CF: Andres Torres

RF: Nate Schierholtz

3B: Pablo Sandoval

SS: Juan Uribe

2B: Freddy Sanchez

1B: Aubrey Huff

C: Buster Posey

As for the batting lineup, these eight players should be arranged (based on current production and hitting style) in the following order:

1. Torres

2. Sanchez

3. Huff

4. Uribe

5. Burrell

6. Sandoval

7. Posey

8. Schierholtz

Now, if certain young stars like Sandoval and Posey were performing better at the plate, you could make the argument that they belong more so in the middle of the order.

Perhaps if Sandoval was building on his impressive marks from last year during 2010, hitting third or cleanup would be possible lineup spots.

Posey on the other hand has the talents of a three hitter or six hitter. When intelligent baseball minds discuss future offensive potential at the plate for Posey, they draw comparisons to Joe Mauer instead of, say, Justin Morneau.

But for the here and now, Sandoval and Posey belong lower in the lineup as Burrell, Uribe and Huff are carrying the load offensively.

The main point in all of this however, is that the aforementioned lineup gives San Francisco the best chance to win because it combines the maximum amount of offense they can put on the field with the maximum amount of defense on the field.

Baseball fans should understand that the likes of Aaron Rowand, Edgar Renteria, and Bengie Molina are finished as everyday big league starters.

While it is unfortunate that the three combine to make $25.5 million dollars this season, that doesn’t mean they should be held without scrutiny.

Recently, Rowand has started to ride the pine more often than he has seen the field. But it is time for Molina and Renteria to join him.

Despite solid numbers at the plate this season, (an .829 OPS thus far) Renteria should ride the pine for numerous reasons.

1) He can’t seem to stay healthy when starting and keeping him fresh as a bench player and pinch hitter will be crucial in the second half.

2) Uribe plays a better shortstop and has been San Francisco’s most lethal offensive weapon this season. The only possible option of getting both players in the lineup would be moving Uribe to third and bench the slumping Sandoval.

3)However, Sandoval is too much of a threat to break out of his slump to bench him for any extended length of time, and Uribe plays a much sharper shortstop than he does third base. The Giants would be much better off defensively with Uribe at short and Sandoval at third. Plus, offensively its only a matter of time before Sandoval gets his bat going.

As for Bengie Molina, the Giants are in a position where it is only a matter of time before Posey takes over at catcher. Posey is the catcher of the future, and Molina is certainly in his last season as a Giant.

The argument that Molina catches a better game and is more familiar with the staff is a pointless notion to make because Posey will have to learn the staff at some point in the future. The sooner he gets used to catching the better the Giants will be in years to come.

Plus, any hiccups that come from Posey not calling as good of a game can be easily overcome with the fact that Posey is a much better all-around athlete. Posey can turn all those should be doubles that are Molina singles into actual doubles, and he has more range on pop ups, bunts, and has a stronger arm.

All those intangibles make Posey at catcher the ideal position both offensively and defensively.

Now since Posey has been playing elsewhere in the field recently, the player taking Molina’s lineup spot would be right-fielder Nate Schierhotlz. Even though the 26-year-old outfielder has struggled at the plate in a reserve role in recent weeks, he brings more offensive punch than Molina and is an all-star caliber defender in the outfield.

Schierholtz owns one of the best arms in baseball in terms of both strength and accuracy. But, the only way a team like the Giants can take advantage of these skills is by playing him everyday.

Getting him into the lineup is imperative for his defense alone and since he will be hitting eighth, any offense from him is a merely a bonus. And as his past as showed, Schierholtz has the ability to get red hot with consistent playing time, so with him in the lineup, the Giants should at some point receive significant offensive production from eight hole.

Unfortunately, this lineup has yet to see the light of day. As mentioned previously, Bochy has not put this starting lineup on the field for a single game since Burrell’s arrival.

And without putting this lineup on the field the Giants are instead playing Molina more often than they should, which then causes them to have play either Rowand (who has been awful all season) or to move Huff (who would be the second limited range outfielder on the field) to right-field.

But when the Giants move Huff to right field, they then have two “water buffaloes” (aka slow runners) in the outfield. And having both Burrell and Huff man the outfield corners is not an ideal formula for preventing runs.

Putting one of them out there for offensive reasons makes sense but placing both of them out there (when it can easily be avoided) makes absolutely zero sense.

Yet this defensive set up seems to happen more often than not, which is what frustrates the Orange & Black faithful. Lineup decisions from Bochy often decrease the Giants’ chances at winning because they don’t make any sense.

Just like it makes zero sense for Posey to bat cleanup, Molina to bat cleanup, Renteria to bat fifth, and Rowand to bat leadoff as has happened thus far this season.

So why does Bochy continue to manage the Giants, or even in the big leagues at all?

Your guess is as good as mine.

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Offering opinions in print, particularly on the Internet, curses the writer to be haunted by his opinions forever.

Oh, it must be nice to be in the electronic media where you can offer an opinion and have it just disappear into thin air.

It’s hard to deny having opined that the San Francisco Giants would finish 75-87 once the opinion appears in print. Say it on TV or radio and … “Well, I mentioned that they COULD potentially finish 75-87, but I think I made a bit larger point and, really, I’m not surprised to see them in the thick of the NL West race.”

When a writer offers a suggestion that might help the club or offers an opinion of how the club operates, it mostly comes back to haunt the writer.

