Giants hope less pressure, better offense leads to playoff return

PHOENIXThe Giants did not need to sound their battle cry in spring training. They did not have to ignite their fire over the hot stove. They have been girding themselves for Friday nights season opener at Arizonas Chase Field ever since Sept. 25the last time they stepped foot in the aircraft carrier-sized building and got jet-washed by the division-clinching Diamondbacks.Tim Lincecum lost that game, ensuring hed end the season with a 13-14 recorda failure more reflective of the Giants overall offensive impotence than any fault of his own.But Lincecum might have found something that night, too.Yeah? Right on, Lincecum said in the aftermath of that three-game sweep, when told the Giants would open the 2012 season at Arizona. No better place. Leaving here with an 0-3 record this last series just kind of fires us up some more to go out there and hopefully kick some ass the next time.The Giants are younger, healthier and more athletic now. They are committed to Brandon Crawford at shortstop and theyll cast their lot with Brandon Belt at first base, at least to begin the season. They even chose youth and offensive potential by making Hector Sanchez the backup to Buster Posey, whose reconstructed ankle held up to every test this spring. They hope to dash their way to more offense with new additions Angel Pagan and Melky Cabrera.But for all their attempts at reinvention and rejuvenation, the Giants also must reclaim something they lost amid all the injuries last season: A winning spirit.Last year we just might have gotten a little too arrogant, too cocky, like we expected to be there again, said Aubrey Huff, who went from thong-clad hero to a .246-hitting ground-ball machine in 2011. The Yankees, the Red Sox, theyre always, always in it. They know how to handle those expectations. For us, we hadnt been through that.Its not like we werent contending, but for me, it felt like in 2010 we were just having fun, playing one game at a time. Last year it seemed like we were expecting it to happen and it just didnt.Lincecum might have said it best on the night he fell to 13-14.We got a little more in our head of what peoples expectations were of us, and our own expectations, and trying to live up to what we did (in 2010), Lincecum said. So I think (2012) will be better for us, not having that target on our back, per se, and just living up to our capabilities.Im sure some guys were thinking about what it took to get here instead of just playing our game. Coming from behind the way we did (in 2010), it was nice for us when people were saying, hey, we shouldnt win it. It was, Why dont we just take it? I think that is a good mentality to have.Their team-wide confidence will be lifted by the sight of a functional Posey behind the plate and a (presumably) fully armed and operational Brian Wilson stroking his beard in the bullpen.The Giants didnt have Poseys defensive skills or gifted bat after the May 25 collision that hit like a blow to the sternum. They didnt have his professionalism in the clubhouse, either.Some coaches and veteran players believe that if Posey had remained healthy, he wouldnt have tolerated some of the selfishness and resignation that permeated the room as injuries mounted.Huff raises his hand, guilty as charged.Oh, I definitely learned the hard way, he said. Mentally, I was in the toilet. It was just so frustrating because everybody was crumbling around me. You had basically the entire team from 2010 basically in the training room. I looked around at the end of the year and Im the only one from that team on the field. Im going, My God, Whats happened here?But now having Buster back and Freddy (Sanchez) hopefully back soon, and we got Pagan and Cabrera, it looks like on paper this is as good a team as Ive played on. Pablo looks like hes about to take off here. In 2010, we added guys who made us stronger toward the end. But coming into spring Ive got to think this is the best offense weve had since Ive been here.Now the Giants believe its back to an us vs. the world mentality. Not us vs. ourselves.For all the staggering turnover of position players from 2010 (Juan Uribe, Pat Burrell, Cody Ross, Andres Torres, Edgar Renteria, Aaron Rowand, Mark DeRosa, Mike Fontenot, Darren Ford), the Giants still retain nearly everyone from what Huff calls a celebrity pitching staff.Not only that, but Lincecum, emerging star Madison Bumgarner, newly minted 100 million man Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong are all under club control through 2013. So for the next two years, at least, the Giants should feel good about their chances of winning every time one of those four starters takes the field.They still have questions, though, and some of them are biggies. Pagan had a wretched spring, turning the leadoff spot into a fluid situation once again. Whether its Pagan or Gregor Blanco, the Giants simply must find a consistent on-base presence atop the order for their offensive blueprints to result in any kind of structure.The back end of the rotation is a major concern as Barry Zito scraps another offseason of reinvention. Hes become impossible to hide in a 162-game schedule, but hes still owed 46 million. So the Giants will hand him the baseball and hope he can five-and-dime his way to some competitive starts.Perhaps the greatest concern is a general lack of organizational pitching depthan area where Arizona holds a clear checkmark. The Giants dont have live-armed prospects like Trevor Bauer or Tommy Skaggs, who could make a huge impact in the second half. Arizona has more to offer in its system to meet needs at the trade deadline, too.And the Giants offense will be challenged to strike a new tone from Day One. Lincecum will face off against Arizona's Ian Kennedy, a 21-game winner who bossed the Giants for a 3-0 record and 1.22 ERA in five starts last season.This isnt just a two-team race, either. The Dodgers, Rockies and Padres each have larger faults, but all three NL West teams look to be improved from last season.Huffs goal isnt to win the World Series. Its just to get in the playoffs. Once there, anything can happen. Nobody knows it better than him.Id hate to go out the way I did last year, having won a World Series and then have everybody forget about you, Huff said. Nobody has a goal of, I want to suck going into a season. Im 35 years old now and Id like to do it one more time. I think we can. Why not?Lets go have a blast again.