The team that ranked last in the Majors with 94 home runs, accumulated the second-fewest runs in the big leagues and plays home games in a pitcher-friendly park hasn't acquired a legitimate power hitter. The Giants believe that they can offset their shortcomings through several sources: Pablo Sandoval will be around all season; Edgar Renteria should produce more than last year's shortstops did; a healthy Fred Lewis could be an offensive dynamo; Aaron Rowand is expected to rebound; and Bengie Molina and Randy Winn ought to remain consistent.

But the Giants know that they can best complement any upgrades at the plate with success on the basepaths. First-base coach Roberto Kelly, who last year was put in charge of supervising the Giants' baserunning, has continued his detailed instruction this spring. So far, players have worked during batting practice on quickening their breaks from each base.

"I try to tell them, when you work on your hitting and defense, you should incorporate baserunning as well," Kelly said Saturday. "The good thing is that they buy into it. You don't have to try to convince them to do it. They're not going through the motions. They're really putting something into it."

The Giants' effort bodes well, considering they still have room for improvement. Their basestealing provides an example. Though it's just a single dimension of baserunning, it's the most noticeable one to most observers. San Francisco tied for sixth in the National League with 108 thefts last year, but its .701 percentage on 154 attempts ranked 10th.

Lewis believes that he can boost the Giants in this area all by himself. Lewis stole 21 bases in 28 tries last year while playing with a bunion on his right toe that required surgery in September. Assuming he's pain-free, Lewis wants to double his numbers.

"The sky's the limit," Lewis said. "I'm shooting for 40 or 50. I think it's there. I think I could have run a lot more [last year], but if I did, it probably would have affected me throughout the game."

One factor could keep Lewis chained to first base more often than he'd like: He's likely to bat fifth behind Molina, who plays hard but runs ponderously. Lewis almost surely won't budge from first base if Molina's on second ahead of him.

The Giants also must guard against decelerating their pace. They led the NL in steals through much of April before finishing 33 thefts behind league-leading Colorado.

"It's hard to keep that a secret. With all the advance scouting and stats and stuff, people knew," said Winn, who stole 25 bases in 27 tries. "Even when people know, you still have to be able to do it. Because if that's your strength, you have to keep putting pressure on the opposing defense and the pitcher."

"We were a little more cautious," Kelly admitted. But, he added, "Speed isn't going to slump. Once you have it, we have to use it and take advantage of it."

The Giants must take advantage in other ways, according to exhaustive statistics provided by Baseball Prospectus. BP's calculations showed that the Giants were the worst baserunning team in the Majors in 2008 after ranking 16th the previous season.

Perspective must be maintained. The Giants used 24 rookies, many of whom had an incomplete grasp of baseball's fundamentals, including baserunning. Based on the nature of BP's stats, the difference between San Francisco's baserunning from 2007 to '08 accounted for two fewer victories, paling in comparison to the impact of hitting and pitching.

BP's figures revealed that the Giants performed much worse than their rivals in advancing on fly balls, though they were solid in moving up on hits and ground balls. They ranked third in the Majors in hit-and-run attempts behind the Cubs and Yankees, reflecting manager Bruce Bochy's intent on manufacturing offense.

Evidently, the Giants aren't done trying to put their best foot forward.