Here’s to the suggestions and opinions mentioned here that turned out to be on the money. It’s rare to predict what will happen, then see it actually take place.

It’s time to celebrate.

To the folks who threw metrics and Bruce Bochy’s unwillingness to stick with young players at me—note that John Bowker is back in the minor leagues, and that Nate Schierholtz lost his right field job to Aubrey Huff.

It was written here that the Giants had to sell the importance of playing defense in AT&T Park, when Randy Winn wasn’t hitting and the club needed to justify keeping him in the lineup. Huff hasn’t done anything wrong in right field and, frankly, how many games have turned on misplaying a carom in right field over the last 10 years?

So, yeah, Bowker’s back tearing up Triple-A and Schierholtz is batting barely .100 in his last 40 at-bats or so. He’s a pinch-runner and late-inning defender. The hitter got the gig in right field—Huff.

I’m not the type guy to say, “I told you so,” but …

And, is that Pat Burrell in left field? The guy who was too old (at 33) and a complete defensive liability? The guy who flopped in Tampa Bay in the American League, who was supposed to be the single worst free agent signing the Giants could make with all those promising young outfielders?

Wait, I am that type of guy!

I told you so!

Burrell’s hitting .341 entering Wednesday’s game for the Giants. He’s slugging .614 with three home runs. He’s the big, strong guy who works the count and, apparently, doesn’t play left fielder as though he has two left feet.

Well, after I was run from my suggestion that Eugenio Velez play full-time, people were insisting that there was no reason to claim Burrell off the scrap heap. Velez and Andres Torres—and Bowker—deserved a shot in left with Mark De Rosa out.

Oh, it’s fun being right!

The first piece that I wrote here mentioned that Bowker, Kevin Frandsen, and Fred Lewis were completely without value.

Frandsen’s bounced from the Red Sox to the Angels. He’s doing well for the Halos, but there’s no place for him in the Giants lineup anyway.

Lewis had those who blame Brian Sabean for the sun rising in the east chirping when he was hitting and doing some things for the Blue Jays. Then, he misplayed a gapper and dropped a fly ball that killed Toronto when San Francisco was up there over the weekend.

Did I mention that Bowker took his .200 big league batting average to go rip up Pacific Coast League pitching?

Being me isn’t bad. Not bad at all. (Until I call for Eric Hacker to get the No. 5 rotation spot and he gets shelled).

And, it seems as though I mentioned that the Giants would benefit from recalling Buster Posey and putting him at first base…or anywhere that his bat would be a benefit to a struggling attack. He started with a bang in San Francisco, has fallen off some—but, clearly, people who got the vapors over the notion of the Giants catcher of the future not catching everyday in the minors have realized—they were wrong.

That would make me…right. Right?

Tim Linecum’s dead arm isn’t dead. The symptoms indicating Tommy John Surgery might be in order have disappeared. Lincecum’s winning, pitching well, like he will win and pitch well for as long as he’s in the big leagues. And, for the dead-arm theorists, he hit 94 mph on the radar gun on Tuesday.

Who told you so?

Oh, right…I did!

In lieu of laughing out loud at know-nothings who called second baseman Freddy Sanchez a malingerer, I’ll be kind and admit that I was as right about him returning to star as I was wrong about whether the Giants could win with Juan “Big Poppa” Uribe at shortstop.

I don’t know everything. In fact, I know very little. When I manage to write down things in advance that turn out later to be true, well, a guy likes to crow sometimes.

Ted Sillanpaa is a Northern California sports writer and columnist. Contact Ted at: tsillanpaa1956@gmail.com.

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When your local baseball team is a solid 7-3 in their past 10 games, there are usually plenty of positive story lines to write about. And the San Francisco Giants are no exception.

Freddy Sanchez has done nothing but rake since coming off the DL in mid-May. The Giants second baseman has jacked his average up to .371 with an OPS nearing .900.

Leadoff hitter and former journeyman Andres Torres has proved his impressive 2009 numbers were no fluke, as he has posted a .377 on-base percentage and .481 slugging percentage thus far to go along with 11 stolen bases.

All-Star pitcher Matt Cain is currently unhittable, allowing just one earned run in his last three starts, allowing just 10 hits in 25 innings pitched over that span.

Now those are just three examples of Giants players who are currently riding hot streaks. 

When you look at the entire roster, there are about five or six more players who are just as on fire as the previous three already mentioned.

But with the players who are going well and the players who are going badly so clearly defined, why does the manager continue to make puzzling lineup change after puzzling lineup change?

Just what goes through Bruce Bochy’s mind when he makes up his lineup card?

Making out the order isn’t rocket science.

The first six hitters in San Francisco’s order should remain the exact same everyday. Torres, Sanchez, Pablo Sandoval, Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe, and Buster Posey are continually proving worthy of a top-six lineup spot every day they play.

Now, while Pablo Sandoval is struggling with the double-plays and not hitting for the accustomed amount of power he has shown in the past, he is still getting his hits.

If Bochy felt it necessary to drop Sandoval down to the sixth spot instead of his usual third spot in the lineup, nobody would raise an eyebrow.

But dropping the team’s best hitter and franchise player to the eighth hole? Now that is flat out absurd.

Two games ago, with Sandoval still hitting a respectable .281 (an average that has stayed around that mark for the past couple of weeks), Bochy dropped him down to the eight spot and get this, put the stone-cold Bengie Molina at cleanup!

Say what?

Molina, who was one-for-his-last-23 and three-for-his-last-46, got moved from his accustomed lower-third of the order to cleanup?

