San Francisco Giants: 5 Giant Question Marks Entering Spring Training

Today the San Francisco Giants position players officially reported to Spring Training in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This marks the time of year when guys start bringing out their Wilson beards and panda hats, while girls have begun fantasizing about Buster Posey again. The Giants' bright side from last season, their pitching, has already been in Scottsdale, but their bats are what really needs fine tuning in Spring Training.

Last year the Giants went from 2010 World Series Champions, to major disappointments by missing the 2011 playoffs. The Giants may be poised to make another surprising run for the World Series, but the team has some giant question marks heading into the 2012 season.

1. Will Buster Posey be the same after his terrible ankle injury?

This is, obviously, the biggest question heading into the Giants 2012 season.

Buster Posey is one of the most promising young talents in all of baseball, and after a 2010 season that earned him National League Rookie of the Year, Giants fans had huge expectations for him in 2011. Unfortunately, Scott Cousins decided he “could not” go around Buster Posey at home plate last year, which put a devastating end to Posey’s 2011 season.

Posey’s slugging was off to a slow start last year, he hit only four homers in 45 games, but don’t expect a power outage from Posey. Giants fans can only hope that Posey has fully recovered and he is back to being the same baby faced assassin that he was as a rookie. The Giants will need Posey’s bat, big time, in order to make a playoff run in 2012.

2. Do the Giants have their everyday shortstop?

After hitting a grand slam in his first at-bat in Milwaukee, Brandon Crawford had a rough season at the plate when he was the Giants starting shortstop in 2011. Last year, Crawford had a rough .204/.288/.296 stat line in the bigs and the Giants hope the 25-year-old can greatly improve offensively this year.

However, Crawford is smooth at shortstop and will take away runs from the opposition on defense. The Giants did a great job of signing veteran 2B/SS Ryan Theriot, to give Crawford help and competition in 2012.

Theriot is a winner and had a solid .271/.321/.342 line, as a contact hitter, in 132 games last year for the St. Louis Cardinals. Its Crawford’s job to lose going into the season, but it was smart of the Giants to add a veteran to their bench.

3. What will the Giants do with Brandon Belt?

Brandon Belt had a sensational 2011 Spring Training, which forced Bruce Bochy to make Belt his everyday first baseman.

Unfortunately, the season did not go as planned for the 23-year-old Belt and he spent time in both the majors and minors. In 63 games in the majors he had a disappointing .225/.306/.412 line. Now, what will the Giants do with the Belt this year? Does Belt beat out Aubrey Huff at first base? Huff who also had a disappointing year, or Belt get placed somewhere in a stuffed outfield.

The Giants already have Melky Cabrera, Angel Pagan and Nate Schierholtz in the outfield. It will be interesting to see what Belt’s role in 2012 will be, but there is no denying if he hits how he is capable, he will be a major factor in the Giants season.

4. How will the starting pitching produce after the ‘Big 3′?

Everyone knows about the San Francisco’s very own ‘Big 3′ in Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner, but the two spots after them are still question marks.

Fans may think that the number four spot in the rotation is a lock after Ryan Vogelsong’s surprising 2011 season, but don't assume too soon. Yes, Vogelsong was a great surprise after making the Giants rotation and eventually becoming an All-Star. However, he was 2-4 in August and lost his first two starts in September. Will Vogelsong be a one hit wonder or one-up his production from last year?

Then there’s the five-spot. Barry Zito, and his contract that is bigger than McCovey Cove, will begin the season as the starter for the fifth spot in the rotation. Zito hasn’t lived up to his contract and his 2011 campaign didn’t help. Zito’s injury plagued 2011 season consisted of a 3-4 record with a 5.87 ERA. Who knows what Zito will do this year? If he is hurt again or simply can’t produce look for Eric Surkamp to step into the rotation. Surkamp looks like a present day Kirk Rueter for the Giants and posted a 2-2 record with a 5.74 ERA. The back end of the rotation will be vital in deciding how well the Giants play this season.

5. Do the Giants have a bat to carry their team?

Plain and simple, the Giants offense was terrible last season. Surprisingly, they have more bright spots than you would expect. Pablo Sandoval had a fantastic season after shedding tons of pounds for the 2011 season. Sandoval posted a .315/.357/.552 line to go along with 23 homers and phenomenal defense at third base. 'The Panda was not only a fan favorite, but he had a great year and Giants fans should be excited about his 2012 season.

Freddy Sanchez will be coming back from an injury. Sanchez was showing, once again, that he is the perfect two-hole hitter; he was hitting .289 before getting injured. Sanchez will never hit for huge power, but he’s a professional hitter that the Giants should be happy to have back. The biggest choice to carry the team is clearly Buster Posey. If healthy, Posey will be productive and have a great combination of average and power. The Giants had a great hitter in Sandoval last year and get two greats back in Sanchez and Posey, but will any of them lead the Giants back to the promise land?

The San Francisco Giants have a very intriguing team in the sneaky NL West in 2012, but their five question marks must be answered in order for them to get back to the playoffs and ultimately the World Series.