San Francisco Giants Still Alive for Playoffs, But Barely

Even though it doesn’t feel like it, the San Francisco Giants are still alive for a playoff spot this year, and they even have a shot at the NL West.

However, things could fade quickly for the San Francisco Giants if they don’t go on a run soon.

According to Fan Graphs, the San Francisco Giants have a 3.5 percent chance of making the playoffs. That includes a 0.7 percent chance of winning the division, and a 2.8 percent chance of making the Wild Card game.

They are currently just five games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers for the division lead. The Colorado Rockies are also in their way with a three-game lead over the Giants.

Right now they have a larger deficit for the second Wild Card spot as they are 5.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves. It’s even more crowded for the Wild Card with the Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals currently between them and a playoff spot.

That’s a lot of teams to have to climb over in order to make the postseason. But, it’s still within reach.

If this is what the front office was hoping for, to allow Giants fans to have hope late into the season, then mission accomplished. Despite this team’s struggles, they aren’t dead as we near the middle of August.

More from Around the Foghorn

• SF Giants: The closer of the present and future has arrived
• BOGO 50% off on San Francisco Giants shirts at BreakingT
• SF Giants: Brandon Belt hits IL with fractured thumb
• SF Giants: 2021 team is approaching franchise milestone
• SF Giants: Brandon Belt is a qualifying offer candidate

But things could turn bleak really quickly for the Giants with a difficult schedule coming up.

They start a two-game series against the Houston Astros on Monday. Even though the defending champs are banged up and struggling, they’re still one of the best teams in baseball. The Giants would do well to split that two-game series.

Then they host the Pirates, a team ahead of them in the Wild Card, in a four-game series. The Pirates were actually buyers at the deadline, but things haven’t gone as planned lately losing four-of-six. The Giants could crush their hopes by taking three-of-four.

And then the Giants will have maybe it’s biggest series of the season as they travel to face the Dodgers for three games. If they somehow survive the stretch against the Astros and Pirates and remain four or five games back of the division, then a sweep in LA would go a long way.

As it stands now, Madison Bumgarner is scheduled to face Clayton Kershaw to start that series. This is the time of year with the Giants back as far as they are in the standings, that just winning the series won’t be enough. They have to sweep the Dodgers to make enough of an impact.

If the Giants can follow that plan and win seven of their next nine games, they’ll have a legitimate chance as their schedule the rest of August gets much easier.

But if things go the other way around, that could signal the end of the Giants in 2018. It’s late enough in the season that we can legitimately say this is the biggest week of the season for the San Francisco Giants.