For what possible reason?

And then in the fourth inning, Molina was taken out of the ball game as part of a double switch?

Sure, Bochy’s claim was that he wanted to get multiple innings out of his first reliever before having to pinch hit for him. Well, earth to Bochy—you don’t have to pinch hit just because the pitcher’s spot is coming up and you have already gone to the bullpen.

Had the day’s starter Todd Wellemeyer still been in the game, he would have gotten a second at-bat anyway, so “losing” one at-bat with a pitcher hitting wouldn’t have been the worst move in the world.

However, with Molina hitting so poorly, it was probably a good move to put backup Eli Whiteside in the game because Whiteside has crushed the heck out of the ball all season with a .567 slugging percentage compared to Molina’s putrid mark of .320.

Now for those out there who agreed with the double switch, then once again, I’ll ask why hit Molina cleanup?

A player hitting in the cleanup spot should not be producing at a level low enough to be considered as a double switch candidate.

Nothing else needs to be said. Putting Molina at cleanup was an idiotic decision.

So not only does Bochy unfairly punish the most cherished Giants hitter since Bonds by unfairly dropping him to the eight spot, but he compounds that by unfairly rewarding the second coldest bat on the team with cleanup duty.

But that’s not all, phenom Buster Posey—who has been red hot since his call up—was lowered to seventh in the order behind newcomer Pat Burrell.

Now prior to this game, Posey had been hitting the ball all over the place from the fifth and sixth spots in the lineup. In other words he was performing like a middle of the order hitter who deserved to be hitting in the middle of the order.

And just because a recently signed veteran with pop gets into the lineup, he is allowed to hit higher in the lineup than Posey?

Currently Burrell isn’t a starter for this team and probably won’t be unless both Molina and Rowand continue to slump and find reductions in their playing time.

So why does the blistering hot Posey get dropped in the lineup? Posey and Sandoval hitting seventh and eighth? One could argue that by putting together the lineup in this fashion, Bochy had his best two hitters batting in the lowest two spots in the order.

Comparatively that would be like the Los Angeles Dodgers batting James Loney and Andre Ethier seven and eight.

It just doesn’t happen and shouldn’t happen, but yet with Bochy, it happened.

What makes the fans scratch their heads the most about these weird lineups is that the team is winning. Prior to this game with Posey and Sandoval at the bottom of the order, the Giants were 7-3 in their past 10.

That isn’t the time for major lineup changes.

And yet the following game, Bochy continued with a second straight odd configuration with his lineup.

Instead of going back to the crystal clear (what definitely should be the lineup) order with Torres, Sanchez, Sandoval, Huff, Uribe, and Posey as 1-6, Bochy put Molina ahead of Posey and sandwiched the stud rookie between the two worst hitters on the team.

In the seventh spot, Posey had Molina in front of him and Rowand behind him?

Are you kidding me? This isn’t the NHL; you don’t put a hot hitter in between two cold hitters and hope that his bat will rub off on his teammates. It doesn’t work that way. In hockey, putting a hot forward on the same line with two other cold forwards could be a way to snap the cold players out of their slumps.

But this is baseball, and putting Posey between the two worst hitters on the team makes absolutely no sense.

Not only did the move limit Posey’s ability to knock in runs, but in all reality it should have limited the pitches that five hitter Juan Uribe got to hit in the game.

While the Pirates oddly pitched to Uribe in the ninth inning (which saw the Giants RBI leader knock in the lead run), conventional wisdom would have been to walk him and face the frozen cold Molina.

Of course, had Bochy put together a conventional lineup, the Giants wouldn’t have had to worry about Uribe not getting pitches to hit because the red hot Posey would have been on deck, right?

Not so fast, because the brilliant Bochy had taken Posey out of the game in the eighth inning for a pinch runner…

What’s that?

Posey was taken out of the game in a tie ball game despite getting on base twice in four at-bats and having made an excellent play at first base that saved a run in the second inning.

And he is taken out of the game?

What is this nonsense?

Well, as Giants fans have come to learn, that nonsense is just the curious case of their manager, Bruce Bochy.

Nobody knows why, but the man just has a knack for making awful decisions with the batting order.

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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.

Still, there are reasons to be encouraged.

Five Surprises

1. Aubrey Huff . It’s easy to denigrate Sabean signings. The second-tier free agents tend to be a bit too old, a bit too hobbled. In the case of Huff, we were all warned about his glove, specifically how it does not close around a baseball.

Reality has been that Huff has been a pretty decent defender who, without complaint, has moved from first to left and even in a pinch to right field. He may not be a Lastings Milledge in terms of producing Web Gem highlights, but he is an intelligent fielder who takes care of the fundamentals. Not flashy, just solid.

Offensively, he is on pace to hit 20-plus HRs, pick up close to 80 RBI, and earn nearly 90 walks. That last stat may be most significant on this generally impatient team.

From a fan perspective, it may be difficult to assess, but this seems like a guy who is well liked and well respected in the dugout. (And when you produce on the field, why not?)

Early favorite for the Willie Mac Award?

2. Andre Torres . He still doesn’t have the patience we would like to see in a leadoff hitter: too many strikeouts and not enough walks. (It seems the Giants just never get players like David Eckstein!) Still, Torres produces in so many ways.

He is one of those fireplugs: small but strong, incredibly fast, and dedicated to his craft. He is not young, by MLB standards, but he is anything but hobbled. He is a smart player who is getting better.

