Don’t expect the National league West to be a cakewalk in 2017. The Dodgers are entering the new season in search of their fifth consecutive NL West crown. It’s not going to be easy and they’re bound to have competition of some kind no matter how weak the NL West is compared to the other divisions in the National league. There are four other clubs that will try their best to dethrone the Dodgers. I hear a lot of worry and fear about the Giants from many readers. Some people consider the Giants on the same level as the Cubs, Dodgers and Nationals. I want to put some of those fears to rest and ease your minds.
The Giants aren’t that good. You really shouldn’t be worried about them. Don’t get me wrong or misunderstand what I am saying here. The Giants will be competitive in 2017. They’ll be the Dodgers primary obstacle to the division title. But are they pennant contenders? I’m going to say no.
The Giants have problems of their own. They have injuries too. They do have two starting pitchers at the top of their rotation that are unquestionable aces. Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto are frontline starters. After those two the talent level in their rotation falls off considerably. Does the injury riddled and cooked Matt Cain scare you? Does the inconsistent Jeff Samardzija make you shake in your boots? Southpaw Matt Moore is still somewhat effective but is not the same pitcher he was with Tampa Bay.
The San Francisco bullpen was historically bad last year. Yes the signing of closer Mark Melancon will make that crew better, but the rest of the guys are not dominating. They’ve lost Will Smith for an undetermined amount of time. The rest of their relievers are rookies, youngsters and journeyman.
The Giants have problems on the offensive side as well. They have little to no power in their lineup. Last year the Giants hit just 130 home runs. Only the Braves and Marlins hit less. The Giants ranked 20 in OPS, and 25 in slugging percentage. In comparison the Dodgers hit 189 home runs in 2016. They have a bunch of contact hitters, and very little power other than Buster Posey and Hunter Pence.
They have no idea who will play left field. Mac Williamson is probably going to miss the first several weeks of the season with a sore quad. Their other options are Jarrett Parker and Gorkys Hernandez. The Giants don’t have a Cody Bellinger, or Alex Verdugo to call up from the minors. They simply don’t have the organizational depth that the Dodgers do.
I understand that they had an epic collapse in the second half after getting off to a fantastic start. I think that’s because they weren’t that good to begin with. Maybe an easier first half schedule also contributed to that.
Yes The Giants are going to be competitive in 2017, and they’ll probably play the Dodgers tough like they always do. But the Dodgers are better. Their core players are better, and they have a deeper farm system. The Cubs scare me, the Nationals worry me, but the Giants certainly don’t make me lose any sleep. I’m not concerned about the Giants, and neither should you.
Bold, bulletin board material!
You’ve hit all the major points. 3B Eduardo Nunez having injury issues as well. Hunter Strickland not looking that great, neither is Josh Osich. They’ve been without Posey and Crawford, but not an inspiring camp. Looks like a slow starting squad to me. Moore will likely put it together and be a very solid lefty. Hard to say about Samardzija. Up and down.
Rye, I would be very interested to learn how you think the Giants can get into the WS again this year. You know them better than I do and I’m curious what pieces would need to fall in place for that to happen, in your view.
If they can stay healthy, have a couple of career years in the lineup, get bullpen ironed out, and pick up bat at trade deadline, sky is the limit. Anything can happen in playoffs.
Rye
If Cueto continues to stay healthy, and Bumgarner and Moore pitch well, that will be our biggest problem with the Giants, if we are not better against these pitchers, this year.
And it almost always seems like the Giants have a better first half of the season, then we do.
But this is a new year, so I hope that is different as long as we are in first, at the end of the season.
I never worry about the Gnats. Period. What I worry about is the fragility of this roster. They have depth, but are a little lean on the quality. But we will see how it all plays out. I still do not believe because of the lack of a true #2 behind Kershaw that this is a CHAMPIONSHIP staff, and until they prove otherwise, they are weak against lefty’s.
Michael
Exactly!
If Ryu is able to pitch like he did in the rotation, then that is certainly a game changer, but we are not quite there.
And with our hitters not hitting Cueto well last year, and the Giants having two lefties in there pitching rotation, like Michael said, it will depend on if we can hit lefties better this year.
The Giants big advantage is that they have three starters in there rotation, that often pitch at least seven and eight innings, a start.
And that is Bumgarner, Cueto, and Moore, so if we can’t hit these guys, the only way we can win games when these pitchers are pitching, will probably be in the eighth and ninth innings, when these pitchers are pulled, like we did last year, if we don’t solve the leftie problem.