San Francisco Giants: John Bowker's Weekend & Fred Lewis' Week

John Bowker had a weekend.  It was first two games in the majors, and he hit two home runs—the first Giant ever to accomplish that feat.  Congratulations! 

This is all good and taking nothing away from the kid, but he can't hit a dinger in every game he plays in. 

To me, the story was all about Fred Lewis last week.  Lewis quietly took over left field and hit lead off for the injured Dave Roberts. 

He responded with a .421 on base percentage, .576 slugging percentage, and .333 average. 

Dave, sorry pal, but don't hurry back.  I think you've just lost your job.

Prior to the start of the season, I wrote that Fred Lewis should be starting and hitting third in the lineup.  I still think he should bat third and have speedster Eugenio Velez at the top of the order, but Lewis is getting it done. 

Something Roberts hasn't been able to do since coming to the Giants.

What I like most of all (besides Lewis' obvious talent) is his fearless approach at the plate.  I love watching Fred at the plate. 

This guy does not look intimidated no matter who he's facing or what the count is.  He gets his hacks and hits the ball hard.  Line drives were far and few between for poor Mr. Roberts.

Two more solid outings from Cain and Lincecum. 

Cain's seven inning gem against the Cardinals should have been rewarded with a win.  My God, the bullpen sucks. 

Lincecum is going to win 20 games in this league, if he gets healthy—what a combo. 

We'll be writing about Cain and Lincecum like Glavine and Smoltz, Koufax and Drysdale, Spahn, and Sain.  These are guys you build championships with.

The Achilles Heal for the Giants remains the bullpen.  Hennessey, Wilson, Yabu, Walker, Taschner, and Threets all have ERA's above four.  Merkin Valdez seems to be the only guy who can keep the other team from scoring. 

If I were a starting pitcher, I'd want to pitch all nine innings than give up my lead to these guys. 

Is this the best we've got?

I continue to like the make up of this Giants team.  With a healthy Aaron Rowand and Omar Vizquel, these guys are going to be very competitive. 

They need to continue to get good starting pitching, timely hitting, solid defense, and outs from the bullpen.  They split the series with a very good Cardinals team. 

Let's see how this week goes.