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| Monday, July 17 | |||||
| Midseason report: San Francisco Giants ESPN.com | |||||
The San Francisco Giants are on a roll. They won eight of nine heading into the All-Star break, including a four-game sweep of rival Colorado. That short run has brought the Giants (46-39) back into the playoff race and given them optimism for the second half of the season. Before they get there, let's take a look back on the good, the bad and the ugly of San Francisco's first half.
First-half MVP: The Giants are regarded as Barry Bonds' team. When you think of the Giants, you think about Bonds. When you see Giants' highlights on SportsCenter, they're usually of Bonds. The Bonds monopoly, however, seems to be over. The Giants are Jeff Kent's team just as much as they are Bonds'. Kent is having another incredible year at the plate, leading the NL in RBI with 85. He has ripped 23 home runs while batting .355 through 85 games. Kent has 28 doubles and 70 runs scored. And it's not like this guy has come out of nowhere. Kent has averaged 28 homers and 113 RBI over the past three seasons in the Bay area. Looks like it will be a fourth year with at least 100 driven in for this legitimate NL MVP candidate.
Biggest disappointment: An 18-9 ace last year, Russ Ortiz
has been nothing but a major disappointment for manager Dusty Baker this season. Ortiz is just 4-8 in 17 starts with a horrific 6.92 ERA. Ortiz gave up just 24 home runs in 207 2/3 innings last year. In just 95 innings of work, Ortiz has given up 22 jacks. That's far from what San Francisco was expecting out of him. And it's far from what Ortiz can produce.
Biggest surprise: How can a guy with 28 home runs, 57 RBI and a .309 batting average be a surprise? How about because he is 36 years old? How about because he's playing in his 15th year of professional baseball and he has to slow down sooner rather than later? But Bonds continues to defy the odds and continues to rip the baseball as well as anyone in the game. His numbers (through 71 games played) are good enough to put him in the running for an unprecedented fourth MVP Award. Grade:  -- The Giants were expected to contend in the West and they have. So far, so good.
(Scale: 1 to 4 baseballs; 1 = worst, 4 = best) | ALSO SEE Midseason Feedback: Giants MLB midseason reports ESPN.com's All-Star Game coverage Kurkjian: Stories of the first half Ten second-half questions for the AL Ten second-half questions for the NL | ||||