The San Francisco Giants have placed righty starter Kevin Correia on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. That is a shame for Correia as he was pitching pretty well this season. He has started 5 games for the Giants this season and he is 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Correia will be replaced in the rotation by lefty Patrick Misch. Misch has pitched in 1 game this season for the Giants out of the bullpen. In that game Misch worked 6 innings and allowed 2 earned runs (3.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP). Misch is not likely to make anyone forget about Correia.

The Giants have decided to remove Barry Zito from the starting rotation after his awful start to the 2008 season. He will try to fix things working out of the bullpen for a while. Zito has pitched in 6 games (all starts) so far this season and he is 0-6 with a 7.53 ERA and a 1.95 WHIP. Zito has been pretty bad since inking a long and expensive contract before the 2007 season. Zito has pitched in 40 games (39 starts) so far in his career with the Giants and he is 11-19 with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Signing Barry Zito is beginning to look like a huge mistake for the Giants.

The Giants have signed 27-year old righty reliever Josh Sharpless to a minor league contract. Sharpless pitched in 6 games for the Pirates last season and he was 0-1 with a 12.46 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP. He has now pitched in 20 games in his major league career and he is 0-1 with a 4.41 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. Sharpless might get a chance at some point this season for the Giants who need all of the help they can get.

The Giants have placed starting left fielder Dave Roberts on the 15-day disabled list with an injured left knee that could require surgery. Roberts was off to a slow start this season as he was 2 for 17 (.118 avg, .285 OPS) with 1 RBI in his first six games. The Giants have recalled 25-year old lefty swinging outfielder Clay Timpner to replace Roberts on the roster. Timpner has played in 4 games in AAA ball so far this season and he was 5 for 20 (.250 avg, .550 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 6 RBIs. Look for Rajai Davis and Fred Lewis to pick up most of Roberts playing time in LF as Timpner is not one of the more highly thought of prospects in the Giants’ minor league system.

When Kevin Frandsen went down to injury the Giants decided to claim Jose Castillo off waivers and he is now the starting 3B for the Giants. Castillo has played in 5 games for the Giants this season and he is 5 for 19 (.263 avg, .684 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. Prior to this season the 27-year old righty swinging Castillo had played in 465 games in his major league career and he was 382 for 1,492 (.256 avg, .677 OPS) with 165 runs scored, 33 homers and 181 RBIs. Castillo should play great defense at 3B as he was primarily a 2B in his career with the Pirates. But, don’t expect the power that most teams expect from their starting 3B as Castillo is not that type of hitter.

You have to feel bad for Kevin Frandsen who appeared to finally be on the verge of getting a starting job this spring before he ruptured his left Achillies Tendon. He will likely miss the remainder of the 2008 season. The 26-year old righty swinging Frandsen played in 109 games for the Giants last season and he was 71 for 264 (.269 avg, .710 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 5 homers and 31 RBIs. Frandsen has now played in 150 games in his major league career and he is 91 for 357 (.255 avg, .683 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 7 homers and 38 RBIs. This was a really bad break for Frandsen.

The Giants are going young in the bullpen for this season. 26-year old righty Brian Wilson will be the closer for the Giants this season. He pitched in 24 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 1-2 with 6 saves, a 2.28 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. He has nasty enough stuff to be the man so it will be interesting to see if he can hold onto the job all season.

28-year old righty Brad Hennessey will be one of the top set-up men for the Giants this season. He pitched in 69 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 4-5 with 19 saves, a 3.42 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.

32-year old righty Tyler Walker has come back to the Giants and he will also pitch late in games. He pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP.

30-year old lefty Mark Taschner will likely be the top lefty in the pen this season for the Giants. He pitched in 63 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 3-1 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.

39-year old righty Keiichi Yabu has not pitched in the majors since 2005 but he made the Opening Day Roster of the Giants. He has pitched in 40 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 4-0 with 1 save, a 4.50 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP.

26-year old lefty Erick Threets will get his big opportunity this season to show what he can do. He pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 0-0 with a 19.29 ERA and a 3.43 WHIP. He also pitched in 40 games (3 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 3-1 with 1 save, a 3.46 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP.

29-year old righty Vinnie Chulk will start the season on the D.L. He pitched in 57 games (0 starts) last season for the Giants and he was 5-4 with a 3.57 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.

26-year old righty Randy Messenger will start the season in the minors but he will likely be one of the first Giants’ pitchers called up if they need a reliever. He pitched in 60 games (0 starts) with the Marlins & Giants last season and he was 2-4 with 1 save, a 4.20 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C-

The Giants made a surprising move by designating veteran lefty reliever Steve Kline for assignment. He pitched in 68 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 1-2 with 2 saves, a 4.70 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. Kline has now pitched in 796 games (1 start) in his major league career and he is 34-39 with 39 saves, a 3.51 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Some team will snap Kline up soon.

The Giants will likely have one of the best rotations in major league baseball but it won’t look like it because they aren’t going to get enough run support. 30-year old lefty Barry Zito will try to rebound in 2008 as he had the worst season of his career for the Giants last year. He pitched in 34 games (33 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 11-13 with a 4.53 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. He has now pitched in 256 games (255 starts) in his major league career and he is 113-76 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Look for his ERA to come down in 2007 but his record to stay about the same.

I had to feel sorry for 23-year old righty Matt Cain last season as he has some of the best stuff in all of major league baseball but the Giants didn’t give him any help with the bats in 2007. He started 32 games for the Giants last season and he was 7-16 with a 3.65 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He has now pitched in 71 games (70 starts) in his major league career and he is 22-29 with a 3.73 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. On a better team, Cain would be a candidate for the Cy Young Award this season but not on the Giants.

24-year old righty Tim Lincecum rose quickly through the minor leagues for the Giants. He only pitched in 13 games (all starts) in his minor league career and he was 6-0 with a 1.01 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP. He only allowed 26 hits and whiffed 104 batters in 62.2 innings in the minors! Lincecum started 24 games for the Giants last season and he was 7-5 with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. He whiffed 150 batters in 146.1 innings for the Giants which shows what kind of stuff he has.

27-year old lefty Noah Lowry will start the season on the D.L. after undergoing surgery on his left wrist, he will likely miss a month. He started 26 games for the Giants last season and he was 14-8 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He will need to get the WHIP down this season or his ERA will definately jump in 2008.

27-year old righty Kevin Correia will be the #4 starter for the Giants this season. He pitched in 59 games (8 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 4-7 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Correia is a good pitcher and he will show it this season for the Giants.

25-year old lefty Jonathan Sanchez will start the season as the #5 starter. He pitched in 33 games (4 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 1-5 with a 5.88 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. He whiffed 62 batters in only 52 innings which shows what kind of stuff he has but he will need to throw more strikes to realize his potential.

26-year old lefty Pat Misch will likely be the first starter to get a call if the Giants need one before Noah Lowry is ready to return. He pitched in 18 games (4 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 0-4 with a 4.24 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.

26-year old righty Merkin Valdez will likely start the season in the bullpen for the Giants but he could get a chance to start at some point in the 2008 season. He did not pitch last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Valdez has now pitched in 155 games (92 starts) in his minor league career and he is 32-35 with a 2.97 ERA. He has had 2 rough outings in the majors in his career as he is 0-0 with a 27.00 ERA.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: B+