Treading Water

Is it just me or is a sense of panic come over the city of San Francisco? May has not been kind to the San Francisco Giants. Last night's loss at the hands of the Washington Nationals put their record at 10-13 for the month and 1 game over .500 for the season. Not to mention 4th place in the NL West.

But last night's game may have sent Giants fans over the edge, because even though the Giants were slumping after a terrible road trip, there was still the thought of Tim Lincecum pitching and all being right with the world once again. Except this time, things couldn't get more worse. Lincecum struggled with 5 walks and 6 runs allowed, and Giants fans went home thinking disaster for this team that was so promising.

Even this early in the season, the Giants have experienced more ups-and-downs than any team in baseball. Sure, they need a bat, but that won't solve all their problems. Freddy Sanchez came back from injury, but he hasn't produced to the extent that everyone wants him to, let alone your #3 hitter.

It seems like all the hopes that the Giants had may be running out. There was the pick-ups of Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa, but DeRosa is hurt and Aubrey Huff has done his job, even moved to the outfield, but the most you're going to get out of him is what you're getting already, a .270 average with moderate RBI numbers.

Then Freddy Sanchez came back and hope sprang again. But if you thought a contact hitting 2nd baseman batting 3rd was going to change this team around, you were sorely mistaken. He may have even hurt the Giants more because now they must find a place to put him while cutting time from someone else.

Then there was Lincecum, the go-to guy, the guy you can count on when things just aren't going right. The Freak. But not last night. For the 2nd straight start, Lincecum did not have a good outing, and he received the loss last night. Is he just in a bit of a 2-time Cy Young slump? Or have teams slowly began to figure him out? We'll find out in his next several starts.

So Giants fans are holding on to the 2 hopes they got left, Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner.

Bumgarner may not be needed right now, plus there may be a few AAA pitchers that are in line ahead of him. But let's talk Buster.

Posey is the jolt they need right now, maybe to save their fan-base at the moment. The team is struggling, they need changes. Posey isn't tearing up AAA, but it seems like he is ready enough for the big leagues, and now is the time because they couldn't need him more.

The Giants will find a place for him, they must. But Posey is the kick in the pants the Giants need right now, for morale purposes.

The Giants need a bat and Posey is probably the 2nd or 3rd best bat the Giants have, then why is he stuck in AAA?

You are going to see several more ups-and-downs coming from this team during the rest of this season, so get used to it and just go with it. Sure, they're going to tug at your heart strings but hopefully it will all pay-off in the end. But for now, changes need to be made, and quick.