This offseason the experts picked the Giants to be one of the worst teams in baseball history especially on the offensive side. There was no way this team could compete in the tough NL West. Well believe or not, the Giants actually have a shot. The West has been a joke so far this season and the Giants are playing decent enough ball to be third in the division. As of right now, the Giants are sitting just 5.5 games out of first. If you would have told me that on June 26th the Giants were in third place, I would have laughed my ass off! I will now go through and explain just how the Giants can stay in this race and be competitive throughout the season.

- The Giants have six starters hitting .285 or better, three of them hitting over .300. Bengie Molina is leading this offense in batting average and RBI. He is 7th in the NL in BA. This team as a whole is hitting .261 which is good for 4th in the NL. This team can hit with anyone.

- The Giants are first in the NL in doubles and second in triples. Guys are getting in scoring position all the time for this team.

- Even when the Giants aren't getting the doubles and triples, they are still getting in scoring position. The Giants are 6th in the NL in stolen bases and have really slacked off in this department. Once they get back on track, more runs will be scored.

- 6th in the NL in OBP is also a good sign of what this team is doing offensively.

- Tim Lincecum. This guy has been lights out and is 7-1 following a Giants loss. To have a great stopper like him is a must to be competitive. He is second in NL ERA, second in NL SO's and has a 8-1 record. He's also good for 12th in innings pitched which shows how he's maturing as a starter.

- Three starters in the top 10 in strikeouts. Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain have been dominating the strike zone this season. Now if they could stay in the strike zone things would be going better. Sanchez has really turned out ot be something else this season. Sanchez was rumored to be going to the ChiSox for Joe Crede and thank god the Giants didn't do it. Sanchez is third, right behind Lincecum in strikeouts. He is 7-4 with a 3.98 ERA

- The younger guys should get better. The Giants have a young bench but a successful one so far. Guys like Bowker, Horwitz and Denker have been pleasant surprises. Emmanuel Burriss will start playing more and more at shortstop which helps improve the offense. Bowker is tied with the team lead in homeruns. Horwitz has two in just 17 games and is hitting .276. Denker has brought smiles to Giants faces with his slick defense and he's hitting .296. He is a great guy to have behind Durham right now. With Bowker and Burriss getting more and more playing time, the offense will get better too. Holm continues to call good games but his bat is missing. Hopefully he can return to his April form.

Now here is what is going holding the Giants back now and what needs to be worked on from here on out.

- Barry Zito. Zito pitched a beauty last night giving up just one run in 6 2/3 innings. Too bad those starts are far in between. Zito is 3-11 with a 5.91 ERA. Rumors were whirling about Zito and old pitching coach Rick Peterson reuniting to help correct whatever the hell is wrong with Zito. He had an impressive May with a 3.49 ERA but has one of 9.00 in June. With Lincecum, Cain and Sanchez starting to click and Correia coming back Zito needs to get in gear.

- Giants are the second worst homerun hitting team in the NL. Aaron Rowand and John Bowker are leading this team in HRs with eight. Its so bad that without Matt Cain the Giants would be dead last in HRs. Giants have got to do a better job hitting the timely long ball.

- Giants can hit with anyone...except with RISP. The Giants are hitting .251 with RISP and only have hit 10 of the 52 HRs then. Giants are hitting a lousy .224 with RISP and two outs. They are not able to get the clutch hits. I can attribute a lot of this to the young guys who just don't comprehend the situations. Swinging at first pitches and not waiting for their pitch to drive. The Giants being 5th in double plays doesn't help anything either. That results in the Giants being 14th in runs scored.

- Giants are 11th in bullpen ERA. The Giants have already started to address that by designating Chulk for assignment. Yabu has been a great low risk signing but injuries to Valdez and others have hurt. Hinshaw has done well too and should improve. Once Valdez is healthy or should I say if he is healthy again, Valdez and Hinshaw should be setting up Wilson. Wilson leads the NL in saves but does have a 4.40 ERA. A 35/15 strikeout to walk ratio is not that impressive either. He needs to show more control and get ahead of hitters. When he falls behind is when he gets in trouble.

- Bruce Bochy. This guy have been atrocious again this year. Poor decision after poor decision have cost us games, games in which we could have won. Sticking with Hennessey and Misch so long was an awful move. Starting Bowker so much when Aurilia was starting to heat up was not right since Bowker wasn't hitting. His bullpen management hasn't been that good. He sticks with relievers a batter too late a lot. Bochy will be a big reason this team stays where they are.

The Giants are 5.5 back and have a chance to make some noise in this division for a while. Things will have to change and players will have to get healthy but the Giants could do it. I know they don't have a great chance of doing this but this team is hitting the ball and getting better all around. Correia coming back helps a lot as Misch costs us game after game. The Giants need to start stealing bases more and use a hit and run every now and then to get out of the double play opportunity. I think the hitting will develop and the BA with RISP will be on the rise. More playing time for Denker would make it easier to trade Durham if the right offer came along. A few moves here and there, nothing major, could get this team on the winning track. Well, just enough to compete in the West.