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Giants Start Off Spring 5-3

Here we are, a little over a week into spring training and the World Baseball Classic, and already the first huge Barry Bonds story has broken, before he even made his spring debut thursday. I am so sick of hearing all this stuff and I'm tired of the constant attack on Barry Bonds. There are players that have been caught using steroids and guys who where obvious users that are getting nowhere near the riddiculing that Bonds is getting. I am not going to jump too far into this topic, but notice how all Barry Bonds accusations come from second hand sources. There is nobody who has stepped up and said, "I've seen him do it, first hand." Rafeal Palmeiro was a huge part of this game over the last fifteen years, he tests positive and people forget about it after a few weeks and continue to concentrate on Bonds. Chances are that Barry has taken roids at some point in his carreer, he admitted so, but I am nowhere near ready to attribute Barry Bonds accomplishments to steriods. Enough on that, lets talk some baseball.

The Giants have started off the spring 5-3 without a few of their top players aboard. Moises Alou, Omar Vizquel, Pedro Feliz and Randy Winn are all of representing their respective counrtries in the World Baseball Classic. So far, the young arms have been impressive. Noah Lowrey, Matt Cain and Brad Hennessey have all been bright spots as far as starting pitchers are concerned. Schmidt looked good in his debut as well. Matt Morris's first two starts have been less than impressive. Morris looked pretty wiled against team USA last week and looked even worse giving up 4 runs on Thursday. I am not ready to panic though, Morris has been through many springs like this and I still expect 15 plus wins from him this season with good health, regardless what happens this spring. In the battle for the 5th outfield spot, it looks like Todd Linden is taking an early lead. Linden started off the spring 5-5 with a home run and a couple of RBI's. He has since cooled a little, but is tearing the cover off the ball this spring. Everyone is looking pretty healthy. As I said, Barry made his spring debut thrursday, playing in his first Cactus League game in two years and collecting a hit in two at-bats. Perhaps the most impressive player so far this spring has been Derin McMains. McMains has 3 home runs in only 4 at-bats this spring. I'd have to say that without that terrible Bonds story that surfaced this week, this has almost been a perfect spring as far as the Giants are concerned. Their youngsters are looking solid and are improving, while the vets (for the most part) look healthy and ready to go. Armondo Benitez has been throwing shutout ball all spring (untill thursday) and a full season of Benitez in the pen will make a world of difference for the Giants. Right now I'd have to say that there aren't too many worries in Giants camp.

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