Nate Schierholtz, the every day starter?

Nate Schierholtz, Giants right fielder has been on fire recently both offensively and defensively, so why is he not in the lineup every day? The only reason I can think of is because of his sore right shoulder from a driving catch he made during a game against the Dodgers. But, we clearly saw that did not influence his two great plays today in the game versus the Cardinals. Today, he got an RBI that tied the game and got the go ahead run to win the game in the 11th inning. If he were not in the lineup today Giants would of potentially lost the game. Schierholtz needs to be in the starting lineup every day, he is key to our lineup. In Colorado we all saw how he shot those home runs out of the field. Not only has he been hitting extremely well but also been playing amazing defense. Whenever the Giants need a play to happen, he is always there to make it possible wither it being a diving catch or throwing a runner out on the base path. He has one of the strongest arms in the team, Posey would of had Cousins out with the throw Schierholtz made but due to the collision that was not possible. Currently Schierholtz has been an amazing overall player, which is why I think he should be in the every day lineup.

Whitey filling in for Posey

As Blake has mentioned below, the Giants catcher and former rookie of the year is out for the whole season due to his injury. So, will Giants get a new catcher or will they stay with their back up pitcher Eli Whiteside. Bruce Bochy has decided to give Whiteside and opportunity and will not get a new catcher. Yes, the fans might not be very happy because as we have seen, Whiteside is not the best hitter. It is hard to see our catcher going 1-4 or 0-4 through the game, not helping get runs up on the board. He might not be the best batter but we need to think about his job, which is catching. We need to remember last year when he caught Jonathan Sanchez's no hitter. Whiteside has done a good job at catching and it is only fair to give him the opportunity to be the Giants new daily catcher. Hopefully, hit hitting will improve as the season continues. Giants wont be getting Posey back until next year so for the remaining of time we need to trust that Whitey, as Bochy calls him, will get the job done. Fans are not currently happy with Bochy's decision, they have even made a video about it http://youtu.be/ro109khfgWw, but they need to adapt to this new decision and support Whitey.

Injury!

There is a major trend in the MLB this year, injuries. There are six teams that have been affected more than the others. These six teams are the Twins, Cubs, Rockies, Giants, Mets, and Orioles. The Twins have suffered the loss of their all star catcher, Joe Mauer. This loss has been huge for the Twins. They are just not the same. They have also lost their star closer Joe Nathan to the DL. Without that presence in the later innings, the Twins are vulnerable to late inning comebacks. It is not only these stars who are hurt. There are seven more prominent names on the Twins that are suffering injuries. 

The other teams have suffered a lot of losses but the Giants have suffered one large one. Buster Posey was hurt on a play at the plate. It has really hurt an already struggling Giants offense. Lets hope their amazing pitching staff can keep them in the race. 

New Rules in Baseball?

Buster Posey was hurt in a play at the plate last week. This collision at home has sidelined Posey for the rest of the season. Even though I loathe the Giants, I am sorry about his injury. I hope he recovers quickly. This play and a few other violent plays at home plate have caused a riot in baseball circles and a lot are calling for new, stricter rules about plays at the plate. Some old school baseball guys are saying it is the game and you cannot change it. Some ex catchers are calling out for new rules to protect them. Maybe they want it because they were never protected. The Giants sure would have loved some stricter rules to keep their golden boy in the line up. We will see how this plays out. It may become more controversial or die out. 

More trouble for the Dodgers

The family of Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was beaten at a Dodger game earlier this season, has sued the Dodgers for lack of security. Dodger stadium is notorious for being crime riden. Frank McCourt, the Dodgers owner, continues to struggle personally and financially. Major League baseball has already taken over the teams day to day operations as McCourt deals with his divorce. The Dodgers are a mess right now.

Rivals Face to Face

The game between the big rivals Giants and Dodgers will be taking place tonight! It's an exciting day for Giants and Dodgers fans. There has been a long rivalry between these two, but hopefully today there will be no violence between the fans. As you all know I'm a huge Giants fan so of course I have my Beat LA shirt on today, cheering for my wonderful Giants. But, i think every fan being a Giants fan or Dodgers fan loves their team and thinks they are the best. I want to leave my opinion behind and show some statistics from both teams so we know what to expect tonight.

