The Giants CAN Win Without Melky

By Kalen Patrick

Over the last few days there has been a lot of pessimism and "the season is over!" talk among Giants fans. Heck I was probably one of them when I first heard the news about the Melky Suspension. Now that it has sunk in and we are moving on from it, I still look at this Giants team and I still see a team that can Win and make the playoffs. Before I get in to the lineup, lets talk about the pitching.

The pitching is absolutely playoff caliber, even with the struggles of Tim Lincecum and the usual struggles for Barry Zito.Cain, Bumgarner and Vogelsong have been so good that it limits the damage the other 2 starters are doing. I know I have been saying this all season but if Timmy can pitch the rest of the season at a 3.5-4 ERA for the rest of his starts I will take that. Zito is Zito and if we get a Win when he takes the mound that is a huge positive. Lets not forget the bullpen cause those guys have been doing their jobs for the most part. Led by Romo, Affeldt, Casilla, Mijares and Lopez, it is very solid. Again definitely playoff caliber. Now lets get done to brass tax and talk about the lineup without the MelkMan.

The main guys replacing Melky are gonna be Gregor Blanco and Justin Christian. I have more faith in Blanco considering his amazing defense, and he isn't terrible at the plate either. Christian is still a big question mark in the majors. One of the most underrated trades of the season so far has been the trade the Giants pulled off to get Marco Scutaro. In the 20 games he has played with the Giants his line reads .330 BA .360 OBP 2 HR's and 18 RBI. Now that is production right there. Another great trade that gets forgotten is the one for Angel Pagan too, he has been very solid leading off for the Giants with a .283 BA .333 OBP and considering he usually leads off he solid production with 46 RBI and comes with some power hitting 7 HR's. The way I see the Giants lineup going forward you will have Pagan leading off with Scutaro batting 2nd.

POSEY, BELT AND SANDOVAL - ALL 3 WILL BE KEY FOR THE GIANTS

Then you have the big boys of the lineup. I imagine Bochy will go regularly with Sandoval hitting 3rd, then Posey and then Pence. Both Panda and Posey just gotta keep doing what they are doing and that will be fine with me, I absolutely expect Hunter Pence to get hot soon. He had the big HR to essentially win the game against the Rockies a week ago, but realistically he needs to be better, he needs to be much better with regards to his Power and Average. Hitting only 1 HR in 16 games, batting .211 and his OBP at .250 is unacceptable. I think he can and will improve upon this by leaps and bounds, and the Giants need it in the worst way.

Brandon Belt is a guy who has come on lately, he has an impressive OBP of .361 which isn't bad considering his mid-season struggles. Belt should get better as the season rolls on, Arias, Crawford are OK options at the end of the order. Ultimately the point I'm trying to make is that knowing the Giants pitching being as good as it is and with the lineup having some nice options the Giants CAN win without Melky.

Over and Out.