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Freddy Joins Buster in Friday's Lineup

A lot of things are going on in Giants camp right now, and there will be a lot of eyes on today's game with the return of not only Buster Posey, but Freddy Sanchez as well.

Posey will catch, though it's not yet certain how long he'll stay in the squat, my guess would be about half the game. It will be both players first competitive play since each went down in late May and early June with 2011 season ending injuries, so although it appears the wait is finally over, they do still have some hurdles to jump. Like, for instance, Sanchez's injury was to his throwing shoulder, and he's DH'ing today, so it's still any ones guess as to what kind of zip he'll have on a ball trying to turn two or from deep up the middle trying to throw out a runner at first. Never the less, the return to the lineup is a great sign, and something I didn't expect to happen until later on in the spring. Unfortunately, the game isn't televised on MLB.tv and of course, they aren't broadcasting it on KNBR, so I've yet to get any real game update, even though they just got underway. I'll be scouring the Internet though, like the rest of you Giants fans, to see how the two returnees fared in their first game back. I thought it should also be noted that Brett Pill is getting a whole lot of playing time early on I've noticed. Today, Boch put Pill out at first and Huff out in left field. A lot of Giants fans are pulling for Pill to make the squad out of spring and he's doing his part so far. He's played some outfield, some third and some first and done all exceptionally well. Still a bit surprised Boch went with Huff instead of Belt in left, but that's for another post.

In other big news Friday, the Giants announced the agreement on a one year deal with 22 year-old lefty Madison Bumgarner. Terms of said deal were not immediately disclosed, but one thing is for certain, the Giants will be getting him for a lot less than he's worth. He's kind of been in Cain and Lincecum's shadow the last two seasons, but he's made mark of his own and would be a fine #2 on just about any staff in the bigs. He may end up getting that assignment this year too just to break up the two hard-throwing right-handers at the top of the rotation. And while on the topic of hard-throwing right-handers, I'm finding it odder and odder the each day that passes and Roy Oswalt doesn't have a job. I mean, we're well into Spring here, and unless this guy either lowers his demands, or some team suffers a catastrophic injury, he may enter the 2012 season a free agent. He could pull the Roger Clemens move where he waits until June or so to sign on with a squad to keep him fresh for the stretch drive. All I know, is that if the Giants can get him for a year with an option at $5-7M with some incentives in there (not that unreasonable, considering he's a free agent and teams are starting to gear up for opening day), I'd be all for it. Imagine having a rotation of Timmy-Cain-Bumgarner-Oswalt-Vogelsong. Perfect array of veteran-to-youth mix, and it'd probably the best rotation in all of baseball. Just a little something to think about for Giants fans who still think this team needs another starting pitcher, like I do.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great to have these guys back. Losing those two guys is what cost them the season and ruined their offense. This year will be completely different!

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