After a hot start, the Giants entered May six games above .500, in first place of the NL West. Now, entering the third month of the season, the Giants find themselves 16 games above .500 and six and a half games ahead, still in first place of the division that was supposed to be conquered already by LA.

Granted, it is still early. We are only about one third of the way through the season. But, as a Giants fan, I don’t think we could’ve asked for a better start from this team and you can’t help but be excited at this point.

Remember, as good as the Giants are playing these days, they still aren’t playing to full potential. Could you imagine what this team would be doing with Brandon Belt back out there, playing first and hitting more home runs? Belt lead the team with nine dingers before he got shelved with a broken thumb in LA earlier in May. Since then, only Morse has been able to pass him (11).

How about our former MVP? Posey, who has had recurring back issues throughout the month, hasn’t been hitting much at all and has sat out three straight games in St. Louis.

Oh, and the supposed “Horse” of our rotation is currently on the DL for his second time this season. Cainer was solid in his two starts before being injured after only three innings of work in Colorado on the 21st.

If they, somehow, got everyone rolling at once, this team seems unbeatable.

HE’S BACK

After what was truly a dismal month of April where Sandoval was batting .176 with only 5 RBI to his name, The Panda lead the team in May with a .318 average, 19 RBI, and 6 HR.

Everyone was asked to fill a bigger role when Brandon Belt was lost to the DL, but none bigger than Pablo Sandoval. In return, no one delivered more than The Panda.

Pablo has been able to bring his average up to .251 which still ranks fifth among Giants’ qualifiers, but is now tied with Posey with 25 RBI, second only to Michael Morse, and, along with Brandon Hicks, two homers off of the team leading Morse.

Let’s hope our third baseman can keep it rolling through the month of June, as he has been far and away our most consistent bat in the lineup and, without a doubt, our offensive MVP for the month of May.

MAD BUM

Bumgarner hurled 39 innings over six starts in May, posting a 5-0 record with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 48, while walking only five.

His last outing, Friday night in St. Louis, was his most impressive, as he fanned 10 across seven innings while allowing no runs on only three hits and one walk. Meanwhile, our offense lit up his counterpart, Adam Wainwright for seven runs before he could escape the 5th inning. It was his second start of the month where he reached double-digit strikeouts and he leads the team with 85 K’s on the year, 24 more than anyone else on the team.

Bumgarner was a standout on a staff that was utterly fantastic in the month of May. Both, Lincecum and Vogelsong started six games in May and each posted a sub-three ERA. Tim Hudson, in his four May starts, maintained a 1.46 ERA, bringing his season ERA to 1.92.

Bum was called upon to be our ace this year, and he is doing exactly that, leading the staff in wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, and RBI.

“MEAN” JEAN MACHI

Machi built on his success in April, where he had an ERA of 0.75 and three wins (plus one in March), and put together a brilliant month of May.

With the most bullpen innings logged at 13.1 across 12 appearances, Machi got out of May with a 0.00 ERA, only allowing six hits. He also earned his 5th win on of the season along with his first two saves in two opportunities.

“Mean” Jean has quickly become a fan favorite this year, and has a real legitimate chance at being an All-Star in July. Machi, who leads the pen in innings pitched with 27.0, boasts an ERA of 0.33.

ON DECK