1) The Giants Can Hit: In case I haven't overstated this fact, this is no longer the same San Francisco Giants team where scoring three or more runs was a means for celebration. After one week of Giants baseball, it is evident that this group can hit a whole lot of hits and score a whole lot of runs. Don't believe me? Try this on for size: every Giants starter has had a home run this week. To take this one step further, every Giant starter and reserve, except Kelby Tomlinson, has taken a pitcher deep. Oh, and don't forget Bumgarner. He, along with Ehire Adrianza (yes, Ehire Adrianza), happened to hit one against that Clayton Kershaw guy. After seven games, the Giants are averaging 4.85 runs per game, including two twelve run outbursts against the Brewers, where Span, Panik, and Posey hit back-to-back-to-back home runs, and the Dodgers. Posey and Pagan have been leading the offensive charge, hitting .391 and .320, respectively. When a Silver Slugger is your 7th place hitter, good things are going to happen.
2) They're Clutch, Too: In their first game against Dodgers, the Giants were down 4-0 against the Dodgers at the end of the top of the fifth inning. The offense responded by outscoring Los Angeles 12-2 for the rest of the game, capped off by a Hunter Pence grand slam in the bottom of the eight.
The next day, the Giants were trailing 2-0 while getting no-hit through 7.1 innings by Ross Stripling. After Stripling's departure, Trevor Brown ties the game up with a two-run homer, the first homer of his career, and Brandon Crawford wins it with an opposite-field homer in the bottom of the tenth.
Two days later, the Dodgers open up the game with five runs in the first against Johnny Cueto in what had the possibility to be a laugher. The offense responded by outscoring the Dodgers 9-1 for the rest of the game on route to another win.
With an offense that can explode at any moment, it doesn't feel as if there's a deficit the Giants cannot overcome, which takes tremendous stress off of the pitching staff.
3) Pagan is looking like 2012 Pagan: Coming into the season, it's safe to say that Pagan had a massive chip on his shoulder. For starters, he moved from center field to left field due to the acquisition of Denard Span. Spring Training was no walk in the park either, as San Francisco farmhands Mac Williamson and Jarrett Parker were both competing to dethrone Pagan's spot in left. To put a cherry on top, Bochy announced that he would be hitting ninth behind the pitcher. Although hitting ninth was due more to Bochy experimenting with having two lead-off hitters rather than a lack-of-confidence in Pagan's ability to hit and get on-base, it certainly would be a shot to one's pride. So, in Pagan's first week of the season, what does he do? Only bat .320 with a home run, three doubles, and a triple.
Lost in that twelve run outburst against Milwaukee on Opening Day was a sequence of events that previewed the possibilities of Pagan in 2016. With the game still close, Pagan drew a walk, stole second with ease, and then scored on a Span single. Instantly, I had flashbacks of the 2012 Pagan, who led the league in triples and stole 29 bases. I may be overreacting, but this past week has given me new found hope that Pagan has found the fountain of youth and that he will continue to be a catalyst at the bottom of the order.
4) Cain's Start is Encouraging: During the spring, Cain was similar to Pagan in that a lot of doubt circulated around him regarding his health and productivity. Cain's one and only start during the first week was one of his better starts in recent memory. Overshadowed by Stripling's stellar debut and Brown and Crawford's home runs, Cain pitched six innings while only allowing two runs and walking one batter. His fastball was healthy, ranging from 90 to 92, he had command of his pitches, and his breaking pitches were working in his favor. There wasn't too much loud contact during Cain's start, and he was able to jam both Seager and Pederson on sliders.
5) Span and the Rotation Struggled: Now it's time to get into the negatives. From the very getgo, each of the five members of the starting rotation found themselves having to escape a jam early on in their start. Most of the starters found their niche as the game went on, but the early struggles impeded the pitch count and forced pitchers to get into stretch early and often. The worst of the worst came during Johnny Cueto's horrendous five-run first inning, but luckily for Cueto, the Giants offense, as mentioned above, was able to save him. The Giants aren't being given any favors as they will travel to Colorado for their next series, so the rotation is going to need to find their stuff early on in games.
Likewise, Span struggled on the opposite side of the ball. Although he had a homer and five RBIs in his first game, Span only hit .214 during the week. He had some hard outs, but for the most part, he seemed a little lost at the plate. I'd take Span's early struggles with a grain of salt. During Spring Training, he also struggled before he found his stride, and it will likely be the same case during the season.
6) Belt is Back: After locking up Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey, the Giants finally reached a deal with Brandon Belt for a six-year, $79 million extension that will keep him in San Francisco through the year 2021. Belt's deal also has a partial trade clause that allows him to choose ten teams to which he does not want to be dealt.
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