The San Francisco Giants finished the first half of the 2011 season with a 52-40 record which has them in first place in the N.L. West, 3 games up on the Diamondbacks. The Giants are also only 2 games behind the Braves for the Wild Card in the N.L. The Giants will on the prowl for offensive help at the trade deadline with Mets’ outfielder Carlos Beltran at the top of their wish list. Here is a look at the players who had the biggest impact in the first half of the 2011 season for the Giants:

Team MVP: With the Giants having a hard time scoring runs, I have to go with 29-year old righty closer Brian Wilson as the MVP. He has pitched in 43 games (0 starts) for the Giants so far this year and he is 6-2 with 26 saves, a 3.14 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. He has only given up 39 hits in 43 innings so far with 43 whiffs, so his stuff is there. He has walked 22 batters so far this year and that’s way too many, but he still gets the job done most of the time. The Giants are likely going to have a lot of close games in the second half of the 2011 season, so Wilson is going to be very important for continued success.

Biggest Surprise: 33-year old righty starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong came into this season with a 10-22 record with a 5.86 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP in his major league career. That’s six seasons in which he appeared in 120 games (33 starts) so it’s not a small sample. But, when lefty starting pitcher Barry Zito got hurt the Giants plugged Vogelsong in the rotation and the rest has been history. He has pitched in 16 games (14 starts) for the Giants so far this year and he is 6-1 with a 2.17 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He has only given up 77 hits in his first 91 1/3 innings as he has been outstanding for the Giants so far this year. They hope he keeps rolling in the second half of the year.

Biggest Disappointment: The Giants signed 37-year old righty swinging Miguel Tejada to take over as the starting shortstop figuring he would add some thump to the batting order. That has not been the case so far this year. Tejada has played in 78 games for the Giants so far this year and he is 70 for 291 (.241 avg, .601 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 3 homers, 25 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Tejada will likely be sitting on the bench more than he is playing in the second half of the 2011 season.

The Giants outscored the Dodgers 19-13 but they were only 1-3 against them! The Giants just couldn’t get enough runs in the three losses as they were outpitched by the Dodgers in those games. The Giants need to get more consistent with the offense and the bullpen also has to pick it up a little bit. The Giants wasted a lot of solid starts against the Dodgers and that can’t continue if they want to get back to the World Series in 2011.

The San Francisco Giants are 47-41 in the first half of the 2010 season which has them in 4th place in the N.L. West, 4 games behind the Padres. Here is a closer look at the surprises and disappointments of the first half of the 2010 season:

Pleasant Surprises: 23-year old righty swinging catcher Buster Posey pushed Bengie Molina right out of town. Posey has played in 38 games for the Giants this season and he is 48 of 137 (.350 avg, .959 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 7 homers and 25 RBIs. 33-year old lefty swinging 1B/OF Aubrey Huff had a huge first half for the Giants. He has played in 85 games for the Giants so far this season and he is 90 of 305 (.295 avg, .929 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 17 homers, 54 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Huff usually plays better in the second half of the season so he could finish 2010 with monster numbers. 32-year old lefty starting pitcher Barry Zito is pitching the best ball of his career for the Giants. He started 18 games in the first half of the season and he was 7-4 with a 3.76 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. 27-year old lefty starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez is pitching the best ball of his career to date right now. Sanchez has started 18 games for the Giants this year and he is 7-6 with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. He has only allowed 81 hits in 103 2/3 innings with 104 whiffs in 2010.

Disappointments: What has happened to the Kung Fu Panda? He has played in 86 games this season for the Giants and he is 88 of 335 (.263 avg, .704 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 6 homers, 34 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Giants need Sandoval to pick things up with the bat if they want to seriously contend in the N.L. West. 32-year old starting CF Aaron Rowand got off to a fast start but he has fallen into a deep slump recently. Rowand has played in 66 games for the Giants this year and he is 57 of 240 (.238 avg, .681 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 8 homers, 27 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. 31-year old Todd Wellemeyer opened the season as the Giants’ #5 starter but he lost the job. He 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 12 homers and has walked 35 batters in only 58 2/3 innings for the Giants this year.

The Giants are 8-4 on the season which has them in first place in the N.L. West, 2 games ahead of the Rockies, Dodgers and Padres. The Giants have outscored the opposition 69-41 this season as they are scoring more than enough runs this year to make the good pitching stand up. The Giants travel to San Diego for three games against the Padres this week before coming home to play three against N.L. Central leading St. Louis. They are going to be tested this week.

The Giants are off to a 5-1 start this season as they have outscored the competition 31-20 so far this season. The Giants are combining solid offensive output with great pitching as they have a 2.79 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP as a team! The Giants open a 3 game series with the Pirates during the week and they hook up with the Dodgers in L.A. over the weekend. The Giants want to start getting separation from the rest of the division starting this weekend against the Dodgers.