Giants team grades at the Break...

[KHenry14]

Well, the team being in first place wasn't a surprise, but the fact that they are winning with just about the worst hitting in MLB, now that's a surprise.

Hitting--F Other than Pablo, nobody is hitting a lick.
Pitching--A- On the whole, excellence, cept for the few blown saves from the Beard.
Defense--B- Pablo and Nate have been excellent. Crawford is really good, but there's been a lot of mediocre to poor play out there. Rowand's playing a flyball into a double yesterday is just the latest example.
Manager--A Bochy has them in 1st place despite all the challenges. Sure the division is weak, but considering what's gone on, it's still a huge success.
GM--B I like that Sabes didn't panic and deal off J. Sanchez for somebody like Pudge Rodriguez. But at some point he's going to need to make a move. And i'm not too thrilled with the idea of Beltran

Intangebles--A- This is a group of gutty players who go after it every night. And 10 walk off wins testifies to that spirit. They could have quit under all the stress and started pointing fingers, instead they just keep winning. And the fans are loving it, as shown by every game this season getting sold out. And you know that has a positive impact on the team.

Overall-- B This team could be up there with the big boys if they find a way to start hitting. I still like our chances in the playoffs because of our pitching, but the Freak, BMC and MadBum can't pitch perfect games everytime out, so to win we have to have the bats wake up.

So what say you Giants fans??

[Sirmudgeon]

Schierholtz deserves a B to B- in the hitting department, Ross a C to C-. Most everyone else is in the D to F category, not passing, except for the intermittent clutch hit. I agree with the rest of your assessment, even the overall B (if they could hit their way out of a brown paper bag, they'd have a 10+ game division lead right now, maybe more). I do think they're in with a chance to repeat, I sure hope Sanchez doesn't get given away (I am starting to seriously question the advisability of trading him at all, I don't think he'd bring anything near what he is/will be worth). Let him "Zito up" on the DL, then the minors, see what Belt and Pill can do, maybe Brown, play the hand.

On a semi-related note, whilst I hate the guy's attitude, he's having a bad enough year that he might be cheap, his team is known for doing bizarre things, he might come back with a vengeance- should we trade for Hanley Ramirez? We're not getting Reyes, or Castro, Tulowitzki's not going anywhere, Cabrera's having his career year right now, Crawford's good but probably won't be great, Ramirez's value might be at an all-time low at current. What think you all?

[KHenry14]

You are right Sir, Nate has been WAY better than we expected. He wont provide a lot of power, but the guy is clutch, of that there is no doubt. The question with him is, can he do it over 162 games?

[Sirmudgeon]

Yep, KHenry, I think he's hitting over .290 isn't he? It seems every time the G'ints "eek" one out, he's right in the thick of it. Plus, he tries hard, all the time. I really like that about him, and about pretty much the whole roster. "Willing" comes to mind, kind of like a Golden Retriever. Kind of a galumph, but the effort's always there. That's the one big glaring problem I have with maybe trading for Hanley Ramirez. He needs someone to smack the entitlement out of him, and he could be great.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

This is the Nate Schierholtz I've been waiting to see for over three years now. I hope what he is doing now is a real improvement and not just a small sample hot streak. I still think at his best, Nate could be a .290/.350/.480, 125 OPS+ hitter. And with his defense and baserunning that would make Nate a solidly above average major leaguer.