The Giants in recent years have been plagued by players who are just the opposite: They make foolish decisions, and they don’t seem to learn from them. Eugenio Velez, now appropriately in the minor leagues, is the best of several examples. Torres is a refreshing player who rarely makes a mental mistake or the same mistake twice.

He went from no guarantee to make the team to catapulting over John Bowker and Nate Schierholtz in securing a starting spot.

He deserves to stay there.

3. Guillermo Mota . Under the radar, perhaps? Well, Mota not only has done everything asked and more, but he has stepped in to provide stability to a bullpen that has endured injuries (Jeremy Affeldt and Brandon Medders) and sub-par performances (Sergio Romo).

Giant fans can be confident with Mota as a set-up man. With an ERA of 1.33 and a WHIP of 0.89, he provides the bridge to a solid closer in Brian Wilson.

4. Freddy Sanchez . The sample size may be small, but suffice to say, Freddy has made many friends in his short stay on the 2010 active roster.

Before a player gets on the field, especially when he is hampered by lingering injuries, it is tedious to hear about the “intangibles” that he brings to a team. We now know that Sanchez brings both intangibles and tangibles. In the latter category, most significantly, belong his clutch hitting and his defensive intelligence.

Freddy played in 17 of the first 54 games, and yet he is well represented in this year’s best moments offensively and defensively.

5. Barry Zito . Much has been written this year about Zito’s resurgence, but suffice to say, he is someone fans now look forward to seeing on the mound. Fans even expect a win (assuming the A’s aren’t hitting against him).

Flaws are still there, and he is rarely the team’s top starter (Lincecum was at first, now it’s Matt Cain), but still, Zito seems to have found the mental focus needed to succeed.

He is averaging close to seven innings per start. His WHIP is 1.18, exactly the same as Lincecum’s. His ERA of 2.78 is better than Lincecum’s.

Detractors will bring up his salary, and that is unfortunate. He will never be worth that money. But he is looking like a number two starter on a strong team, and that is all fans should care about.

Four Concerns

1. Pablo Sandoval . Yes, the Panda is lovable. But it is no fun when the rituals before the at-bat are longer than the at-bat itself. Sadly, that’s no exaggeration.

Put simply: Too many at bats end after one pitch. Too many ground balls right at an infielder. Too many rally-killing double plays.

Bruce Bochy apparently called him into his office. Good. 

It’s time for Sandoval to get the take signal on the first pitch. And if it’s a ball, then maybe get another. Make the pitcher earn it.

He could be great, yes. He’s not great yet.

2. Hensley Meulens . The batting coach was supposed to be a savior, and in some ways the hitting is better than last year. However, two of the best hitters (Huff and Sanchez, cited above) came from other organizations with skills already intact.

Last year, we heard about the Velez offensive turnaround and all the great hitting in the minor leagues, all of which was credited to “Bam Bam” Meulens. This year we continue to see poor decision-making and impatience in the batter’s box.

Fans may have been happy to see the departure of Carney Lansford, last year’s batting coach, but they should be justifiably skeptical of his replacement.

3. The fifth spot in the rotation . Todd Wellemeyer has been enough of a tease in home games, but considering his performance on the road, he will be lucky to remain on the team at all. Rabid fans can start recommending names right and left (Bumgarner! Joe Martinez! and so on). But the reality is, the Giants need someone steady in the fifth spot.

That somebody cannot be Wellemeyer.

4. Bruce Bochy . It is tempting to put Bochy in the first list because I think he is doing a commendable job managing, considering the constant maneuvering he has to do. It is also tempting (and expected) to put Molina, Rowand, and Renteria on the “concerns” list. In fact, it is the manager who is most important.

When it comes to Molina, how will Bochy handle a catcher whose offensive skills are dwindling so rapidly that there are two backups on the team who are better? Yes, Posey will be the starter beginning next year; and yes, Molina will not be on the team at that time. But we’re talking about a two-time Willie Mac Award winner, someone popular and respected. How to transition him into more of a part-time player is in Bochy’s hands.

Rowand’s situation is more frustrating. Fans can say it’s better to play Schierholtz, and maybe in some ways it is. But Rowand has more than half of his five-year contract remaining. That means more than $30 million. It also means he’ll be on this team even if he is not the power producer the team had hoped to get.

As impossible as it seems to be to find a place for Rowand in the lineup, Bochy needs to figure out how to deal with him. He needs to sit him more — a statement of the obvious, I know — but there is no denying that he has an aggressive style of play and will to win that is evident whenever the camera scans the dugout. Fans may tire of hearing that a player is a “gamer,” but I suspect that the same tired fans hate to see a prima donna vet fail to run out a ground ball or give up on a play defensively.

Bochy is having more meetings with players, and the look on his face during games seems to reveal occasional disgust. He may have an “aw shucks” demeanor in his radio pregame show, but he needs to be forceful in other forums, namely the closed-door meetings and the constant lineup shuffling.

***

There are positives. And the concerns are known by all. The first game of the second third of the season showed bright spots, including a patient Panda, five stolen bases without being caught (including two by Huff!), and an emergency save by Santiago Casilla. 

Now: Can the team do that against teams that aren’t from Pittsburgh or Houston?

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A five game skid will do wonders for local bars and corner stores. Just today, before the Giants got healthy on the Nationals 4-2, I wandered into the convenience store and they were clear out of alcohol, not a single drop… not even an O’Douls or Vanilla or Nyquil!

The bandaged and bruised grocer explained, “Giants fans have raided. It’s crazy, I haven’t seen this much chaos since prohibition!” Yes, he’s old enough to remember the 1920s.

If you fell off the wagon or suffered a heart attack during the losing streak, you might want to keep the following facts in mind to avoid future pathofanaticism:

In a 162 game season the statistical probability of avoiding a respectable losing streak is extremely low, as low as say the Cubs winning the World Series or Gary Radnich staying on topic.

In 2008, the Giants lost 6 games in a row yet stayed competitive all year and managed their first winning season since 2004.

In 2003, the Giants dominated their division winning 100 games, but still found time to lose 6 games in a row.

In 2002, the Giants went to the World Series after posting a 95-66 record. One bad pitching change away from being world champions, yet they lost 4 games in a row—twice.

In 2000, the Giants won their division with a 97-65 mark. Yet somehow they managed to lose 8 games in a row. Many fans were flattened by the sky.

In 1962, the Giants went 103-62, lost to the Yankees in the World Series, and came within three feet of being world champions. Strangely enough, they lost 6 games in a row during the regular season.

In 1954, the NY Giants won the World Series after posting a 97-57 record. They dropped 6 in a row during the regular season.

And so on and so on…

More extreme?

In 2009, the Colorado Rockies fired manager Clint Hurdle on May 29th and replaced him with Jim Tracy. They won 2 games, then lost the next 4. At that point, they were 15.5 games behind.

Every one wrote them off. Then they won 17 of 18, played solid the rest of the way, and made the playoffs.

Actually, there were probably a handful of Rockies fans who still believed after being 15.5 down. They all turn nine this year.

Bottom line: baseball is very hard to predict and the sky seems to fall down every year.

Don’t confuse the last example with me advocating Bochy’s firing. I’m not. His overall progression in SF is good.

This may be a make or break year for him, however, so I hope he starts cracking the whip a little more.

Along these lines, I would like to petition Giants fans to start a fund dedicated to paying the fines Bochy should get for abusing umpires when the Giants are getting the short end. With no fear of a fine and the fans behind him, he’ll have no excuses.

In exchange for the fans paying the fine, they would be guaranteed at least one chest bump and one shoe spitting before the All Star break.

* pathofanaticism – mental or physical sickness caused by one’s favorite sports team losing.

Answer to Poll: 8, 2006 St. Louis Cardinals

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When a team musters just a single run in a three game series, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the offense is struggling.

Essentially, changes to the San Francisco Giants’ lineup are a guarantee.

Even if their manager was napping in the clubhouse during the past three games, changes would be made after looking at the final box scores.

Once the manager wakes up after such a dreadful offensive series, he will see 20 straight zeros in the boxscore and will naturally be inclined to shake things up.

However, the issue with the Giants is their organization plays who they pay most rather than who produces most.

And because of this mindset, Bochy will play Edgar Renteria instead of Nate Schierholtz.

Wait, what?

How does a lineup decision come down to either a shortstop or right fielder getting in the lineup?

Well, it is actually pretty simple.

With the Opening Day left fielder Mark DeRosa out with injury, the Giants plan on moving their everyday first baseman Aubrey Huff to the outfield to take over the vacant spot. (backup Andres Torres then slides over to right field).

Subsequently, third baseman Pablo Sandoval shifts over to Huff’s old spot at first which allows Juan Uribe and Freddy Sanchez to man the third and second base spots. And that leaves shortstop open for the recently called up Edgar Renteria.

Only problem is that these moves put the 26-year-old Schierholtz on the bench.

Now if you ask Giants fans whether they would rather have Schierholtz in the lineup or Renteria, the overwhelming majority would prefer Schierholtz, and for good reason.

Despite losing his starting right field spot in Spring Training, Schierholtz has since earned back that role before recently taking a few games off to rest an aggravated shoulder injury.

Thus far during the season, Schierholtz has proved both offensively and defensively that he is a major asset.

At the plate, he has started off with a .298 average, .365 on-base percentage and a .423 slugging percentage. Not to mention, his four stolen bases are second on the team next to Torres.

Defensively, he already has three assists in 35 games in the outfield and in terms of shutting down opponents from taking extra bases, Schierholtz is one of the best in all of baseball.

Combine that total package against Renteria, and it is absolutley no question who brings more to the table.

You can disregard Renteria’s .313 average thus far because his on-base percentage of .363 isn’t even higher than that of Schierholtz, despite having the higher average.

Plus out of the shortstop’s 26 hits on the season, only four have gone for extra bases which drops his slugging percentage to an abysmal .386.

Furthermore, the soon to be 35-year-old does not have the range nor the arm to match that of Uribe’s.

So not only does Schierholtz have a superior OPS of .788 compared to Renteria’s .744, but the younger legs bring much more value defensively.

Having Torres and Schierholtz man the outfield corners will be much more beneficial to the pitching staff (and strength of the Giants team) than it would be to have Torres (in a new outfield spot, trying to learn right field at AT&T Park) and Huff at the corners.

Especially when you consider Huff has played just eight of his 1,324 career games in left field and just 208 total in the outfield, organizing the defense in this fashion is asking for trouble.

But the Giants are probably going to do this anyway. Why? Because Renteria is making nine million dollars compared to Schierholtz who is making “around the league minimum”. (after some google searching, that is the only reference I could find about his contract status).

Whether it is a combination of front office people or just GM Brian Sabean forcing Bochy’s hand, the players with large contracts play the field no matter their production level.

Now currently Schierhotlz isn’t fully healthy and it is difficult for us outsiders to know when he will be healthy enough to start.

But when he is healthy, there is no reason for Schierholtz to be on the bench other than money. Renteria clearly should be the one riding the pine based on the value assigned by the statistics and by the naked eye.

Just watch Renteria swing the bat, and you know father time is catching up to the former All-Star shortstop.

Yet you can bet on Renteria being in the starting lineup everyday when healthy.

Which is subsequently the biggets complaint of the fan base: “Why does our team continually fail to put their best team on the field?”

If the best lineup the Giants can trot out there is simply not good enough to make the playoffs, the fans will understand.

After all, in order to significantly upgrade the team during the season, a trade will have to be made. And in making a trade, it is difficult to make a move that clearly upgrades the team.

For example, Giants fans wish they could have Adrian Gonzalez at first base. But depending on the asking price of San Diego, adding Gonzalez may do more harm than good.

Trading for key players in any sport without giving up too many key players in return is quick a difficult task. Most fans understand this notion.

But what fans don’t understand is leaving young talent on the bench and starting the less talented old guys just because of their contracts.

That is why Giants fans complain.

And rightfully so.

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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.

The Giants need hitters. They need a veteran presence in the middle of the order. How could Sabean have not signed a frontline slugger like (name a frontline slugger who hasn’t been injured or flopped since entering free agency) ?

Sure, DeRosa’s a veteran. And, OK, he’s put up good numbers while playing up to five different positions.

Sabean was wrong to sign him, though, because after doctors told Sabean that DeRosa was healthy, Sabean signed DeRosa and then DeRosa got hurt.

The Giants can’t start Buster Posey’s arbitration clock. It wasn’t that important to have their No. 1 minor league hitting prospect on the roster because that fast start in April made his presence in San Francisco irrelevant. Sure, they lost a couple games in that early-season burst that, maybe, Posey could’ve turned around.

The Giants’ long-term financial health is far more important than two, three wins in April.

Man, this is laughable! The Padres are 3.5 games ahead of the Giants in the NL West. The division is right there to be won and the Giants’ brass must be held accountable for frittering away games in the spring for lack of hitting or for lack of speed. They have a kid like Posey in Fresno and they let that fast start become increasingly meaningless because the big club didn’t have him around when they really needed him.

Jonathan Sanchez is running out of rope. Tim Lincecum’s been brilliant. Barry Zito’s bounced back from being lost in the wilderness to being incredibly good. Matt Cain’s the best No. 3 starter around. Ol’ Cainer…”Shotgun,” fans love him! Then, out comes Sanchez to muck things up.

Sanchez had a 3.00 ERA entering Thursday’s start against the Padres. It’s such a luxury to have him as the fourth starter. Instead of always wondering how the club can get a hitter, it would make so much sense to build a stronger defense behind him. Cain walked six batters in Tuesday’s loss. Sanchez was magnificient in Wednesday’s loss.

Let’s get it fixed.

Sabean just doesn’t get it!

It’s not easy being a Giants fan who believed that the fast start was greasing the skids for a quick, easy glide to the NL West pennant.

Everything we believed in the off-season got turned on its ear in the first month. The club pitched better than we expected and, obviously, was far more productive with the bats than anyone had reason to imagine.

We even went a couple weeks without someone demanding that John Bowker and his .200’ish batting average be inserted in the lineup. Things were really good, remember?

Now, they’re really bad and we don’t know what to do. So, we blame the general manager and we blame the field manager.

It’s ridiculous.

Have you noticed how terribly the bullpen has performed lately? The club really thought it could win with young set-up guys like Sergio Romo and Dan Runzler?

Come on.

Hold on. We all loved them when they were mowing guys down in April, but we must’ve secretly acknowledged that, when the club hit the skids, we’d be able to quickly blame those relief pitchers for failing to deliver.

The Giants are exactly who we thought they were.

Well, there two positive surprises. The starting pitching has been even better than anyone anticipated…and we’d never have imagined that was possible. And, the MVP has been a player most fans wanted to run out of town — center fielder Aaron Rowand.

Beyond that, the Giants have good-not-great bullpen, a worthless bench and an everyday lineup that could reasonably stand an upgrade at every single spot. They’re not, nor have they been, in position to tweak and tinker and steam to a title.

This bunch can win or it can implode and finish far off the pace. Just consider the three key everyday players fans count on the most:

Pablo Sandoval keeps getting bigger and bigger and that makes him an increasing defensive liability at third base. The idea that a guy as young as Sandoval is struggling at bat because he’s fatigued from playing every inning is a red flag. It’s May 13 and the guy is already tired? (Personal experience shows me that carrying 30 extra pounds, or more, around will tire a guy out really quickly.)

Bengie Molina has gotten to that point where his thickly-muscled legs are causing him enough trouble that he’s a bit of a liability once the club relies on him to hit No. 4. He’s not going to be out there every single day, so…who else can hit fourth?

Juan Uribe will be in the lineup every day, even with former batting champion Freddy Sanchez returning to play second base. Wherever Uribe plays in the field will make that position a defensive liability.

Anybody still calling for Uribe to be the everyday shortstop? Didn’t think so.

All that and they manage to keep Travis Ishikawa on the bench, eating a roster spot, because he’s a wonderful defender at first base.

The Giants can win it all, even with the shortcomings we all knew they had all along.

Remember when we all agreed that patience was key?

The Giants were cruising in first place and the idea of bringing Posey to the big club was mocked because, how much impact could he make? Remember?

It’s a long season.

Hang in there.

Things will get better and, man, after that hot start…it’ll be worth the wait for Posey (starting in June) and for Bowker to get the next last chance in left field and all.

Or, not …

It’s mid-May and the club isn’t scoring runs. The defense has booted games away.

Damn that Sabean! Letting Bochy foul up such a good thing!

Oh…oh…you know, one of the KNBR guys said that Lincecum is going to the Yankees?

Yep. The Yankees!

Well, the guy said that the Giants haven’t mentioned Lincecum being a “career Giant” and that the Yankees have more money than any other team and that, he figured, most great players pass through New York but…

Timmy’s gonna be a Yankee? Great. What else can go wrong?

How could they let us believe that the bright, happy April would become a dismal mid-May?

The Giants are who we thought they were. Who they become as the season unfolds will be up to the guys who swing the bat, throw the pitches and make the plays.

Feel free, however, to blame every loss on Sabean or Bochy and every win on the grit of a bunch of over-achievers — and to worry about where Lincecum will be when he turns 30.

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The San Francisco Giants sure aren’t making it easy on a guy thus far in 2010.

With Ultimate Fighting Championship 113 erupting this weekend in Montreal, I’ve been meaning to take a look at what is sure to be an epic rematch between Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

In addition, there’s a crackerjack bout between Paul “Semtex” Daley and Josh “Kos” Koscheck with the winner rumored to get a shot at UFC Welterweight Champion Georges “Rush” St. Pierre. GSP is arguably the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist in the world.

Suffice it to say there’s sure to be quite a bit of seismic MMA coming out of the Bell Centre. That means there’s a ton to discuss and I really want to oblige.

The problem is that my beloved Giants keep winning. Not only that, they keep doing so in impressive fashion that demands comment.

We could use Tuesday’s gem from Tim Lincecum, subsequent arson by Sergio Romo, and resilient effort from the offense to finally secure the win as an example. It would make a good one, especially because it included a two-out, game-tying bomb from Aaron Rowand in the top of the ninth.

However, Wednesday’s twinkler from Barry Zito and a second straight defeat of the young Florida Marlins makes for a better offering.

At this point, Baked Zito’s brilliance is almost yawn worthy. Almost.

Although he’s been exceptional in the early going, the crafty southpaw’s turn in the Sunshine State pushed him over the hump in my mind. I’m no longer waiting for the wheels to fall off when this little run ends.

It will certainly end and Barry will get shelled like every other pitcher in Major League Baseball eventually does.

But no way he regresses back to the whisper of a Cy Young winner he was until the middle of 2009. The elder statesman of the rotation has strung together too many confidence-enhancing trips to the bump for the mirage to dissolve completely.

Any eventual hiccup will be simply that, a hiccup.

As proof, take a look at his Wednesday work.

Zito had all of his pitches working and turned the ferocious Fish into the flailing variety just as Lincecum had the previous night. Granted, he only registered a fraction of the Freak’s whiffs (four vs. 13), but he effectively removed the sting from the lumber and thusly only surrendered a fraction of the runs as well (one vs. three).

If not for a couple nickle-and-dimers in the eighth inning, he wouldn’t have suffered a blemish in the run department.

The confidence Zito’s been showing of late—in his demeanor, his pitch selection, and pitch execution—was on full display in Sun Life Stadium. It doesn’t come easily and, happily, it’s not lost easily either.

Barry obviously missed it for a few years, there, but he’s got it back. I bet he holds onto it for dear life now that he’s seen rock bottom and emerged from the valley.

Of course, the good news doesn’t stop there.

After the Baseball Gods put Zito’s goodies in the eighth inning ringer, the pseudo-goat from Tuesday entered a bases-loaded nightmare with nobody out and Hanley Ramirez gliding to the plate. The tying run jittered off second base and Romo had to record all three outs, beginning with arguably the Bigs’ hottest hitter.

I’m sure all the Giant “fans” who love to hate Bruce Bochy had their pitchforks out and were whetting the second-guessing tips as Romo took his warm-ups.

Sadly for that courageous group, Sergio broke off three wicked sliders and retired Hanley on three pitches. Three swings, actually, that weren’t even close. For good measure, the righty set-up ace used another three pitches to induce an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Ahem, that’s the No. 3 and No. 4 hitters dispatched using a mere six-shooter despite the sacks drunk with Marlins and essentially no room for error.

Crisis averted, reliever redeemed, weapon in place, and we have Boch to thank for it.

Must’ve just been luck.

I guess I could spell out the finer points of Bochy’s managerial acumen, but why bother? Romo did an infinitely better job with emotion than I could ever do with words when asked by Duane Kuiper how he felt about his manager’s willingness to run him right back out into a zero-margin situation:

“Huge, HUGE, [chuckle], thank you, Bochy [another chuckle]…that’s all I could ask for, an opportunity to prove myself once again.”

Baseball is a game of faith above all else—if you believe you can perform as necessary, you will and vice versa.

Bruce Bochy knows this and he also knows a well-timed, external vote of confidence can inspire exponentially more of the internal kind.

If you don’t believe me, go ask Sergio Romo.

Or Hanley Ramirez…

**www.pva.org**

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Every now and again, certain fans like to remind the sports’ landscape that the word is short for “fanatics,” which comes to us from the Latin “fanaticus .” The latter means “insanely but divinely inspired.”

Yep, that about covers it.

Although I’m not sure Chicago Cub aficionados would agree with the “divine” bit.

Regardless, the San Francisco Giants and their faithful find ourselves caught in one of those moments right now.

By that, I’m referring to the ridiculous outpouring of criticism from the fanbase in the wake of manager Bruce Bochy’s decision to hook Tim Lincecum in the ninth inning of the club’s finale with the Philadelphia Phillies.

If you haven’t heard, the Freak was working on a gem, but had just issued his first walk of the game with a three-run lead and one out. Rather than let the ace finish the game with the heart of the Philly lineup coming to the plate, Boch went to All-Star closer Brian Wilson and the situation unraveled due to a heavy dose of bad luck.

Before tackling the devilish details of the manager’s decision, let’s handle the Franchise.

Some will tell you Lincecum was on his A-game as he mowed down 11 Phightin’ Phils and basically demoralized the National League’s best nine.

I’m not so sure that’s true—the two-time Cy Young certainly was on his game, but I wouldn’t say it was Tim Lincecum at his best. That monster doesn’t give up an opposite field bomb to Ryan Howard nor does it surrender loud contact to Chase Utley twice.

Granted, that’s more a testament to his exceptional ability rather than an indictment of his stuff on Wednesday. As phenomenal as those lefties are, Lincecum’s A game doesn’t allow for solid contact to anyone .

Of course, if it wasn’t the Freak at his freakiest, it was very, very close.

You watch a guy like the dominant yet diminutive right-hander and you can tell he’s special in any number of ways.

My favorite is to watch how batters change their approach—there are basically no hitters’ counts because they know the once-in-a-blue-mooners never have to concede.

Usually, in 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, and 3-1 counts, a thumper can sit on a particular pitch (fastball) in the strike zone on a particular side of the plate. Consequently, you’ll typically see LOUD contact on those swings.

With a fireballer like Lincecum, though, hitters can’t (or don’t) do that because they’ve got to be ready for anything that’s hittable. Given how filthy his arsenal is and how much command he has of it, the opposition can’t afford to let a strike go by simply because it’s not ideal.

They’ve got to take advantage of whatever minuscule leverage they’re fortunate to get.

I wouldn’t say the result is a defensive swing, but it certainly isn’t the authoritative hack you’ll see against 99 percent of the hurlers caught in that trap.

When an executioner like the Freak has a splinter at his mercy?

It can get ugly no matter the caliber of adversary.

Against Philly, I swear I saw both of Shane Victorino’s feet leave the ground in mid-swing when he whiffed to lead off the fourth inning. Placido Polanco might’ve gotten the first hit, but it was no thing of beauty and he looked grossly overwhelmed up to that point.

For good measure, Lincecum cut through Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, and Raul Ibanez the first time around using 14 pitches to record three swinging strikeouts.

Only the aforementioned Utley and Howard looked good against him, but those are two future Hall-of-Famers and each struck out against Timmy to go with their impressive trips to the plate.

So why, you ask, do I think the second-guessing of Bruce Bochy’s decision to life Lincecum in favor of Wilson is absurd?

After all, I just spent hundreds of words detailing how resplendent the Franchise is in general and on this particular occasion.

The answer is actually obvious if you give an objective retelling of the doomed half-inning.

There is no doubt that Tim Lincecum had been great up until the ninth and even the improved version is still prone to a momentary bout of wildness so the walk to the Flyin’ Hawaiian wasn’t, by definition, sinister.

Nor is there much doubt that the kid still had some fuel in his tank after 106 pitches notwithstanding the 120 he’d thrown in his last outing.

He said he felt good and, while most warriors will tell you they can go despite a missing limb, I believe the Washington native has that streak of oddity that would own up to being gassed if that’s how he felt.

However, the fact remains that the out he recorded was on a hanger. The only thing turning that baby into an out was the identity of the man holding the bat (Greg Dobbs). The fact remains that all of the four wayward pitches to Shane Victorino were up, which is not where you want to miss and not where you do miss if everything is right.

Quite frankly, Victorino probably rakes one of ’em if he’s not taking until he sees a strike (the modus operandi in the face of a three-run deficit).

So Bruce Bochy and Dave Righetti—c’mon, you don’t think he was in agreement?—had just watched a pitcher who’d been on fire for 24 outs look markedly different with Polanco, Utley, Howard, and Werth coming up.

Yikes.

Furthermore, the closer was warmed up, fresh, hadn’t yet allowed a run in 7 1/3 IP, and had only suffered six baserunners (three hits and three walks) while whiffing nine.

Lastly, there is the undeniable yet unpleasant observation that having Brian Wilson blow that game was much, MUCH less debilitating than if the Franchise had thrown kerosene on it.

As brutal as the eventual defeat was and as resolutely as Lincecum would’ve taken any eventual failure, such a scenario would’ve turned another example of his unparalleled magnificence into—at best—just another outing.

At worst, it would’ve torn away a layer of his invincibility.

Everyone—players, fans, coaches, owners, and analysts—are used to seeing the door-slammers go up in glorious flames. It happens to even the best of the best.

But to see the Freak’s mortality proven in Technicolor?

No thanks.

As the manager said, “we need the kid…”

People assume he was talking about Tim Lincecum’s physical health, but I’d say the necessity is deeper and more dispersed.

And I bet Bruce Bochy would, too.

**www.pva.org**

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