Today the starting pitchers will be SF Giants' Matt Cain and LA Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw. Matt Cain is 3-2 and last time Dodgers scored on him was September 4th 2010, 16th innings ago. Clayton Kershaw is 5-3 this season.

For the team as a whole, Giants are ranked No. 8 in the National League and tied at 1st with Colorado in the West. Dodgers are No.9 in the National League and are right below the Giants and Rockies in the West.

Giants is National League's No. 3 in defense on the road, allowing 3.7 runs per game. Dodgers are No. 15 in the National League at home, scoring 2.7 runs per game. Giants are 22-19 and Dodgers are 20-23.

Well, those are just some numbers to get an idea of what to expect tonight. Hopefully it will be a good game and may the best team win!! (Let's Go Giants!!)

:)

What the MLB season has brought us...

Here are some of the emerging story lines that the quarter mark in the MLB 2011 season have brought about...

Great Stories

Berkshow

Topic of today. Lance Berkman. Berkman is having one of the best comeback years I have seen in my life. He was not supposed to produce at all. He was supposed to be a fill in spot starter for the Cardinals but has taken his opportunities and ran with them. He is batting .344 with 11 homeruns with 34 RBIs. Lance Berkman is a fantasy baseball player's dream. He was a late pick who is producing like crazy. Prediction - come back player of the year. Hands down.

In other news, Harmon Killebrew died today at the age of 74. He died of cancer. He was a great ball player. He ended his career with 573 homeruns which is the second most by any right hander in the American league. He will be missed.

The Prince?

The Seattle Mariners have what appears to be another phenom on their hands. The last phenom was nicknamed King, so what about hard throwing right hander Michael Pineda? Prince. I personally do not like the nickname and I do not think it will stick. After Pineda's first month in the big leagues, he is 4-1 with a 2.01 ERA. It is not only his physical stature that allows him to mow down the world's best hitters but his mental approach to pitching. He is said to have no fear. He does not care who he is throwing to and he knows in his mind he can beat anyone that faces him. He is still young though and will need to mature if he is going to become the heir to the throne.

In other news, if you haven't heard, Osama bin Laden was shot and killed last night. This caused one of the greatest moments in baseball history. The New York Mets and the Philidelphia Phillies were facing off in in Philidelphia when the news spread. USA chants strted breaking out and heated rival fans put their sport preferences aside and started hugging and high fiving. It was a great sight to see. The Phillies ended up losing the game 2-1 but everyone still left the stadium happy.

Injured Kung Fu Panda

Sad news for all of my SF Giants.... Pablo Sandoval, the "Kung Fu Panda," will on the sidelines for four to six weeks :(

Pablo Sandoval, SF Giants third baseman, is believed to have a broken wrist. On Saturday, after the loss with the nationals 2-0, Pablo reported to have pain in his wrist. He received an MRI, which revealed the injury to the hamate bone on the right hand. Doctors reported that he will most likely have surgery on Tuesday in Arizona. This is going to put him in the DL for four to six weeks so that he can recover properly.

It is sad to see someone who worked so hard during off season to lose 40 pounds and become a better player this season, and now be on the DL. Pablo worked his butt off during off season, losing forty pounds, which has improved his baseball performance. He has been .313 AVG/5 HR/14 RBI/11 R/.904 OPS which has been outstanding for the beginning of the season. Also, Pablo is on the All Star ballot. He is currently ranked 14th in the National League in scoring and 11th in hitting. He was potentially going to be playing at the All Star games. Now, with this injury occurring, it will be very hard for him to at the All Star game. By the time he is back, voted will be in and it will be a couple of weeks before the game in Arizona.

