ESPN.com - Major League Baseball - San Francisco Giants preview


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Thursday, April 5
San Francisco Giants preview

ESPN.com

POWER RANKINGS


	NL MVP Jeff Kent had a dream season in 2000. What can he do for an encore?

Strength of schedule
.498, 8th in NL
Lineup ranking
2nd in NL
Pitching ranking
2nd in NL
Prediction
1st in NL West

The lowdown
2000 record: 97-65 (1st in NL West), lost in Division Series
Runs scored: 925, 3rd in NL
Runs allowed: 747, 4th in NL

Three key issues for 2001
1. Can Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds come close to repeating their 1-2 MVP finish?

2. Can Robb Nen and Felix Rodriguez repeat their dominating 1-2 performance out of the bullpen?

3. Can Pedro Feliz and Armando Rios provide an effective 1-2 replacement for Bill Mueller and Ellis Burks?

Three key facts
1. Jeff Kent's 125 RBI in 2000 give him 475 since 1997, the most ever by a second baseman over a four-year span.

2. Robb Nen led all National League relievers with a 1.50 ERA and was third in the league with 41 saves.

3. The Giants committed a National League-low 93 errors last season.

RETURNING 2000 STATISTICAL LEADERS

AVG	J. Kent	.334
HR	B. Bonds	49
RBI	J. Kent	125
RUN	B. Bonds	129
SB	M. Benard	22
WIN	L. Hernandez	17
SV	R. Nen	41
ERA	L. Hernandez	3.75
Complete 2000 Statistics: Batting \| Pitching

Dave Campbell's scenarios
Best case: "The Giants win the pennant!"
Giants have great balance and could win the West again.

Worst case: "Bonds'" market falls.
Barry may not be able to repeat his stellar 2000 performance and the Giants miss the playoffs.

ESPN.com's lineup analysis
Player	Comment	Pos. rank*
M. Benard, CF	Had defensive lapses and offensive lapses	12
R. Aurilia, SS	First NL SS with back-back 20-HR years since Banks	2
B. Bonds, LF	Had 275 fewer RBI "opportunities" than Jeff Kent	1
J. Kent, 2B	From 20th-round draft pick to NL MVP	2
J.T. Snow, 1B	Has slugged higher than .465 just once	8
A. Rios, RF	Career slugging pct. of .528; platoon with Eric Davis	9
P. Feliz, 3B	Hit 33 HRs at Triple-A; Russ Davis around too	14
B. Estalella, C	Play this guy on a regular basis, he'll hit 25 HRs	8
ESPN.com's pitching staff analysis
L. Hernandez, RHP	Arm has held up through lots of pitches	12
S. Estes, LHP	Doesn't appear he'll ever repeat that 19-5, 3.18 year	20
R. Ortiz, RHP	Improved control led to 10-4, 3.22 second half	29
K. Rueter, LHP	Not pretty, but he wins: career pct. of .628	35
Middle relief	Dusty Baker always seems to get good results	2
R. Nen, CL	Dominant year, but had no saves of more than 1 inning	3

	Position average (NL rank):	7.00 (2nd)
	Pitching index (NL rank):	2.75 (2nd)

* Position rank, compiled by ESPN.com's baseball staff, compares each NL team's strength at that position, including platoons, based on players' total projected value (offense, defense, durability) for the 2001 season.

NL position players and bullpens ranked on a 1-16 basis, with 1 being best.
NL starting pitchers ranked on 1-64 basis, with 1 being best. Cumulative rankings of starting pitchers are combined with bullpen and closer for overall pitching index, with more weight given to starters.
In both rankings, 1.00 is the best possible score, 16.00 the worst.

Click here for position-by-position NL rankings.

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