33-year old lefty swinging 1B/LF Aubrey Huff has been really solid for the Giants this season. He has played in 72 games for the Giants this year and he is 75 of 256 (.293 avg, .895 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 12 homers and 40 RBIs. Huff is leading the Giants in runs scored and he’s tied for first on the team in homers with Juan Uribe. He is also second on the team in RBIs behind only Uribe. Huff has done everything the Giants expected out of him and more so far this season. He even moved to LF for a while when the need arose out there. The great thing for the Giants is that Huff is a notorious second half hitter so he could post monster numbers by the end of 2010.

35-year old righty swinging LF Mark DeRosa will have season ending wrist surgery next week. DeRosa played in 26 games for the Giants this year and he was 18 of 93 (.194 avg, .537 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer and 10 RBIs. The Giants were lucky to find Pat Burrell on the free agent market as he is giving the Giants the bat they thought they were going to have in DeRosa. Burrell has played in 15 games for the Giants so far this season and he is 15 of 44 (.341 avg, 1.014 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 3 homers and 8 RBIs. The Giants hope Burrell keeps up the good work and that DeRosa returns healthy in 2011.

30-year old righty swinging Eli Whiteside was nothing special in 2009 for the Giants. He played in 49 games in which he was 29 of 127 (.228 avg, .607 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 2 homers and 13 RBIs. But this season Whiteside looks like a different player. He has played in 31 games for the Giants this year and he is 20 of 73 (.274 avg, .863 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 4 homers and 9 RBIs. Whiteside is playing for his future with the Giants this year as Buster Posey will likely replace Bengie Molina as the starting catcher in 2011. I don’t see Molina willing to accept a backup job next season meaning that Whiteside will return as the backup as long as he finishes this season strongly.

Freddy Sanchez, Buster Posey and Pat Burrell have really added some juice to the Giants’ lineup as of late. Sanchez (the starting 2B) spent a lot of time on the D.L. to start this season for the Giants. But he has come off the D.L. swinging as he has played in 24 games this season for the Giants in which he is 31 of 91 (.341 avg, .812 OPS) with 14 runs scored and 14 RBIs. The Giants gave up a nice prospect for Sanchez at the trade deadline last season (Tim Alderson) and that’s likely why he was brought back for 2010. The Giants need him to keep hitting like he is right now and for him to stay healthy the rest of the year. 23-year old righty swinging 1B/C Buster Posey is one of the best prospects the Giants have and he’s showing why since they have called him up. Posey has played in 16 games for the Giants so far this season and he is 22 of 61 (.361 avg, .899 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. The Giants expect that Posey’s power is going to come around soon and they will be giving him full time at bats as long as he’s in San Francisco. 33-year old righty swinging LF Pat Burrell has been on fire since the Giants have called him up. He has played in 10 games for the Giants so far this season and he is 11 of 27 (.407 avg, 1.192 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 2 homers and 5 RBIs. The Giants are really happy with the bat Burrell is swinging right now and he could very well be the starting LF the rest of the year for the Giants as long as he keeps hitting the ball.

It appears that 2009 was a career year for 31-year old lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt. Affeldt has pitched in 21 games (0 starts) for the Giants this year and he is 2-3 with 2 saves, a 4.43 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. He has given up 22 hits and walked 15 batters in only 20 1/3 innings for the Giants this year. The Giants expected more out of him after last season in which he pitched in 74 games (0 starts) in which he was 2-2 with a 1.73 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. The Giants don’t need him to be as good as he was last season but they do need him to start pitching better soon.

The Giants have placed 31-year old righty starting pitcher Todd Wellemeyer on the 15-day disabled list with a right quad strain. Wellemeyer has pitched in 12 games (11 starts) for the Giants this year and he is 3-5 with a 5.52 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He has given up a stunning 12 homers while walking 35 batters in only 58 2/3 innings pitched this year. The Giants have called up 27-year old righty starting pitcher Joe Martinez to replace Wellemeyer on the pitching staff. Martinez has started 11 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 5-2 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He got his first taste of the majors last year for the Giants working in 9 games (5 starts) in which he is 3-2 with a 7.50 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP. I would have to think that Martinez’ stay might only be until Wellemeyer’s spot comes up in the rotation with Madison Bumgarner getting a call.

Lefty swinging 1B/LF Willie McCovey didn’t need steroids to put up huge numbers unlike some other players on the Giants. He was elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1986 and he was a six time All-Star with the Giants in his 19 years with the team. McCovey was the N.L. Rookie of the Year in 1959 despite only playing in 52 games that season. McCovey played in 52 games for the Giants in 1959 and he was 68 for 192 (.354 avg, 1.085 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 13 homers, 38 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. McCovey won the N.L. MVP Award in 1969 with the Giants when he appeared in 149 games in which he was 157 of 491 (.320 avg, 1.108 OPS) with 101 runs scored, 45 homers and 126 RBIs. He also walked 121 times that season while only whiffing 66 times which showed what a great eye he had that year. McCovey played in 2,256 games in his 19 years with the Giants and he was 1,974 of 7,214 (.274 avg, .900 OPS) with 1,113 runs scored, 469 homers, 1,388 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. McCovey is #3 all-time in Giants’ history in games played (2,256). He is also #4 in hits (1,974), #6 in OPS (.900), #6 in runs scored (1,113), #4 in homers (469), #4 in RBIs (1,388), #5 in doubles (308) and #4 in walks (1,168). Now you know a little bit more about the man that McCovey Cove was named after.

Wow that didn’t take long. 33-year old righty swinging outfielder Pat Burrell has been called up by the Giants. He played in 5 games in AAA-ball for the Giants and he was 5 of 16 (.313 avg, .972 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 6 RBIs. Burrell will likely initially be coming off the bench for the Giants. To make room on the roster for him the Giants designated 30-year old righty reliever Brandon Medders for assignment but he already cleared waivers and has been sent to AAA. Medders has pitched in 14 games (0 starts) for the Giants this year and he was 0-0 with a 7.20 ERA and a 2.13 WHIP.

The Giants have sent 26-year old lefty swinging RF/1B John Bowker to AAA. He played in 41 games for the Giants this year and he was 17 of 82 (.207 avg, .609 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers and 8 RBIs. In parts of three years with the Giants, Bowker has played in 183 games in which he is 113 of 475 (.238 avg, .678 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 15 homers and 58 RBIs. Bowker’s demotion clears a path for the Giants to call up Pat Burrell soon if he continues to hit in the minors.

With Todd Wellemeyer struggling this season for the Giants they might give Madison Bumgarner a call at some point this year. Bumgarner came into this season as the Giants’ #2 prospect according to Baseball America. But he had a rough spring training and he was not too good in AAA early this year. Bumgarner has gotten into a groove for his AAA team as his numbers continue to improve. Bumgarner has now started 11 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 5-1 with a 2.73 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He has given up 66 hits in 62 2/3 innings so far this year but he has minimized the damage a bit by only walking 19 batters. Bumgarner looked good at the end of last season with the Giants working in 4 games (1 start) in which he was 0-0 with a 1.80 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.