Lewis and Lincecum Give Giants a Lift

The Giants finally made a couple of roster moves heading into the weekend series vs. the Rockies. It was no secret that Todd Linden was not getting it done at the major league level, as he was having trouble just making contact with the baseball, so the Giants designated him for assignment. It was also evident that the Giants would need another center fielder after Dave Roberts had surgery Friday. They called up Dan Ortmier to take Lindens spot, and Freddie Lewis to take Roberts' spot, and the two call-ups have already made an impact. Ortmier along with Kevin Frandsen both swung the bat very well in Denver, but the surprise was Lewis. Freddie Lewis became the 23rd major league rookie in history to hit for the cycle on Sunday as he went 5-6 with 4 RBI's and 3 runs scored. Lewis hit a home run, drove in 7 runs and is had 7 hits in his 14 at-bats over the weekend. Lewis has already done more in a couple of games than Linden did in a month and a half with the team. Matter of fact, he had more home runs and RBI's on Sunday alone, than Linden had all year. Lewis, at 26 years of age, is a little older than your average big league prospect, but for a Giants team that hasn't produced a productive big league hitter since Bill Mueller, watching a home grown player come up and succeed with the team is definitely refreshing. Giants fans can get used to him because he isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Roberts is out for at least a month, and Lewis will lead off and play center field in his absence. Coors field or not, a 7 RBI weekend by a rookie is impressive, maybe the Giants have themselves something here. They have about 6 weeks to find out.

Another positive to take out of Sundays' series finale in Denver is that Matt Cain righted himself after a couple of starts where he got knocked around pretty good. Cain was baseball's toughest starter to hit in April, then hit the wall in his first two starts this month. Cain had command of his fastball Sunday, something that he lacked in his last two starts. He also wasn't leaving 0-2 and 1-2 pitches over the plate like he did vs. the Mets in his last start. The Giants also got a good start from a different 22-year old this weekend. Tim Lincecum won his first major league game on Friday in a game that probably lifted a lot of weight off his shoulders. The Lincecum and Cain reign has officially begun. Lincecum looks like he isn't going anywhere for a while either. He is slated to start in Houston on Thursday against one of his childhood idols, Roy Oswalt. A lot of scouts feel that Lincecum will develop into an Oswalt-type starter so Thursdays match-up should be a terrific one. I am curious to see what happens with Russ Ortiz when he comes off the disabled list on May 17th. If Lincecum has another good outing on Thursday, Ortiz could be slated for relief when he returns. I would be all for Ortiz taking Vinny Chulk's spot in the bullpen if it comes down to that. Chulk has been a noticeable weak link in this bullpen, his days in SF could be numbered.

I also wanted to point out that Barry Zito and the Giants are putting on a concert/event as a fundraiser for "Strikeouts for Troops," a charity founded by Zito. It's a great event for a great cause. For information and tickets check out www.strikeoutsfortroops.org.