Remember a week ago when the rumblings and grumblings about signing Randy Johnson were loud and prevalent? When he was too old to be a number two starter? When money could have been better spent on a middle of the order hitter? Me neither.

It’s funny how one series of solid pitching can make you forget about all the bad outings and get you excited for the next day.

Just as hilarious is the thought that a team can win a three game series by only scoring four runs. That’s exactly what the Giants did this past weekend against the Diamondbacks, scoring a combined four runs and allowing just two. Two wins in three games with only four runs; the Giants will take that.

Now, we’ve heard it time and again: The Giants pitching is outstanding, but their bats simply don’t have enough fire power to keep them around in the division. I wish I could totally agree with that, so as to uncomplicate my life and the verbosity of these posts, but then none of us would have any fun.

The fact is, the Giants have an inexperienced line-up for the most part. They are relying on unproven hitters such as Emmanuel Burriss, Pablo Sandoval, Fred Lewis, and Travis Ishikawa to be fire-starters and run producers. That’s just not going to be a reality so early in the season.

What seems to be getting overlooked, is that the Giants have yet to hit on all cylinders. The season is a marathon, not a sprint (because I love cliches). The month of April will likely not dictate how the Giants end up in the West. It may well be an extended Spring Training of sorts that gets this team where it needs to be when May dawns.

Now, it’s not that any team wants to use April as a time to figure out who and what it is, but the Giants have to be one of those clubs. It’s one thing to hit and pitch well in March in Scottsdale, but putting together a consistent everyday line-up, and understanding the expectations for the starting rotation and bullpen can really only be defined when playing legitimate competition.

Enter the first 12 games of the 2009 season. While posting only a 4-8 record, the Giants have managed to shore-up some roles and comprehend some realities.

Obviously, the starters have to post quality starts every time out. Though the bullpen has some power arms, the front end (pitchers not named Howry, Affeldt, or Wilson) are young and unpolished. And still, the back end has to be stanch and stout when called upon–something that has yet to materialize.

The hitters will have to manufacture runs (I hate to sound redundant, but if I can see it, one might wonder why they don’t–more on that later). There has been no consistent everyday line-up as manager Bruce Bochy has juggled positions and players looking for a good mix of hitters to combat certain pitchers. If the Giants can find a way to strikeout less, and be more aggressive on the base-paths when they do get on base, then they will start to take some pressure off of their pitchers.

Yet, there still exist some drawbacks that may be keeping the Giants from earlier success.

One of those is Bruce Bochy (yet, rather than discuss the manager in this post, I’ll wait to dedicate a full entry). Another, is the lack of an everyday line-up. Players like Travis Ishikawa–who need to develop further and grow at the Major League level–need to be in the lineup everyday. He has to be able to face left handed pitching and learn to drive the ball against them the way he does against right handed pitching.

Also, while the bullpen roles have been mostly defined–Affeldt to Howry to Wilson, 7th, 8th, and 9th–there has to be some room for a four out save, or for mixing in another arm when one of the back three struggles. Leaving a struggling arm on the mound late in the game is a recipe for disaster and fan discontent.

And still another hurdle has been the ridiculously slow start of Edgar Renteria. His career average is right around .290–and that means he can hit–but it’s not just his bat that’s been sluggish to start. His defense has been sub-par and lackadaisical (not many ML shortstops forget to cover second base on force outs). He will likely get going, and when he does he’ll be a fantasy league waiver wire gem. However, he has to take the pressure off of himself and just relax and play baseball.

With the Padres and Jake Peavy coming to town for a quick two game set, the Giants have a chance to finish the short homestand 4-1. Yes, the Padres swept the Giants earlier in San Diego, but with the recent starting pitching performances against the Diamondbacks, hopefully a spirit of competition will be bred amongst the five front-line arms. Not to mention all four Giants wins have come at home this season. And, it’s a gorgeous 83* day in San Francisco–a far cry from the rain the Padres treated the Giants to last week.

It proverbially figures that the sun will be shining on the Giants at home for the short series against the Peavy led Friars.