San Francisco Giants: Is This Team’s Ceiling Merely Mediocrity?

The San Francisco Giants find themselves just below .500 and still in the NL West after an up-and-down season. But is this team just mediocre?

Much has been made about the numerous injuries the San Francisco Giants have sustained, but it’s starting to look like even with returning players such as Madison Bumgarner, we know what this team’s ceiling is going to be.

So, is it time to give up on this team? The obvious answer is, no.

It would be irrational to completely give up on a team that is currently only four games back in their division.

However, I’ve chewed on this team all season. I’ve taken this team out of my mouth and smelled it. Unless my senses deceive me, this looks, smells, tastes, and sounds like a .500 ball club.

Sure, they haven’t had the entire rotation healthy at the same time, and key position players have been banged up too, but there’s just something about this team that screams “mediocrity”.

Call me a pessimist (because I am one), but if I had to hanker a guess, I’d say this team finishes the year 81-81 and in third place in the division or something close to that.

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Of course, I hope they prove me wrong. I hope they run the table and win the division by 10 games and win 11 straight games in the postseason to bring home another World Series as we all do.

Yet, it’s just hard to see them making another October run with this team.

If they were to make a run, however, the start they’ve gotten off to is ideal in my mind. It makes me uncomfortable whenever the Giants get noticed or covered by the national media for anything; good or bad.

Despite the Hunter Strickland–Lewis Brinson nonsense which inspired a refreshing wave of thinkpiecery on the stupidity of intentionally hitting batters and was a blessing for content-creators everywhere, the mediocrity of the Giants has kept them largely out of the limelight.

If they can have a solid yet modest second half in which they are able to eek out the division, they’d stay largely under the radar, which is ideal.

The Giants have you right where they want you when you haven’t been paying attention to them for the whole year.

However, October is eons away. They first need to get it together and start by winning series that they should win against lesser teams. Hey, would you look at the schedule, the Padres are coming to town. Seems like a good place to start.