Revamped San Francisco Giants Looking to Get Offensive in June

San Francisco Giants fans need to get excited.  June is here and Pablo Sandoval will be returning to the lineup in a week or so to pump some life into the team's offense.

Third base is one less position in the lineup San Francisco won’t have to worry about.  Arias will slide over to second base when Sandoval returns and the Giants will only have to focus on first base and the “freed” Belt.

But let’s take a quick look back at May.  Melky Cabrera flat out destroyed National League pitching by tying the Giants' record for hits in a month with 51.  Cabrera batted .429 and hit three homers, five triples and seven doubles.  He had 17 RBI, crossed the plate 24 times, stole four bases and woke up a struggling offense.

The Giants also found a leadoff man in the “White Shark” Gregor Blanco, as well as an adequate injury replacement for Sandoval at third base, Joaquin Arias. 

The Giants' pitching was strong, but barely escaped May with a 15-14 record.  Matt Cain (4-1) and Ryan Vogelsong (3-1, 1.51 ERA) were the stars of the staff, while young aces Madison Bumgarner (1-3) and Tim Lincecum (0-4, 5.88 ERA) really struggled.  The good news is that Lincecum has slowly come around in his last two starts.

Santiago Casilla became the permanent closer by shutting the door on 10 out of 11 save opportunities, while Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo were lights out in setup duty (Romo allowing the only earned run in April).

So that brings us to June.  This is the time the Giants need to take advantage of Matt Kemp returning to the Dodgers' disabled list again for hamstring issues.  He is expected to be out at least four more weeks, maybe longer.  The Dodgers are currently going through their first long losing streak of the season.

The Giants currently face a favorable schedule with four home games against the struggling Chicago Cubs (18-32), followed by three games at the last place San Diego Padres (17-35).  The Giants need to get their starting rotation in check during these seven games because they start off Interleague play at home against the vaunted AL West first-place Texas Rangers in a 2010 World Series rematch. 

By that time, the Giants expect to have their full lineup back in place.  What will it look like?  Here is a pretty good idea of what to expect:

CF Gregor Blanco
RF Angel Pagan
LF Melky Cabrera
C Buster Posey
3B Pablo Sandoval
1B Brandon Belt/Brett Pill/Aubrey Huff
SS Brandon Crawford
2B Joaquin Arias
Pitcher

Yes, Brandon Crawford has had a lot more success in the second spot in the batting order, but Pagan is a proven hitter.  Crawford will get spot starts in the second position of the lineup when Blanco, Pagan or Cabrera get a regular breather.

Considering San Francisco's remaining June schedule after the Rangers come to town includes the Astros, Mariners, Angels, A’s, Dodgers and Reds, the Giants should finish the month of June with at least an 18-10 record.  If they don’t, the Giants will be underachievers.