At the half way point, the Giants are 3.5 games behind the first place Padres and just 1.5 games of the Wild Card. The Giants rank 8th in runs scored in the NL, 12th in BA, 11th in HRs and OPS, and rank 3rd in average with RISP. Pitching -wise the Giants rank 4th in Team ERA, 1st in starter's ERA, 12th in bullpen ERA, dead last in strikeouts, and 8th in Saves. So we have some good and bad stats as far as pitching goes. Here's another one for batting, .703 OPS at first base, worst in NL. Yeah, our main weakness as far as our offense goes.

Awards

MVP
Omar Vizquel-He may not have the best stats but he has been in that lineup nearly everyday, still plays great defense and has a .380 OBP. He is also the only starter hitting over .300 (.302). Plus he is wonderful in the clubhouse.

Best Pitcher
Jason Schmidt- No surprise here since he is also one of the best in the NL. He also boasts the second lowest ERA among NL starters.

Biggest Surprise
Eliezer Alfonzo and Jonathan Sanchez-Alfonzo was in AA and has been around for a while and is hitting .294 and has shown some pop in limited play. He has also called some great games including Cain's one hitter, a Schmidt shutout and Morris' CG.
Sanchez also came from AA and just gave up his first run in the last game of the year. He has only apperaed in 15 games but he has shown poise and that he belongs in this bullpen.

Feliz has also been a slight surprise

Biggest Disappointment
Barry Bonds and Jack Taschner

Bonds has to be there because the man is hitting .249 and has only 39 RBI. We expected a dip in power but in the average?

After seeing Taschner pitch last year, I thought he could replace Eyre or at least come close to it. He hasn't been close to what he was last year sporting a lovely ERA of 22!

Biggest Needs
A First baseman, Bonds' bat, Cain's brilliance and health.

As I mention earlier, we have the worst OPS of any team at first base. Niekro can't stay healthy and flat out can't hit. We have some nice arms that I would be willing to let go of for a long term first baseman like Correia, Wilson and Wright could be thrown in the mix too.

Bonds isn't hitting for average which needs to change and fast. He still has the amazing OBP and is hitting well with RISP but we need him to start hitting more frequently and moving baserunners.

Cain has been a real let down as well this year. 47 walks to 80 K's is not exactly what we all had in mind. He barely gets through 5 innings and he really kills the bullpen. His 5.12 ERA is also terrifying. We need him to get the walks down, jump ahead of hitters and go deeper into ballgames.

Health will be an issue all year long as we are on older team. Alou, Bonds, Benitez, Matheny, Worrell, Niekro and even Wilson have had injuries. Vizquel hurt his hamstring on the last day of the season so you can add him as well. Matheny was a huge loss as teams are stealing more bases but Alfonzo and Greene's bats have been better. Alou was crushing it untril he got hurt. Worrell and Niekro were no big losses but this teams needs guys like Bonds and Alou to stay at least 85%.