In addition to their 15-11 win over High Desert Tuesday night, San Jose needed a Modesto loss to clinch the first half championship in the Cal League's North division, and they got it, a 2-0 Visalia win. Fans of other Cal League teams have probably gotten tired of this, as San Jose has clearly been one of the best teams in minor league baseball over the past 20 years. Shortly after being swept by High Desert in early May, the Giants went on a 10 game winning streak and never really looked back. Around that time, they also took four of five from Modesto, their closest competitor, and took control of the division. This is their 6th straight first half title.
The faces are different every year, but it seems like San Jose can never lose. They've won two of the last three league championships and have five total in their first 21 years of existence. Throw in 10 division titles, and it's clear that the Giants are one of baseball's premier franchises, even if they only play A ball. Last year's edition of the Giants had star power and a number of the team's top prospects, including Buster Posey, Thomas Neal and Madison Bumgarner for a brief period. This year's team doesn't have that caliber of prospect, but they do have a number of guys making names for themselves this season.
Brandon Belt may be the league MVP if he's not promoted soon. Due to the nature of the Cal League's inflated numbers, many people are skeptical of the stats Belt is putting up, but he's still generating a lot of buzz online. The offense as a whole is posting rate stats almost identical to last year's team as the Giants sit near the top of the league in runs again. One big difference from last year's team is the speed; by the end of the first half, these Giants should already have more steals than last year's. Six players already have double digit steals, highlighted by Francisco Peguero's 21. Juan Perez will join Belt in next week's All Star game as one of the league's extra base hit leaders.
Once again, San Jose tries to employ a six man rotation. To do this, they needed a pretty deep staff, and although none of the organization's top pitching prospects are pitching with the team, almost everyone that has stepped into the role has had success. Eight different pitchers have made starts for them, and four have an ERA under 4.00. Three starters are headed to the All Star game, including the Cal League starter, Craig Westcott. In addition to Westcott, Justin Fitzgerald made the All Star team, and this season is the first time in his pro or college career that he's a starting pitcher. Eric Surkamp completes the trio. Surkamp made his mark with San Jose last year pitching the championship clinching game, and he carried that over into a successful first half in 2010.
Like Lake Elsinore, San Jose will have homefield advantage until the league championship. Three of the five games in the Division Final will be played in San Jose, which could prove to be very helpful as the Giants are one of only three teams that have a winning record at home right now. They'll have a bye until the second round of the playoffs which obviously allows the Giants to rest up a bit and be closer to the championship. As for the other teams in the North division, there are two playoff spots to be earned in the second half, and it could be a dogfight. Modesto and Visalia each spent significant portions of the half in first place, and Bakersfield had some moments as well.
Congratulations to the San Jose players, coaching staff, front office and fans for winning yet another first half title. It's obviously a Cal League record and incredibly difficult to do this year after year. It seems like no matter who San Jose plugs in, a winning team will take the field, and a lot of credit has to go to the organization's coaches and development staff to produce a team like this year after year.
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