The Week That Was: Coming off a strong week where the Giants got series wins against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, the team needed to keep the pedal to the metal against Colorado, the team standing clearly atop the division. After two wins that combined strong pitching and surprisingly potent offense, an uncharacteristic start by Matt Cain put the team in a hole that left them with a series win but not a sweep of a division foe. Returning home with the momentum of a 4-2 road trip, hopes were high that the team would keep on rolling against the team they vanquished in the 2010 NLDS- the Atlanta Braves. Getting stymied by studs Tommy Hanson and Tim Hudson left the pitching staff little wiggle room over the first few games. Unfortunately, Chipper Jones on Friday and Brian McCann on Saturday gave the Braves enough juice to start the series strong. Sunday provided another frustrating window into a potential problem spot for the Giants. Beyond the walks that ended up becoming the story of the Braves series, both Sergio Romo and Brian Wilson gave up runs at pivotal junctures. What's worth remembering here is not that either is a bad reliever by any stretch- rather, the lesson is that even a very, very good bullpen will be worse than last season and both the team and fans should be ready for even some modicum of falling to earth on the back end of games. Let’s hope those are few and far between like they have been previously. The Soapbox: Positioning Posey Over the past few days, I have done more than my fair share of thinking about the future of Buster Posey in a Giants uniform. Clearly, all should have the hope that he plays on the team for years (decades?) to come while contributing both offensively and defensively. However, a lingering question is how much time he should spend catching. If we have learned anything over years of watching baseball, it is the fact that even elite catchers wear down more quickly than their other position player counterparts. The way catcher must be played drives much of this wear and tear, especially for guys who spend a vast majority of their time on the field behind the dish. Now, I'm not one of those people who thinks that Posey should permanently move somewhere else on the diamond. Rather, the Giants should limit and balance the strain on Buster's body by creating a different rotation in terms of days off. One of the unique characteristics Posey brings is his athleticism and background playing other positions at Florida State. On point, the team should find out sooner rather than later whether Posey is capable of playing a wider variety of positions than 1B and C at the MLB level. For example, playing Buster at 3B on the days that Pablo Sandoval has off would give greater continuity to the rest of the roster while helping keep Posey fresh for the long term. Some sort of C/1B/3B rotation with Posey playing in the field for days that Aubrey Huff and Pablo Sandoval spend most of the day on the bench seems to accomplish a few goals at once. Unfortunately, I do not see Eli Whiteside as a proper backup C to log the increased number of games made necessary by this shift, though that enhanced niche can be filled over time with ether a trade or a free agent move. The Giants must strike a balance with Buster Posey since he should be a pivotal component in both the short and long term, and there is no better time to start this than during the time when Brandon Belt gets his groove back in Fresno. The Week Ahead: I Just Can’t Wait to Get On the Road Again After a “cameo appearance” at home in the words of Krukow, the Giants head back out on the road for three winnable series. The roadie starts out with a three-game set against the Pirates that will feature Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, and Jonathan Sanchez as the starting pitchers. Needless to say, anything less than a series win would be disappointing. One Pirates player to keep an eye on is Jose Tabata, who leads all Pittsburgh starters in batting average and home runs. In fact, the 22 year old’s 2011 homer total (3) is just one short of his season total in 2010 where he played in 102 games. After the sojourn at PNC Park, the Gigantes head down to our nation’s capital to play a four game series against the Nationals. As of this writing Washington is only one game under .500 despite playing mostly quality opponents thus far this season. It is eminently possible that San Francisco fans get a bout of nightmare déjà vu with Livan Hernandez taking the mount to start a game in the series. The goal for the week should be two series wins, though an overall .500 record would work out nicely as the team continues to work on climbing the NL and NL West ladders.