Pablo is staying positive through all of this. The surgery will be quick and he will be using this time off to lose a couple more pounds. He reported saying that he was "fine. this is normal, I just have to get better." Hopefully this time off will help help get in shape and get his motivation up so that when he comes back we can see that AVG go up again like in 2009.

No wonder he has the nickname "Kung Fu Panda," no matter what happens hes always happy, joyful and staying positive :)

Fluke Fast Starts? Maybe...

See who is off to a fast start and see who will keep it going throughout this long season.

This MLB season has been crazy so far with the Indians, Royals, and Rockies all playing well. See what players have been surprising so far in the link above and see who will keep it going so you can pick them up in your Fantasy Leagues.

The Boss is back!

After almost a month in the DL, Ross the Boss is back! Giants are going to activate him today. Check out the link below for more details on Cody Ross and on other news about SF Giants players.

Ross ready to be activated Wednesday

So, now that Cody Ross is back, what is going to happen to Brandon Belt? Aaron Rowand left the game last night after Ubaldo Jimenez' pitch hit him in the forearm, which required Ford to come into the game. If Rowands forearm did not feel better by today there were speculations that Brandon Belt would stay on the lineup along with Cody Ross. But, today Giants have announced that Rowand feels better and is going to be playing tonight. This means Brandon Belt is likely to be brought down to the Fresno AAA team in order to make room in the roster for Ross' return. I'm happy Ross is back but, sad because the rookie Belt has been doing amazing!

Game three against the Rockies today! Hopefully Giants will sweep today winning 3-0 against Colorado. That will get us a step closer to becoming number 1 in the West.

By the Way, Happy 23rd Birthday Brandon Belt!!

This weeks MLB news

The MLB has been flipped upside down. The latest power rankings came out a few days ago and the results are crazy. I have followed baseball since I was 5 years old and it is the first time I have seen the Rockies in the number one spot. The two and three spots are a bit more predictable with the Phillies and Rangers respectively.. The Indians are taking their old 1990's form lately and have been given the 5th spot.  Now comes the real surprise. Drum roll........the Royals are in the 6th spot! I cannot remember a time in my life where the Royals were a respectable team. They have been given a boost by their young talent, headed by Alex Gordon who was their 2nd overall pick in 2005. It hurts me to see the Dodgers all the way back in the 15th spot and third in the NL West. It hurts me even more to see the Giants in the 14th spot, right ahead of the boys from tinsel town. Bringing up the rear are the Boston Red Sox, who were almost unanimously every baseball analyst pick to win the World Series this year.

Now lets talk about the best player in baseball right now. Matt Kemp. My boy is batting .449 with two homeruns and 8 stolen bases. He will need to keep this going if the Dodgers are going to have a shot at the National League West title.

I am very biased when it comes to Matt Kemp. It could be argued that Troy Tulowitzki is the hottest player in baseball considering he has 7 homeruns already. He is also a huge reason the Rockies are in the number one spot in MLB power rankings.

Title Comin Down South

Jenny is killing me with all this World Champion Giant stuff. So I thought I would share two of my favorite Dodgers having fun bringing the Championship back down to LA this year. 

Fantasy Impact Players

Jenny and I both have fantasy teams and I can't speak for her, but I have been glued to my computer waiting for updates and following my team. I am playing my Dad this week, so it is a MUST win week for me. My pitching has been everything one would expect from a rotation that includes Roy Halladay, Chad Billingsley, and Matt Cain. Even though those pitchers are great, one pitcher has really come up big for me this week. That pitcher is Edwin Jackson. Jackson is 2-0 with 20 strikeouts. Unbelievable! Edwin Jackson is only owned in 59% of Yahoo fantasy leagues. So I would advise picking him up off free agents. On the offensive side two players stand out for me. Carlos Quentin of the Chicago White Sox and Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees. Quentin is batting %500 with 10 RBI's. Teixeira, after a terrible start last year, is starting the 2011 season off right. My Dad picked him up in our draft and is absolutely killing me this week with 4 homeruns and 10 RBI's. He has more homeruns than my whole team. This week for fantasy ends April 10th and I will let you guys know if I get the win against my Dad!

