Look for Giants' Success To Continue Following Hot Start to the Season

Pablo Sandoval leads the 6-1 San Francisco Giants, a team that should challenge for the NL West crown.

Three teams could win the National League West. The Los Angeles Dodgers have pitching, both young and old, and though they may not have a very desirable staff, even if they are lackluster in stretches, Manny Ramirez and their other offensive powers are more than capable of picking up the slack.

The Colorado Rockies have a very youthful but very talented offense from top to bottom, with veteran and, in my opinion, future Hall of Famer Todd Helton anchoring the middle. They also may have the pitching and bullpen to seriously compete.

Then there is the San Francisco Giants, the team that I picked to win the Wild West, and so far they are on track to backup my prediction.

The Giants have won six of their first seven games. Reigning Cy Young award-winner Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito have pitched superbly atop their rotation, winning two games apiece while toting sub-2.50 ERAs. But it’s been much more than pitching that has carried them to the 6-1 record.

Their offense, which wasn’t all too consistent and certainly wasn’t feared last year, has been tremendous so far this season. Shortstop Edgar Renteria has led the charge, batting .440 (11-25), while their two other main stars, Bengie Molina and Pablo Sandoval, are hitting above the Ted Williams line, .421 (8-19) and .414 (12-29) respectively.

Others have swung the bat well to start, including second baseman Juan Uribe who, after hitting .289 last season, has a .320 batting average. The Giants are tied for 18th in homers with six, but that hasn’t stopped them from having baseball’s sixth best offense overall.

Renteria, Molina, and Sandoval won't hit over .400 for much longer, and Uribe’s batting average may dip. But if they can steadily produce and bat near .300 over the season’s entirety as each is capable of, San Francisco could have a top-five offense, especially if the likes of Aaron Rowand and newcomer Mark Derosa follow suit.

They aren’t built upon power; they ranked 29th in the league last year in home runs with 122. Yet, they do have some pop in Sandoval, Derosa, and Rowand, and with their execution in run-scoring situations, their offense should be plenty good enough to back a pitching staff that won’t give up many runs.

Lincecum will rarely have a bad outing. Matt Cain is bound to win 16 to 18 games despite his slow start. Jonathan Sanchez will pitch effectively more often than not. So will newcomer Todd Wellemeyer if he returns to his 2008 form. And if Zito can continue to build upon an excellent 2009 season, the Giants staff will be very dependable one through five.

Their combination of pitching and offense trumps that of the Dodgers and Rockies in my mind. I don’t look for them to continue winning six out of every seven, as every team goes into a funk at one point during a grueling 162-game schedule, but I do believe they have the ability to make my division-winning prediction come true.