If there's a silver lining to the mess the Giants are currently in, and Pablo's injury, its that I believe the opening at 3B allows us to figure out our best middle infield option for the rest of the season. But that's only if Bochy plays the line-up cards right, which we know is no guarantee.

Those lineup cards should read some variation of Burriss, Crawford, and Arias at 3B, SS, and 2B in EVERY SINGLE GAME from now till Sandoval gets back.

No more time given to Gillapse, who while also young, doesn't provide the ability to play 2B that Burriss and Arias do (and perhaps Crawford as well), and thus is expendable once Pablo comes back. What we are really looking for is an answer to SS/2B, and Gillapse will not be it.

No more time given to Theriot, who would have to be reaching at least his career OBP to justify the drop off in defensive quality from the younger players.

Instead, those three players should walk into the revolving doors that currently stand at those positions, and let their performance over the next month stop the constant turning. The one who fails continues through, getting swept to the bench once Pablo returns.

A solid month at least of consistent playing should allows us to make an adequate decision (I'm aware its a bit SSS) on what is our best pairing for our future MI, both offensively and more importantly defensively. Even if you vehemently believe that one or more of those players is not Major League quality, and can't stand seeing them play, is that still not our best option? Any toying with those positions will be a long-term liability for our team, as any slight advantage's gained will be negligible compared to letting those three settle in and prove which are the most effective pairing going forward. But I really don't know if Bochy can bring himself to think on those terms. :/

I'm really just trying to think longterm this season. Agree/disagree? Is it worth it to continue shuffling players in and out? As much as I hate Bochy's love of righty/lefty splits, we are 5-2 against lefties this year. I don't agree, but just trying to think of the other side, should we count on Theriot to return to his career line, which is non-SSS at the major league level? Promote/Rush another player?

I guess one player would be out of their preferred position, or even 2nd favorite, which might put them at a disadvantage. Burriss's calling is as a utility guy though, and I know he's played 3B a few times before. I also don't really think there's a serious enough dropoff from Gillapse playing 3rd to Burriss/Arias, and again one of them could be a solution to 2B/SS down the road is they outplay the others. Obviously not ideal, but near term consequences I see as minor, and significantly outweighed by possible long-term benefits.

Thanks.