So, how do we know that Freddie Lewis is capable or not?  Let us count the ways:

.  Center field bat, but had to be moved out of center field last season due to his poor angles on fly balls.

.  Fantastic speed, but poor instincts.

.  Not much power, but strikes out a lot, putting a cap on his batting average at around .250 against major league pitching.

.  Freddie is already 26, rather old for a prospect to make the major leagues and then become a starting player.

So can Freddie BECOME a productive major league player?  Yes, he can -- but he has much work to do.  When I saw Freddie at Fresno for the first time this year, I figured he was probably still a couple of years away -- if he ever made it as a quality starting outfielder at all.

Freddie needs to work on his outfielding so that he can return to center field instead of being a mediocre-at-best corner outfielder.  He has the speed and even the average but accurate arm to do so.

Freddie does have two things going for him as a hitter, both of which he needs to be able to exploit more.

First, unlike most Giants players not named Bonds, he knows how to take a walk.  Freddie is far from a contact hitter, which puts him deeper in counts.  If he can lay off bad pitches, that gives him a chance to draw a lot of walks.  And he's better than average at doing so.

Second, more than half the outs Freddie has made on balls in play have come on ground balls.  With just a little adjustment perhaps Freddie can hit his ground balls in a way in which he can beat more of them out with his great speed.

Freddie also needs to harness that great speed with better base running judgement in order to capitalize on it on the base paths.

Oh, and his speed could be an asset in the field (as he showed with his great diving catch in left center a week or two ago)if only he can learn to judge the ball better off the bat.  He should be working with Willie Mays and taking 100 fly balls a day before games.

So, yeah, Freddie COULD become a good ballplayer.  He has some tools (including developing power, although not a lot of it), but right now he is far more athlete than ballplayer.

Freddie's ceiling isn't exceptionally high, but it could be of starting caliber.  But he has miles and miles to go before his improvement an sleep.  And at 26, not a lot of time to make the improvement.

Freddie does have ONE thing going for him though.  The Giants don't have many OTHER young outfielders.  Nate Schierholtz is the only one who ranks ahead of him now.