Although the San Francisco Giants lost 5 – 4 to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, March 13, I still considered it a positive outing for the Giants. As reported by Mike Bauman at mlb.com, the loss was outshined, at least for the most part, by the return of players who missed at least part of last season due to injuries. Among those recovering players who were part of the Giants lineup on Tuesday were Buster Posey, Sergio Romo, Freddy Sanchez and Pablo Sandoval.

As Bauman pointed out, the highlight of the day had to be the presence of Buster Posey, the catcher who won the 2010 Rookie of the Year and was forced out of a large part of the 2011 season due to a devastating ankle injury in May. Posey began appearing in games last week, and so far has looked like a solid, fully-healed athlete who is ready for the long stretch.

Greater baseball minds than my own, such as the author of the aforementioned article, believe that the Giants may indeed manage a season reminiscent of their 2010 performance as long as everyone remains healthy. I can’t disagree with that and, as a fan, could not be more excited by the prospect. Of particular interest to me this year will be the opportunity to watch Tim Lincecum work his usual magic and Brian Wilson prove that his elbow injury is truly a thing of the past. Lincecum has had a bit of a rough start during the first few games, but he has only thrown a total of eight innings and seems to have once again found his stride while pitching four innings against the Royals on March 12.

Likewise, Brian Wilson has pitched a few successful innings so far, leading me to believe that the Giants will achieve the sort of pitching depth they were able to harness in 2010 while also improving on offense thanks to the return of batters like Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez. I am more fan than expert, but so far I can’t help but believe that the Giants are in store for another shot at post-season greatness.

Christopher Brown is a long-time Major League Baseball fan who should probably pull for the Atlanta Braves since he lives in Alabama, but learned to love the San Francisco Giants while living near the Bay Area in the ’90s. Chris also has a young son who shares his love of baseball and helps him cheer for the Giants.

Sources:

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120313&content_id=27260296&vkey=news_sf&c_id=sf#disqus_thread

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=320313126

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Giants-Win-Tim-Lincecum-Pitches-Four-Innings-142402865.html