DeRosa on DL, Burriss Back in Bigs

Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury broke the news today that Mark DeRosa has an inflamed left wrist (the one that kept him out all of last season) and will be placed on the 15-day disabled list tomorrow to allow time for Emmauel Burriss to join the team.

This may seem like a damper to lose DeRosa again early in the season, but now the Giants front office will get to see how Burriss does in the Majors.

How Brandon Belt Can Affect Your Fantasy Team

When many of you picked up Brandon Belt for your fantasy team, expectations ran high for the young rookie. He had a monster year in the minors last year, moving from single-A to triple-A, hitting .352/.455/.620 with 23 home runs and 112 RBIs.

(US Presswire)

The risk in picking him up however, was the lack of experience in professional ball. He has played one year total at first base. 

Now that the season is well underway, Belt has started at first for 17 games. In those games, he's had only 52 at-bats and batted .192 with one home run and four RBIs. 

The good news: his OBP is .300, proving his discipline is major league worthy. Belt's defense has also been flawless. His J.T. Snow-esque glove and footwork at first base has saved some games for the Giants this season, only committing one error.

Now that Cody Ross is off the disabled list, Belt was bumped off the Giants roster and sent down to Fresno to get some daily starts. 

If you own him, drop him. Belt is expected to be off the roster until maybe mid-June or if there is a serious injury at first of in the outfield. 

If he is brought up half way through the season, I'd expect him to hit better than he did when he started this season because it'll hopefully take some pressure off the young man's shoulders. 

My prediction for his inevitable return is:

.265/.355/.410 with 12 home runs and 48 RBIs. 

Not quite Buster Posey good, but it'll be a decent start to a young career for Mr. Belt. 

Ross is Back, Belt is Gone

(Dan Honda/Staff)

According to Andrew Baggarly, Brandon Belt has been optioned back to triple-A Fresno in order to make room for Cody Ross coming off the disabled list.

Belt's reaction to the demotion:

“It’s just a bunch of people coming back and not enough spots. Obviously, I have some things to work on. it’s best to get some games and at-bats to figure them out.”(from Baggarly)

It just happens to be Belt's 23rd birthday today, and he is taking this news like a champ.

So we can all say we saw this move coming. Belt was not off the the hot start we had hoped for, so some more seasoning in the minors will only do him good. Now we don't have to watch Huff flail his limbs around in the outfield, so hey, thats a plus.

On another note, Sandoval will not be in today's game due to strained right triceps he suffered in batting practice this morning. There doesn't seem to be any concern, so I'd expect Sandoval to be back as early as next series.

 

Brian Wilson and Cody Ross Sing Dynamite

Brian Wilson and Cody Ross are hilarious. That's a fact.

Giants 15-game Report Card

Current Record: 8-7

Well folks, Opening Day has come and gone and now it's time to look at the Giants season thus far. I know it has only been 15 games, but what the heck, we have seen a lot of improvements from game one.

Batting
We have had high expectations of Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval this spring and why wouldn't we? The reigning N.L. Rookie of the Year and the young fan favorite in "the best shape of his life" are poised to become the Giants best hitters. So far, they are. Sandoval is leading the team in batting average, on-base %, home runs, hits, slugging % and OPS (.340,.386, four, 18, .585, and .971), while Posey is wearing a .296/.377/.463 line with three home runs and team-leading 11 RBIs.

There have also been some disappointments this season. Rookie "phenom" Brandon Belt is off to a slow start as a starting first baseman. So far he is hitting .200/.310/.280 with one home run and four RBIs. If he plans on making it in the big leagues, he will have to do better. Another guy having a rough start is Pat Burrell. He picked up right where he left off in the playoffs last fall, as he is hitting .190 with a team-leading 17 strikeouts and only four RBIs. Granted, his four RBIs came from his four solo home runs on the season.

Giants @ Padres Preview

Game 1

Madison Bumgarner   vs.      Aaron Harang

(0-0, 0.00 ERA)           (0-0 0.00 ERA)

Game 2

Tim Lincecum      vs.   Tim Stauffer

(0-1, 0.00 ERA)          (0-0, 3.00 ERA)

Last season, the Giants never looked forward to this series. Facing the dreaded Padres in Petco Park was an inevitable losing sweep.

For some reason, the Giants couldn't hit their good to mediocre pitchers. Their starting 5 right now are an injured Mat Latos, Tim Stauffer, Clayton Richard, Dustin Moseley and an aging Aaron Harang (a career 4.33 ERA and a 5.32 ERA last season).

The Giants scored an average of 2.89 runs per game at Petco Park last season, giving up an average of 2.67 runs against. You may be thinking that we were better because we scored more total runs. Well, true, but what was even worse was when we played this team at home, a park we typically thrive playing in with our pitching.

The Giants scored 2.22 runs per game against the Padres at home, while giving up 3.56 runs against, losing 7 out of 8 games (the one win was the clincher, game No. 162).

It is evident that we hardly score enough runs in San Diego (or even in San Francisco), thus creating a frustrated locker room after each defeating blow the Giants received.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Giants and Padres have re-amped and re-energized this division rivalry.

From Mat Latos complaining once being eliminated from the playoffs last season, to that same frustrating pitcher throwing a ball through our beloved announcer, Dave Flemming's moon roof. The blood is boiling between these two teams.

Prediction- Low scoring, pitcher battles in both games, and torture.