It's halfway through the Giants' season, and they're 2 games up on the Diamondbacks in the NL West. When you take into consideration all the injury problems the Giants have had, it's pretty remarkable that they're a) winning on a fairly consistent basis, and b) that they're in first place. Yes, the NL West isn't the strongest division in baseball, but the pitching from top to bottom is pretty darn solid, and when you couple that with the Giants scoring the third-fewest runs in the majors, it's even more impressive for them to be in this position.
So how are they getting it done? Well, basically, the same way they did towards the end of last season and into the playoffs: solid, sometimes-dominant starting pitching, timely hitting sans the two best hitters on the team and the team's leading RBI man from last season hitting below last season's numbers, and a mostly air-tight bullpen. Is it pretty? No, not usually, but then again, Giants Baseball never really was. It is, and always has been (in recent years anyways), as Duane Kuiper so famously dubbed it, "Torture".
When Posey went out for the season, it didn't look good. Panda was already out 4-6 weeks, and there was no knowing how he'd return from a broken bone in his hand. To make things worse, Freddy Sanchez went down with a pretty serious shoulder injury about 2 weeks after Posey's injury. Luckily, Sandoval returned the series after Freddy went down, so there was some hope that his return would provide an offensive spark. Unfortunately, there's only so much one play can do to enhance the offensive production of a team. Even if said player were to hit .400, the rest of the team would still have to get enough hits to either set the table for that player or to drive them in.
There has been some speculation that the Giants could be interested in a trade for Jose Reyes from the Mets, and while this would be a positive move for the offense, I don't think it's a good idea. First of all, they would have to give up a fairly substantial amount of talent (potentially Jonathan Sanchez or Zach Wheeler plus a couple prospects). Reyes is having a phenomenal year, there's no doubt about that, but he's also been rather injury prone the past few years, and there's no predicting whether or not he'll be able to remain healthy for the rest of the season. There's also the problem of him becoming a free agent at the end of the year, which begs a couple questions. First, is he really this good, or are his numbers slightly inflated by his motivation to sign a big multi-year deal in the winter? Second, if the Giants were to trade for him, would he be a half-season rental, or would they really be able to re-sign him in the offseason? I think he is this good, if he's healthy, and so far he's been able to maintain his health, and his numbers are a reflection of that. Whether or not he'll be able to carry on at this pace for several years to come is another question. If they Giants traded for him, I don't think there's any way that he would be able to re-sign him. Other than Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, I think there's a pretty good chance he gets one of the biggest contracts in the offseason, likely something to the tune of 5-7+ years at over 100 million dollars. There's no way the Giants would be able and/or willing to give him that kind of money. Plus I think that the Giants would be very reluctant to part ways with either Sanchez or Wheeler, even with Sanchez being as inconsistent as he has been of late.
Miguel Tejada has been one of the more disappointing players for the Giants this season. I was pretty skeptical when he was signed in the offseason. I really wanted them to bring back Juan Uribe not only because of his bat, but because he can basically play every position in the infield. Unfortunately the Giants were not able to offer him enough money, so he left for LA. Although Tejada brings the same versatility in the infield, his range has vastly decreased and he has become somewhat of a defensive liability. To add to those troubles, he isn't hitting all too well either. .227/.257/.304 with 2 HR and 20 RBIs just isn't getting it done.
Brian Wilson is having another solid year and leading the MLB in saves and is exactly on pace for the number of saves he had last year (48). And this is with him starting the year on the DL. He's pitching well and his beard is stronger (and more ridiculous) than ever.
One of the major surprises this season has been Ryan Vogelsong. When Barry Zito went down, he was brought in to fill in as basically the 5th starter the expectation was as long as he could pitch decently well and give the team a chance to win each time he took the mound, he would be doing his job. Well, to put it simply, he has exceeded every one of my expectations, and has been arguably the Giants most consistent pitcher since being added to the rotation. In 12 starts, he is 6-1, with 77.2 IP, an ERA of 2.09, and a WHIP of 1.15. In addition, 8 of his starts (75%) have been quality starts. What this all means (for those of you not privy to the statistical lingo of baseball, it basically means that pitches late into the game (giving the bullpen less work and therefore more rest for when they're needed), he doesn't give up a lot of runs, he walks or allows a hit a little over once every inning on average, and he generally puts his team in a good position to get a win.
Although the Giants haven't necessarily been all that impressive when you watch them, the more I think about it, the more I think that they'll be able to hold onto the division lead and possibly run away with it. I'm not buying the D-backs remaining serious contenders in the second half of the season, and the Dodgers and Padres don't have enough offense to make any sort of run. The only team that really worries me is the Colorado Rockies. While they may not have stellar pitching, but they have some pretty solid starters and Houston Street is one of the top closers in the NL, and when you play in Coors field for 81 games a year, you're going to score a lot of runs (and give up a lot as well). It always seems like year after year, the Rockies make a second-half-of-the-season-run, so if they're anywhere within striking distance come August, there could be some cause for concern.
That all being said, I am fairly confident the Giants will be able to maintain their division lead. Am I saying they're going to repeat as World Series Champions? No. But anything is possible, and as we've seen, once you get to the playoffs, anything can happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment