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Tim Hudson has been a model of consistency throughout his long career. Entering his 17th season, Hudson has never had a losing record as a starting pitcher and has exceeded 200 innings in eight different seasons. In 2014, Huddy will continue to be a bulldog and add depth to the Giants’ rotation. 

Giants general manager Brian Sabean continued his trend of bringing in veteran guys like Aubrey Huff, Cody Ross and Marco Scutaro when the Giants signed Hudson to a two-year deal in November. Sabean hopes Hudson will help improve the Giants’ starting rotation.

The 38-year-old is coming off a gruesome ankle injury from last season and just began throwing off the mound in late January.

While his injury makes his future a little murkier, Hudson has proven to be one of the best strike-throwers and ground-ball pitchers in the game. In his last full season in 2012, Hudson allowed just 48 walks in 179 innings pitched and finished 16th in the National League with a 1.21 WHIP.

Hudson only allowed 12 home runs that season, third lowest in MLB. He will now be throwing off the mound at the pitcher-friendly AT&T Park that ranked 28th in the league, averaging just .768 home runs per game, .157 less than his old home at Turner Field.

Hudson has the ability to eat up a lot of innings, something that Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong and Tim Lincecum all struggled to do last season. 

According to Alex Pavlovic of the San Jose Mercury News, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, “It certainly helps fill a very important need for us as we try to get back on track here and get where we were a couple of years ago. I couldn’t be happier or more excited to have Tim, who brings great experience and is a winner. For him to choose us, we’re honored.”

Hudson is a proven clubhouse guy, who becomes the eldest pitcher in the Giants’ rotation and has the chance to mentor the younger guys. Lincecum has a similar stature to Hudson and should look to learn from the veteran, who relies heavily on his off-speed pitches. 

Hudson is a winner and will have success in San Francisco if he can continue to keep his walks down and take advantage of a spacious AT&T Park outfield. 

How many wins will Huddy have this season?

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With Opening Day just around the corner, the San Francisco Giants are looking to redeem themselves after a 76-86 record in 2013.

The Giants have won two out of the last four World Series, but there are some serious question marks about their 2014 club.

Can their starting pitching return to old form? Will Pablo Sandoval have a productive season? Can their defense improve?

Here are five bold predictions for the Giants in 2014. 

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There is no denying that Pablo Sandoval has had a roller-coaster career with the San Francisco Giants. We have have seen the highs of a healthy Sandoval, who can hit .330 with 25 home runs, and the lows of Kung Fu Panda, who was overweight last year and hit a mere .278. Inconsistencies aside, the Giants should lock up Sandoval on a long-term deal in the near future. 

Sandoval now enters the final season of his three-year deal, and the main question still lingers. 

Should the Giants sign Sandoval to a multi-year contract extension?

Sandoval has proved he can be one of the best hitters in the game. In 2009, Sandoval’s first full season with the Giants, he finished 5th in all of Major League Baseball with a .330 average. Just two years later, Sandoval hit .315 with 23 home runs and 70 RBIs despite missing 41 games due to a broken wrist.

While Sandoval has shown flashes of brilliance, he has been unable to maintain it year to year. 

After having so much success in 2009, Sandoval entered the 2010 season out of shape, hit just .268 and watched his team win the World Series from the bench.

Sandoval had his redemption year in 2011 but has struggled in the past two seasons to stay healthy. 

Sandoval has taken the initiative to shed some weight and it has shown.

Here is the Instagram picture Sandoval posted three weeks ago.

Here is last year’s Sandoval just for good measure. 

Obviously Sandoval understands that if he wants big money from the Giants, or any other team, he has to prove that he can keep his weight down throughout the course of a season.

If the Giants understand the future value of Sandoval, they would be smart to lock him up for the long term.

Sandoval was the 2012 World Series MVP while playing well overweight. Imagine what his ceiling could be when he’s healthy. 

Sure, the Giants would be taking a slight risk in giving the inconsistent Sandoval big money, but what would happen if they let him walk? 

The 2014-15 free agent class does not have much depth at the third base position as Chase Headley, Aramis Ramirez, Ty Wigginton and Sandoval highlight the group. 

Headley had a breakout season for the Padres in 2012 and will draw interest from a lot of teams if he becomes a free agent.

Ramirez and Wigginton will both be 37 years old come 2015 and would not serve as a long-term solution for the Giants.

Sandoval will be just 28 in 2015, and he and Headley look to be the most appealing options for teams. 

The last thing the Giants want is to lose Sandoval and not be able to find a viable replacement. 

According to Andrew Baggarly of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, “[I]f the Giants don’t extend him this spring, and he gets to free agency, he’s probably in his last year as a Giant.”

The Giants have seen how Sandoval can perform when healthy, and this should encourage them to reach an extension. 

In the past few years, the Giants have inked Matt Cain and Buster Posey to long-term deals in the season’s early going and should continue this trend with Sandoval. 

Sandoval has become a fan favorite in San Francisco, where wearing panda hats has become the norm.

A panda hat-less AT&T Park would just be a travesty.

Should the Giants keep the Kung Fu Panda in San Francisco? Please comment below!

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Heading into the 2014 season, the San Francisco Giants will look to rebound from their disappointing 2013 campaign. Matt Cain, Pablo Sandoval and Tim Lincecum are three key players the Giants must see improvement from in 2014.

Last year, the Giants suffered from a World Series hangover and finished the season 76-86, third in the National League West.

The Giants’ starting rotation that has led them to two World Series championships underperformed and struggled to produce quality outings. Cain had a very uncharacteristically down year, finishing with a 4.00 ERA. Lincecum slightly improved from 2012 but struggled to find a rhythm for most of the season. 

Their fielding was awful, finishing 24th in all of Major League Baseball with 107 errors—18 of them came from Sandoval.

The Giants are not a team that counts on hitting home runs or scoring a lot of runs. They rely on pitching and defense to win ballgames.

Let’s take a look at why Cain, Sandoval and Lincecum must have bounce-back years in 2014.

Matt Cain

The Giants need their bulldog to return to his old form in the upcoming season.

For the first time since 2008, Cain finished with a sub-.500 record. He has been the rock of the Giants rotation and has thrown 200 innings for six consecutive seasons from 2007-12. Cain struggled to turn in quality outings and gave up a career-high 23 home runs in 2013. 

Cain is the longest-tenured member of the starting rotation and is depended on keeping his run total down and to win games. 

The starting rotation hasn’t been announced yet, but projections list Cain as the Giants’ No. 1. Madison Bumgarner had a breakout season last year and became the Giants’ most reliable pitcher. If Cain can regain his old form, he and Bumgarner could form one of the best one-two starters in the league.

Cain has to do a better job at limiting early inning runs in 2014. According to baseball-reference.com, Cain’s ERA in innings one through three in 2013 was 4.66. He struggled to keep runners off base and allowed 13 walks in early innings. 

If Cain can limit the free passes and keep runners off base, he will keep his pitch count down and be able to eat up more innings. 

How many games will Cain win in 2014?

Pablo Sandoval

Sandoval has been facing the same question almost his entire career as a Giant: Can he keep his weight down and stay healthy for an entire season?

Sandoval has proved in the past that he can lose weight, but he has struggled to maintain it from year to year.

In 2010, Sandoval was out of shape and got benched during most of the playoffs.

He spent the offseason focused on becoming healthier and lost 38 pounds, according to Jorge L. Ortiz of USAToday.com. 

The next season, the slimmer Sandoval hit for .315 and was voted to his first All-Star Game. 

Since 2011, The Kung Fu Panda has put on weight as seen in this picture timeline:

Last season, it was clear that Sandoval’s weight affected him, as he hit for just .278. 

Sandoval is a key middle-of-the-order guy for the Giants, and if he can stay healthy, he is capable of hitting 23 home runs like he did in 2011. 

Sandoval has the ability to hit for both average and power and could do some damage in a lineup surrounded by Buster Posey, Hunter Pence and Michael Morse.

Sandoval has to improve this season, because if he does not, the Giants could let him enter free agency next offseason. 

The Giants have locked up their homegrown talent, such as Posey, Cain and Bumgarner, on long-term contracts. 

If Sandoval wants big money too, he needs to maintain his new look for the entire season. 

Tim Lincecum

The Giants took a gamble this past October when they signed Lincecum to a two-year deal worth $35 million. 

The former two-time Cy Young Award winner has been nowhere close to the pitcher he was from 2008 through 2011. His ERA was 5.18 in 2012 and 4.37 in 2013, finishing with sub-.500 records in both those seasons. 

Cliff Corcoran of mlb.si.com wrote that “even as a sentimental move, it’s a failure. It’s difficult to imagine anyone wanting to continue to watch an iconic player scuffle along as an overpaid shadow of his former self. Apparently, Brian Sabean does.”

So, what does Lincecum need to do?

He needs to prove this season that he can still be a quality Major League starting pitcher again. He no longer has the 94 mph fastball he had early in his career, so he can’t rely on blowing away hitters anymore.

Lincecum proved that he can still be dominant without the high velocity as we saw in his no-hitter on July 13 against San Diego.

Command is more important now more than ever for Lincecum, and he cannot afford to give up 90 walks in a season, which he has been doing recently. 

If Lincecum can keep his walk totals down, look for him to have a turnaround season in 2014. 

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2014 is an even year, so the San Francisco Giants have to win the World Series. Right?

Not exactly, but San Francisco does have the pieces in place to make a playoff run if all goes well. Several players in particular will be important in making 2014 a season to remember, unlike 2013.

Criteria:

• How much the team depends on the given player (higher dependence = higher ranking)
• How certain the player’s success is (lower certainty = higher ranking); for example, Mike Morse’s success is less certain than, say, Madison Bumgarner’s.

Let’s take a look at the key players on the Giants roster in 2014.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. Videos courtesy of MLB.com.

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The San Francisco Giants have upgraded their roster and the happiest man on the team may be manager Bruce Bochy.

In 2013, the Giants were hit hard by injuries and struggled to a 76-86 record. Bochy, who is a master at getting the most out of his roster, was short-handed in virtually every area.

General manager Brian Sabean was very aggressive this winter and retained Hunter Pence, Tim Lincecum, Javier Lopez and Ryan Vogelsong. In addition, Sabean signed free-agent pitcher Tim Hudson and left fielder Michael Morse.

Whether Sabean did enough with these moves to get the Giants back into the postseason remains to be seen.

Let’s take a closer look at the Giants’ three biggest winners and losers this offseason.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com. All contract data courtesy of BaseballProspectus.com.

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Not much went right for the San Francisco Giants in 2013, as they saw their win total drop by 18 from the previous season thanks to a barrage of injuries and an underperforming pitching rotation.

Yet, despite the disappointing season, 2014 holds several promising signs for the Giants. Perhaps most importantly, they’ll have a few new faces on the field, with the return of Angel Pagan and Ryan Vogelsong in addition to the newly acquired Michael Morse.

But there are even positive signs when looking at how the Giants players who were on the field performed in 2013. Certain individual performances and second-half improvements in particular give the Giants reason for optimism when looking ahead to the upcoming season. Let’s take a look.

Madison Bumgarner‘s Emergence as the Staff Ace

Anyone who followed the Giants in 2013 knows that Matt Cain had a down year, with his highest ERA since 2006 and the lowest WAR of any full season in his career.

But Cain’s underperformance gave Bumgarner the opportunity to show his value as a legitimate top pitcher in the majors while proving he is capable of serving as the ace of the staff.

Looking beyond his standard statistics, few pitchers were as consistent as Mad Bum in 2013. He didn’t allow more than three earned runs in a start until June 1, his 20th start of the year, and it happened only four times all year. Opponents also batted just .203 against Bumgarner, fifth lowest in the majors.

Better yet, Cain has an excellent chance of rebounding in 2014. He had a minuscule 2.36 ERA during the second half of the season, a gargantuan improvement from his 5.06 ERA in the first half.

Assuming Cain returns to form, the Giants will have two aces next year, in addition to reliable veteran Tim Hudson. The former ace (but still effective starter) hasn’t had an ERA over four since 2006, and he’ll be pitching in one of the most pitcher-friendly ballparks, per ESPN, in the majors.

Remember the last time Hudson pitched in a ballpark like AT&T Park? That was with the Oakland A’s at the Coliseum, when he won 92 games with a .702 winning percentage, 3.30 ERA and three top-six Cy Young Award finishes in six years. The bottom line: Putting Hudson in a pitcher-friendly ballpark yields exceptional results.

Improved Overall Plate Discipline in the Second Half

The consensus is that the Giants are a bunch of free-swingers who only know how to get on base by hitting the ball. That’s not entirely untrue, but the team as a whole took a giant leap in the right direction regarding plate discipline following the All-Star break.

In the season’s second half, the Giants walked at a rate of 8.3 percent, good for 12th in the majors during that span. That’s a dramatic improvement from their walk percentage of 7.1 during the first half, 22nd in the majors.

Hunter Pence, generally viewed as the biggest free-swinger on the team not named Pablo Sandoval, was perhaps the biggest contributor to that positive trend. He nearly doubled his walk rate, from 5.8 percent to 10.1 percent, drawing six more walks in well over 100 fewer plate appearances.

Sandoval also drastically increased his walk rate between the season’s halves, from 6.2 percent to 10.4 percent. Buster Posey and Marco Scutaro increased their respective walk rates in the second half as well.

The inherent value of this statistic can be proved in part by looking at past top-performing teams. In the seven MLB seasons since 2006, only two World Series winners, the 2010 and 2012 Giants, finished outside of the top 10 in walk rate.

During each of those seasons, the Giants had incredible pitching staffs and award-winning play from Posey. Now that they don’t feature teams of quite the same caliber, they’ll have to start improving in a category in which they’ve gotten away with lackluster performances in the past: walking.

The second half of 2013 was a promising start.

Brandon Belt’s Second-Half Surge

One of the most talked-about aspects of the Giants’ season (at least on the positive side) was Brandon Belt’s huge improvement after the All-Star break. 

Belt’s retooled swing helped him produce a 66-point increase in his batting average and a 131-point increase in his OPS. That came thanks to a decreased fly-ball percentage (43.9 to 38.2), a must with half of his games taking place at AT&T Park, and an explosion in line-drive percentage (21.5 to 27.7).

Whether Belt can continue his success at the plate will play a huge role in determining the Giants’ fate in 2013. Manager Bruce Bochy will rely on him as the team’s No. 3 hitter in the lineup, meaning it’ll be up to him to produce runs and get on base for the big bats behind him (Posey, Pence).

The Giants lineup hasn’t featured a reliable power bat since Barry Bonds’ departure; could Belt change that dry spell? 2014 will provide a good indication.

All statistics courtesy of Fangraphs.

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One year ago today, the San Francisco Giants used their offseason to re-sign existing players while making few moves to sign any new faces. 

This year, the Giants have been far less dormant—and thank goodness.  General manager Brian Sabean went out and found an everyday left fielder in Michael Morse, added a solid veteran arm to the rotation with Tim Hudson and are on the hunt for another reliever for some bullpen support.

Both the Morse and Hudson deals are relatively short-term: Hudson is inked for two years (earning $23 million through 2015), while Morse signed a one-year, $6 million contract. 

Neither appears to be a long-term answer for the Giants.  Hudson is 38 years old, and Morse will probably explore free agency next year depending on his 2014 season.  However, the Giants have a bevy of possible aces developing in the farm system, and Hudson is the perfect guy to bridge the gap in the meantime.  

As far as Morse is concerned, Sabean rarely invests long-term, lucrative deals with bog-name superstars, which is what he would have needed to do for a superstar-type left fielder this offseason. Players such as Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury simply were not options for the conservative, yet creative Giants’ GM. 

The Giants still need to add another reliever to the bullpen, especially after losing left-handed pitcher Eric Surkamp to the Chicago White Sox after placing him on waivers to clear a roster spot for Morse.  

Last season, the San Francisco bullpen dealt with middling performances and injury-plagued players. Key arms Jeremy Affeldt and Santiago Casilla both spent stretches of time on the DL, and Affeldt in particular struggled throughout the season, going 1-5 with a 3.74 ERA in only 33.2 innings pitched on the year. 

Grant Balfour has reportedly spoken with the Giants, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle:

The Giants have a closer in right-hander Sergio Romo, but they still need bullpen support.  Sabean needs to find a proven arm with a price tag he feels comfortable with to round out the Giants’ offseason. 

Overall, Sabean has put the Giants in a more favorable position going into 2014.  The starting rotation is improved, and an everyday left fielder has been secured.  However, the bullpen needs to be bolstered and because of the short-term nature of the Morse and Hudson deals, the larger future of the Giants is still uncertain. 

Grade: B+

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While it was a down year for San Francisco Giants pitchers, the same can’t be said for the organization’s promising young arms in the minor leagues.

Two of their top pitching prospects, right-handers Kyle Crick and Clayton Blackburn, headlined one of the best rotations in the minors at High-A San Jose—a rotation that also included up-and-coming left-handers Adalberto Mejia and Ty Blach. Meanwhile, another left-hander, Edwin Escobar, jumped on the fast track to the major leagues last year with a dominant performance between San Jose and Double-A Richmond.

In terms of hitters, well, the Giants’ system lacks an impact bat. Mac Williamson stands out among the team’s collection of talent for his robust raw power, but there’s legitimate concern as to whether the hit tool will hold up at higher levels.

However, the organization did add a pair of intriguing prospects through the draft this past June, selecting bat-first infielders Christian Arroyo and Ryder Jones within the first three rounds.

Here’s a look at the San Francisco Giants’ top 10 prospects for the 2014 season.

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The San Francisco Giants have a lot to improve upon after a disappointing 2013 season.  After winning a decisive World Series victory over the Detroit Tigers in 2012, the Giants failed to make the playoffs the very next year.

Starting pitching disappointed, bats sputtered and injuries plagued key members of the San Francisco squad.   

However, despite a 76-86 record and a third-place finish in the NL West, expectations remain high for the Giants.  Here are five things the Giants must improve upon in order to return to postseason play.

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