San Francisco Giants: 5 Key Players for Second-Half Success

With only a home weekend series left in the first half against the Mets, the Giants sit at 50-39. Their record is good enough for fifth best in the MLB. 

For a team that has relied heavily on pitching, that is quite an accomplishment. The Giants have continued to see their offense struggle, but pitching will continue to be the focal point of their success. 

Many of the Giants offensive stats sit in the bottom five of all of baseball. They sit in the bottom five of BA, runs, OBP, and slugging PCT. 

In retrospect, their pitching stats sit in the top five of all of baseball. That includes ERA, quality starts, WHIP, and BAA. 

The Giants will need to continue to pitch great, while their hitting will need to pick up some slack. 

5) 1B—Aubrey Huff

2011 stats- 88 GP, 328 ABs, .241 BA, eight HRs, 43 RBI, and a .294 OBP. 

Aubrey Huff has played in more games this season than any other Giant. He has played in eight more than Nate Schierholtz, who is second in GP. 

Huff also has almost 50 more ABs than any other Giant as well. He is tied for the lead in HRs, and leads the team in RBI. 

The only reason that Huff doesn't rank higher on the list is the fact that the Giants have the 1B of the future in Brandon Belt waiting on deck. This does not mean that Huff's offense will not be a key component to the Giants success. 

Huff hit 26 HRs last season, and is only on pace for 16 this season. Huff has not hit a HR since June 2nd against the Cardinals, where he hit three HRs and drove in six RBI. Huff drove in 86 RBI last season, and he could easily match that this season. 

Huff will need to continue to lead this offense as he did last season and for the first half this season. He will be a factor in the middle of the lineup, where the Giants will need solid production. 

4) RF—Nate Schierholtz

2011 stats- 80 GP, 212 ABs, .278 BA, six HRs, 27 RBI, and a .330 OBP

The Giants lead everyone with 10 walk-off hits. Many of those walk-off hits have come off the bat of Nate Schierholtz. Nobody on the Giants has been more clutch than Schierholtz in 2011. 

Schierholtz has been a big contributor to the Giants offense, and his contributions will only grow as he gets more starts and ABs. He has shown that he has very solid power this year as well. 

Nate the great has started off hot in July hitting .367 with two HRs, and four RBI. We all know that Schierholtz plays All-Star defense, and expect his offense to continue to get better. Schierholtz has closed his stance down a bit, and is beginning to see the dividends. 

Schierholtz should see a bump in his BA, and he will continue to be clutch for the Giants offense. 

3) SP—Ryan Vogelsong

2011 stats- 13 GS, 6-1 record, 2.13 ERA, 1.15 WHIP,and a 68:27 K:BB ratio

Without a doubt, Ryan Vogelsong has been the comeback player of the year. Vogelsong was rewarded for his stellar comeback by being named to the NL All-Star team. 

Nobody would have thought at the beggining of the year that Ryan Vogelsong would lead the Giants in ERA. He is also tied for second on the team with six wins on the season. 

Vogelsong has been one heck of a story, and the Giants will need him to continue on his torrid pace. Pitching is the heart and sole of the Giants, and Vogelsong is just an added weapon in the Giants already stellar starting rotation. 

The way that Vogelsong has pitched may allow the Giants to trade Jonathan Sanchez. Vogelsong has pitched like an ace, and Sanchez has become expendable.

2) 3B—Pablo Sandoval

2011 stats- 47 GP, 182 ABs, .302 BA, eight HRs, 27 RBI, and a .344 OBP

If Pablo Sandoval had not broken his hand at the end of April, he would have been the fifth Giant All-Star. I strongly believe that Panda can find himself in the NL MVP conversation at the end of the year. 

I may be a bit crazy for that last statement, but here is my thinking. In July, seven games, Panda's stat line is as follows: .344 BA, two HRs, nine RBI, five doubles, and an OBP of .382. Those numbers are really out of this world for seven games. He is averaging an extra base hit in each game thus far and an RBI a game as well. 

Pablo struggled in his return from his broken hand injury only hitting one HR in June, 16 games. He hit that one HR on the last day of June as well. 

Panda has seen the effects of his weight loss at the dish, but also in the field. Panda has only made two errors this season and his range has seen a major increase. 

Expect Panda to continue to lead the Giants on offense. Pablo is on a tear to start off July, and if he keeps it up he could find himself in the NL MVP conversation. 

1) SP—Madison Bumgarner

2011 stats- 18 GS, 4-9 record, 3.87 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and a 92:27 K:BB ratio

Madison Bumgarner had the worst first half out of any Giants starting pitcher. MadBum started out the season 0-6, and things were not looking good. 

Bumgarner bounced back from his rough start going 4-3 in his next eight starts. Bumgarner is still technically a rookie, as he got called up last season in June. 

One thing that doesn't help Bumgarner is that he currently ranks forth to last in the NL with an average of 4.47 runs in support. MadBum is also tied for tenth in the NL with 12 quality starts. that is one less than the Giants leader Matt Cain. 

MadBum has been raised into the number three pitching spot because of the injuries to Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez. 

Bumgarner showed how good he can be late last season and in the World Series. I expect Bumgarner will get things rolling here soon enough. He has recovered from a sour start, and even could see his record turn positive with more wins than loses. 

Honorable Mentions

SP—Jonathan Sanchez:

Jonathan Sanchez' stat line is as follows: 16 GS, 4-5 record, 3.81 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and a 92:58 K:BB ratio. It is very difficult to tell what the Giants are going to do with Sanchez. Either way he will have some type of an impact on the Giants' second half success—whether that is as a starter, or as a trade commodity. 

CF—Andres Torres:

Torres is currently experiencing a major down year from last year. His stat line is: 58 GP, 199 ABs, .226 BA, three HRs, 14 RBI, nine SBs and a .322 OBP. Torres will see his time cut if he does not pick it up a bit. Torres had an atrocious June, hitting only .182. He is hitting .286 in July in five games.

SS—Brandon Crawford:

Brandon Crawford has established himself as a very solid defender this season. His stat line is: 34 GP, 113 ABs, .221 BA, two HRs, 16 RBIs and a .307 OBP. Crawford hit a poor .182 in June, but is hitting .292 in July in six games.