36-year old righty swinging shortstop Miguel Tejada is off to a rough start to the 2011 season for the Giants. He has played in 22 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 17 of 81 (.210 avg, .559 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 RBIs. The Giants really don’t have a backup plan if Tejada is toast, so they need him to get his act together soon. The Giants would probably be happy if Tejada hit .250 with some power while playing solid defense and that’s probably not too much to ask of him, unless he’s truly done as a player.

Smooth lefty swinging 1B Will Clark burst onto the scene for the San Francisco Giants back in 1986. Clark played in 111 games for the Giants in 1986 and he was 117 of 408 (.287 avg, .787 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 11 homers, 41 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Clark finished 5th in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1986. Clark’s best year with the Giants came in 1989. Clark played in 159 games for the Giants in 1989 and he was 196 of 588 (.333 avg, .953 OPS) with 104 runs scored, 23 homers, 111 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Clark finished second in the MVP voting in 1989. Clark played in 1,160 games in his 8 seasons with the Giants and he was 1,278 for 4,269 (.299 avg, .872 OPS) with 687 runs scored, 176 homers, 709 RBIs and 52 stolen bases. Clark made it to the All-Star team 5 times with the Giants. He also won two Silver Slugger Awards while with the Giants and he also won 1 Gold Glove Award. Clark is #9 in Giants’ history in homers with 176 of them.

The San Francisco Giants have placed IF/OF Mark DeRosa on the 15-day disabled list due to wrist cartilage inflammation. DeRosa has played in 11 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 6 for 18 (.333 avg, .789 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 3 RBIs. This will hurt the Giants bench a little bit because of DeRosa’s versatility. They were also talking about trading DeRosa to the Florida Marlins but that will have to be put on hold until he comes back and can prove his health.

33-year old righty swinging outfielder Aaron Rowand had one of his worst years of his career in 2010 for the Giants. He played in 105 games for the Giants last year and he was 76 of 331 (.230 avg, .659 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 11 homers, 34 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Rowand pretty much lost his starting job to Andres Torres last year. But, Torres has been injured most of the season so far and Rowand has taken advantage of that. Rowand has played in 19 games for the Giants this year and he is 20 for 69 (.290 avg, .793 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. I don’t think Rowand will keep the starting job in CF when Torres comes back from injury, unless he stays really hot until then.

Righty starting pitcher Tim Lincecum had an “off year” in 2010, which most starting pitchers would have loved to have. But, this year he looks like he’s back with a vengeance with eyes on winning his 3rd Cy Young Award of the last four years. He has started 4 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. Lincecum has only given up 17 hits and walked 7 batters in his first 27 innings, as he has been pretty much unhittable. He also has 32 whiffs so far this year as he has been throwing darts up to the plate. Look for Lincecum to start piling up the wins soon if he keeps pitching like he is right now.

The Giants have sent 23-year old lefty swinging 1B Brandon Belt to AAA. He played in 17 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 10 for 52 (.192 avg, .569 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Belt will be back at some point in 2011 for he Giants as long as he plays well in AAA. 30-year old righty swinging outfielder Cody Ross was activated off the D.L. to replace Belt on the Giants’ roster. He went 0 for 4 last night. Ross will be the Giants’ starting RF going forward with Aubrey Huff returning to 1B, where he’s much more comfortable. I look for the Giants’ offense to start to take off soon.

The Giants have placed veteran lefty starting pitcher Barry Zito on the 15-day disabled list due to a mid-foot sprain. Zito has started 3 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. The Giants have recalled 33-year old righty starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong to replace Zito in the starting rotation. Vogelsong was off to a good start in AAA-ball for the Giants. He has started 2 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Vogelsong only gave up 8 hits in his first 11 1/3 innings in the minors while whiffing 17 batters. He last pitched in the majors back in 2006 with the Pirates. Vogelsong has pitched in 120 games (33 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 10-22 with a 5.86 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. The Giants will give Zito as much time as he needs to get healthy, so Vogelsong will likely get at least a couple of starts for the Giants to show what he can do.

The San Francisco Giants have placed 33-year old switch hitting CF Andres Torres on the 15-day disabled list due to a sore Achilles. Torres has played in 8 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 8 for 28 (.286 avg, .768 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 1 stolen base. 33-year old righty swinging Aaron Rowand has been making the most of his opportunity due to Torres’ injury. Rowand has played in 9 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 11 for 30 (.367 avg, .967 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. The Giants have called up 25-year old righty swinging outfielder Darren Ford to replace Torres on the active roster. Ford has played in 7 games in AAA-ball so far this year for the Giants and he is 10 for 31 (.323 avg, .848 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer, 6 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Ford played in 7 games for the Giants last year and he was 0 for 0 with 1 run scored. He was also 2 for 3 stealing bases for the Giants. Hopefully the Giants will let Ford actually bat this time around.

Rookie 1B Brandon Belt and RF Aubrey Huff are off to bad starts for the Giants. Belt has played in 9 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 5 for 31 (.161 avg, .547 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Aubrey Huff has played in 9 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 8 for 36 (.222 avg, .569 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers and 7 RBIs. If Belt doesn’t start hitting soon, the Giants are going to have to send him back to AAA. Huff just doesn’t seem comfortable in RF defensively and I think he’s taking them problems to the plate.

24-year old switch hitting 3B Pablo Sandoval burst onto the scene at the end of the 2008 season for the Giants. He played in 194 games in his first two years with the Giants and he was 239 of 717 (.333 avg) with 103 runs scored, 28 homers, 114 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Sandoval got sloppy in 2010 as he got fatter and didn’t seem to take his job too seriously which resulted in him playing in 152 games in which he was 151 of 563 (.268 avg, .732 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 13 homers, 63 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Giants didn’t use him much in the post season and they told him that if he didn’t get in better shape over the winter that he might start the 2011 season in AAA-ball. Sandoval responded by losing around 30 pounds over the winter and he won his old job back. Sandoval has played in 7 games so far this year and he is 11 of 25 (.440 avg, 1.041 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. Sandoval needs to stay motivated this year because Mark DeRosa is healthy right now.