World Champions banner in SF!

As you have read by our introductions Blake and I are fans of rival teams, Dodgers and Giants. Rivals for many years, its Blue against Orange! But, Blake and I aren't rivals :) We will be talking about both of our teams, supporting them and showing our love, but never bashing on any other team. Yea, I don't like the Dodgers but I will be nice when posting blogs :)

So enough said about our rivalry, lets talks about baseball!

Texas Rangers are doing amazing with 6 wins and no losses. Another team doing really well is the Cincinnati Reds with 5 wins and a loss. Both of these teams are starting off the season really well! What about the Champions though? Whats going on? The Giants, the World Series Champions aren't doing very well right now. They lost 3 out of their 4 game series with the Dodgers and lost 1 out of the 2 with the Padres. Cain got the win against the Dodgers with 2 strikeouts, and only gave up 5 hits with no earned runs. Giants beating LA 10-0. Lincecum got the second win for the Giants against the San Diego Padres. He got 13 strikeouts allowing only 3 hits. Now thats the FREAK we all know!

So what can we expect from the Giants vs. Cardinals game tomorrow? Well, on the mound we will be seeing Sanchez and Westbrook, both losing their first game of the season. The Giants pitcher Sanchez got the loss against the Dodgers on Friday's game. This 23 year old left handed pitcher gave up 4 runs (2 earned), 7 hits, and 3 walks in 5 2/3 innings. Westbrook, the Cardinals pitcher also got a loss against the Padres. This 33 year old right handed pitcher gave up 8 earned runs, 6 hits and 5 walks in 4 1/3 inning. Rough start for both pitchers. Giants have also been struggling with their outfield, committing many errors. Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols has also been struggling. He has a batting average of .182 (4 for 22) in 6 games, his lowest since 2007. Both teams have been struggling but hopefully will get stronger as the season continues.

This game will be the opener of the San Francisco Giants. Big day to be in San Francisco! The Giants will be putting up their World Series Champions banner up for the first time in San Francisco. With all that wind coming from the bay I'm sure that banner will be looking pretty nice :) not only that but tomorrow the Giants will be honoring their game to the Giants Fan Bryan Stow, a Santa Cruz paramedic who was beaten by Dodgers fans on Thursdays game. Celebrations will continue all weekend with Saturday's ring ceremony and Sunday with the Rookie of the Year Award ceremony for Buster Posey. Not forgetting another big thing to celebrate, which is that Brian Wilson is back on the mound so... FEAR THE BEARD!

Giants Fans: Don's Stop Believing! :)

Background of a Ball Player

Hi my name is Blake Leyva. I grew up in Orange County, California and have been a Dodgers fan my whole life. So as you can imagine, it's been quite an adjustment living in the heart of Giants territory. I have been playing baseball since I can remember. While I enjoy watching my favorite MLB team compete, my passion is playing the game itself. I currently start at second base for the Santa Clara Broncos. The focal point of my two years at Santa Clara has been the baseball team. I spend over 24 hours a week at the field, weight room, or batting cages. We're one month into our 55 game season. Conference starts this weekend, so stay tuned! Also, catch Dodgers v. Giants for the rivals' second matchup of the year starting April 11th.

The San Francisco Giants Fan :)

Hello everyone!

My name is Jenny Cortez, I am 20 years old and a Sophomore at Santa Clara University. I am a Communications major with an Urban Education minor. I am Mexican-American and speak two languages, English and Spanish. But most importantly I absolutely LOVE baseball!!! I am a die heart San Francisco Giants fan!

I keep up with everything having to do with the Giants, players, games and events. But, I also like to keep up with everything that is happening in the MLB. I am constantly checking players statistics and how they are doing so that my Fantasy team can be on top! :)

Baseball is such a great sport and once your into it, its ADDICTING! So, I'd love to share my addiction and hopefully get everyone who reads Blake's and my blog posts, addicted as well!

ENJOY! ..... oh and GO GIANTS!! WORLD CHAMPIONS! :D