Dear Diary,

The temptation has been there pretty much since Spring Training.  But I have kept it at bay by repeating the mantra "It's too early" over and over again.  Small sample sizes and spring training performances are no reason to get too high or too low. 

But this Giants team doesn't evoke the melancholy that last year's team did.  I have quite a love/hate relationship with this team.  Sure, there are parts of this Giants team that evoke a "meh."  But, mostly this is a strong emotion relationship. 

Take Aaron Rowand, for instance.  I really hate this guy.  His stupid batting stance.  His throws to the infield (though, they haven't been egregious so far this year).  His playing time (whenever I grind my teeth at Schierholtz lack of playing time, the tooth dust falls on the floor and spells Rowand's name).  His contract.  His lack of production. 

All things I hate. 

Yet, there's also Timmy, Matt, Dirty, the Big Unit, Sandeeval (for some reason I've taken to saying his name like a little kid might), Ishikawa (yes, I love him.  And I'm not ashamed), Molina, FLew, Winn and Schierholtz. 

Well, it's May and I can not keep the temptation at bay any longer.  This fanpost might look ridiculous very soon.  It might even look ridiculous now.  But I must pass judgment.  Both good and bad.  So here goes:

THE GOOD

Sandoval:  We were all thinking it.  But he proved us all wrong.  He's a hitter.  There's nothing more to say.  Oh, except maybe "passable defense!"

Lewis:  Yeah, the strikeouts.  Yeah, the defensive blunders.  But this guy has arrived.  If he can figure out a couple of things (e.g. how to keep his discipline from leading to excessive strikeouts) then this guy might just have himself a breakout. 

Affeldt:  Affeldt this might happen.  He's pretty darn good.  And the puns!

Wilson:  The blow up and the 3-2 counts aside, he's looked good this year.  I say he still continues to prove delorean wrong.

Barry Zito?:  Somebody told us he was back.  His stuff is looking better.  He's actually pitching well right now.  Will it continue?  I expect no.  I hope yes. 

THE BAD

Aaron Rowand:  I touched on this guy before.  Remember that month last year?  I really wish that Rowand showed up more often.  He's a frickin' offensive drain.  That's not good coming from the highest paid offensive player.

Burriss:  I think Grant covered him just fine.

Bochy:  Everything relevant has been said about him ten times over.

Howry:  He hasn't exactly looked great so far.  And he keeps going out there almost every game.  I'm not expecting good things from him. 

THE REALLY GOOD

Lincecum: Yeah

Cain:  I've said this a couple of times already.  His secondary stuff looks better than I've ever seen it.  He still needs to work on his control (it haunted him in his game today).  But I think it's time we got real and admit that Cain might be it.

Johnson:  Besides the outing before last, he's looked really good.  The only question for me is his durability.

Sanchez:  I'm one of the biggest fanboys around, so you know he has to be in this category. 

THE UNDECIDED

Renteria:  He's looked bad.  He's looked good.  Which is the true Renteria?  Hell if I know. 

Winn:  He's looked bad, mostly.  Except in the field.  Classy, there.  I don't know if age has caught with him or if it is just a slow start.  I am reserving judgment for now.

Ishikawa:  This guy confuses me.

THE VERDICT

That's a lot of sentence fragments.  Also, more positive than negative!  I think the Giants could actually be above .500 this year.  I really do.  I could see the starting pitching continue to dominate all year.  I think we've seen what the Giants offense will do.  And it's been enough. 

After that horrible six game stretch, the Giants have gone 9-4.  And two of those games, the Giants really should have won.  I think 85 wins isn't out of the question.  There are still a lot of things that have to go right.  But I am much more optimistic about this season than I have been for a Giants season in four years.