Brandon Belt Makes San Francisco Giants Opening Day Roster

According to Andrew Baggarly of the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Giants have decided to add Brandon Belt onto the 2011 Opening Day roster and start him at first base against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night.

To be honest, this is a shock to everyone and anyone who has been involved in Giants baseball through the last several years.

All signs were pointing to Belt being called up by the earliest May and most definitely by June or July, but obviously the Giants see that this young prospect can make this team that much better.

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San Francisco Giants: Starting Brandon Belt Is An Issue of Money, Not Talent

I don't care if he hits five home runs tomorrow, Brandon Belt is not starting on Opening Day for the San Francisco Giants.

It just doesn't make sense from a Giants' front office perspective.

Sure, Belt is ripping up Spring Training and has all the necessary tools to be a legitimate ballplayer right now.

He could make the Giants' line-up better from top to bottom.

Cody Ross is hurt and this is as good of a time as any for Belt to be entered into the line-up.

Yet, the Giants will not start Belt at first base on Opening Day.

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2011 NL West Season Preview & Predictions

Last season, the National League West went from one of the worst divisions in baseball to arguably one of the best.

The San Diego Padres came out of nowhere last season, only to crumble down the stretch and fall to the eventual World Series Champion San Francisco Giants who finished at 92-70.

Still, the Padres finished 2010 at 90-72, and even the Rockies, who finished third in the West, were 83-79, giving the NL West three teams over .500.

2011 may be a different story for the NL West. On paper, the division is much worse than it was last season.

The Padres lost Adrian Gonzalez and Miguel Tejada, who were the big bats at the center of their line-up last season and fueled the Padres to the NL West lead for the majority of the season.

The Dodgers lost manager Joe Torre, but still have the young nucleus of James Loney, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, and also gained Juan Uribe from the Giants. In the full picture, it seems as though the Dodgers lost more with the loss of Torre than the acquisition of Uribe.

The Rockies stood fairly still in the off-season, but it is last year's road worries that still haunt them. But a healthy Troy Tulowitski and another year for Carlos Gonzalez should fix that.

The Diamondbacks did nothing to fix a disappointing 2010 season. They're hoping some young prospects could fuel their team this year.

The Giants won the World Series in 2010 and close to nothing has changed with their timely offense and nucleus of pitching.

The good thing about the NL West is that every year it is something new.

Expect the NL West to be represented well.


5. Arizona Diamondbacks
2010 Record: 65-97

Pitching

The D-Backs will be a three-horse rotation with Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson and Joe Saunders. It depends if Hudson can sustain his incredible 2010 if the D-Backs can thrive on their pitching.

Line-Up

No significant change has been made to this D-Backs line-up. The focus still remains on Stephen Drew and Justin Upton, and if Kelly Johnson can have another break-out season. But it will take more than those three to help this very weak line-up in 2011.

X-Factor

Justin Upton needs to decide whether he wants to be a superstar or just another moderately good baseball player.

Prediction

70-92 (5th in NL West)


4. Los Angeles Dodgers
2010 Record: 80-82

Pitching

Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley are the core of this rotation, but it will depend on what Ted Lilly, Hideki Kuroda and John Ely can do that will decide whether this rotation can match up to the others in the NL West. Kershaw and Billingsley have all the tools, it is just a matter of carrying them through an entire season.

Line-Up

The Dodger line-up is fueled once again by Loney, Kemp and Ethier, which aren't a bad three to build on. Although, they do lack a significant big bat, newly acquired Uribe can fit that role from time to time. I'm just not sure the Dodgers have enough depth in the offensive category.

X-Factor

Matt Kemp needs to improve on a fairly mediocre 2010. This needs to be the year Billingsley and Kershaw have break-out seasons if the Dodgers are to make a push for the NL West.

Prediction

78-84 (4th in the NL West)


3. San Diego Padres
2010 Record: 90-72

Pitching

The Padres will have to have another big season out of their rotation that surprised and impressed everyone last season. They even added Aaron Harang from the Reds to bolster it. Although everyone expects them to be just as good as last season, I'm not sure Mat Latos, Tim Stauffer and Clayton Richard can sustain such break-out seasons as they had in 2010.

Line-Up

The Padres lost the heart of their batting order, including powerhouse and Padre-fixture Adrian Gonzalez. Although they did add youngster Cameron Maybin, Jason Bartlett and Brad Hawpe, they did not replace Gonzalez as their big bat in the line-up, but not sure how you can replace him.

X-Factor

It all rests on their starting rotation. If Latos, Stauffer and Richard can even come close to the seasons they had last year, the Padres will have another chance at the NL West.

Prediction

82-80 (3rd in NL West)


2. Colorado Rockies
2010 Record: 83-79

Pitching

Ubaldo Jimenez was a stud for almost three quarters of the season and then he tapered off. But a Jimenez, De La Rosa, Chacin pitching core sounds very attractive for 2011. Can Jimenez surge through an entire season? Will Chacin get better with another season under his belt? Questions that need to be answered if the Rockies want to improve on last year.

Line-Up

2010 was a season of good and bad for the Rockies' offense. They lost Tulowitski for a good while, but saw Gonzalez bloom into a star in the making. If Gonzalez can build upon the season he had last year and Tulowitski can stay healthy, I don't see any reason why this isn't the best line-up in the NL West.

X-Factor

Two things: The Rockies will need to improve their record away from Coors Field, and Jimenez must be as dominant as he was in the first half of the season for an entire season.

