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.

The Giants are off to a outstanding start to the season. They are the only undefeated them left in the majors as they are 4-0 outscoring their opponents 23-10. The Giants have scored more than enough runs to make the outstanding pitching they are getting stand up. The Giants have a sparkling 2.03 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP as a team! The starting pitchers for the Giants so far are 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. They have only given up 20 hits while whiffing 23 batters in 24 innings showing how good their stuff has been. The bullpen has also been outstanding as they are 2-0 with 2 saves, a 1.69 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. The pitching prowess does not surprise me as the Giants’ pitching staff is great. If they keep averaging 5.75 runs per game this season they are going to win the N.L. West without a doubt.

Brian Wilson was supposed to battle Armando Benitez for the closer’s job at the start of the season but he injured himself in Spring Training.  It took him quite a while to rehab from the injury but he has been awesome this season for the Giants since his return.  He has pitched in 19 games this season for the Giants and he is 1-1 with 4 saves, a 0.98 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP.  In 18.1 innings, Wilson has allowed 10 hits, walked 6 batters and whiffed 11.  I look for him to beat out Brad Hennessey next season for the closer’s job as long as he can stay healthy.  The Giants are going to take a look at a lot of their young players the rest of the way.  They are currently 67-84 which had them in last place in the National League West, 17.5 games behind the D-Backs.