Prediction

88-74 (2nd in NL West)


1. San Francisco Giants
2010 Record: 92-70

Pitching

This is where this team's bread is buttered. This may be the most solid rotation in all of baseball, and there are not many questions about any of them. Check their World Series Champion rings if you have any. If they can stay healthy, which they have a history of, then this team can run on their pitching alone.

Line-Up

GM Brian Sabean's changes to the 2010 Giants' line-up mid-season proved to be the push they needed to go all the way. With most returning, this line-up looks pretty close to the same one that won the World Series last season. But a fit Pablo Sandoval can make this line-up even better, as well as the first full season for Buster Posey.

X-Factor

The Giants' pitching rotation has shown no signs of any health problems since they have been in the MLB. That doesn't mean it can't happen. With such a dominant, young staff, the Giants better hope having the good fortune of good health these last couple of years doesn't finally come back to bite them.

Prediction

90-72 (1st in NL West)

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The Nastiest Pitch in Baseball for 2011

The 2010 baseball season was the closest we have come to The Year of the Pitcher since 1968, when it was custom to win more than 20 games, and batting averages just barely slid into the .200's.

In 2010, it was crazy how many no-hitters and perfect games were thrown.

We, as fans, are blessed to be witnessing such talents on the mound these days. Not just talent, but young talent.

I'm talking guys like Tim Lincecum, Felix Hernandez, Ubaldo Jimenez, David Price, etc. The list goes on and on.

But what all these pitchers have is what makes them unique. They have that one signature pitch.

It could be the one they rely on to get strike one, or the one they rely on to get strike three.

The bottom line is every one of those signature pitches are straight filthy.

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Brian Wilson's Opening Day In Doubt; Is His Beard Okay?

The likelihood of Brian Wilson appearing on Opening Day at Chavez Ravine is doubtful after he was yanked from a bullpen session today.

Reports are he felt a little discomfort and was told to stop.

Is this a setback?

Who are you asking?

According to Wilson, no, but then again this is Brian Wilson, and rarely do we see him stress publicly about anything. Especially something as lowly as a strained oblique. It just doesn't fit his lumberjack persona.

Of course the Giants don't feel that way. Jeremy Affeldt was held out of 23 games last summer for a strained oblique.

But Wilson is better than that, right? Fear the Beard?

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When The Jersey Comes Off, Nobody Cares

Barry Bonds is in trouble. With his perjury trial underway, Bonds faces a maximum of ten years in prison, as well as his public appearance and legacy tarnished. As if it wasn't already.

For three years we have waited for this. The date was March 2011, and everyone in San Francisco and anyone who had grown up with Bonds in their life would remember that date. The day is finally here.

Evidence is stacked up against Bonds. The prosecution has witnesses, trainers, mistresses, everything you can hope to put, as bashed a public figure as there is, away for some time.

This is what the public wants to see, a hated man like Bonds, who has yet to tell the alleged truth, have the odds finally against him and get what he finally deserves.

But as I sat and watched the full coverage and analysis of the Bonds perjury trial on ESPN and every other station the other day, I couldn't help but think.

I don't care.

What does this have to do with sports anymore?

Bonds isn't in a San Francisco Giants uniform, so unless he is hitting home runs into McCovey Cove, how does this affect me?

The truth is it doesn't.

I have grown up with Bonds. I've watched him hit collosial home run after collosial home run my whole life. He is one of the great entertainers in sports of my generation, and possibly ever.

I've watched the controversy he has gone through, and I cannot deny the evidence set against him, as much as I want to believe my childhood hero isn't guilty of cheating the game of baseball.

Still, I could not care what the outcome of this trial will be.

It goes the same for other former players as well.

I don't care what happens in July with Roger Clemens, or that Mark McGwire took steroids and finally came clean and all is good in the world now.

We knew these players took steroids, otherwise there wouldn't be federal cases against them. The evidence on both Bonds and Clemens is enough to put them away for a long time.

It's Bonds' and Clemen's word against there's, and that won't be any fun, I can guarantee that.

You cannot mistake that both Bonds' and Clemens' physical growths are tremendous. Their head, feet, you name it, it's grown. And you can bet the prosecution will be using all that.

But what does it matter? Everybody already knew.

How does it affect me now?

Bonds isn't playing in San Francisco anymore. He isn't hitting home runs, and isn't being a douche in the clubhouse.

Whatever the outcome is for his trial, and I stress that the evidence is largely stacked against him, I hope it finally ends here. Constant analysis and coverage on something that has zero affect on the game of baseball today, other than to see someone who was a major jerk to the media finally get what he always had coming on national television, is ridiculous.

It's sad to see reporters like ESPN's T.J. Quinn and Mark Fainaru-Wada, former San Francisco Chronicle reporters before their big break, who originally broke the BALCO phenomenon, continue to make a living off of Bonds' misfortune, albeit misfortune he deserves.

With Bonds' trial heating up, and Clemens' trial coming to a television near you in July, this is just the start.

I hope they are either put away, or everyone forgets about it forever.

It would benefit baseball's image a whole lot.

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San Francisco Giants: Brian Wilson To Miss Opening Day

With Opening Day right around the corner, the San Francisco Giants got the news on Sunday that bearded closer Brian Wilson has a mild oblique strain that could keep him out for Opening Day and then some.

Although Brian Wilson vows to be ready for Opening Day, the reality is an oblique strain is nothing to take lightly, and don't think the Giants don't realize this.

Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt went throught the exact same thing last summer when he strained is left oblique. Affeldt would be held out of 23 games.

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