SF Giants: Realistic expectations for a shortened 2020 season

Could the SF Giants really make the MLB postseason?

It was recently announced that we will see San Francisco Giants baseball in 2020 after all, albeit in a shortened 60 game season. The first impulse of many fans has been to say, “Anyone can win! You just have to get hot for 60 games!”

While this is true, we should temper our expectations for the Giants.

What can we realistically expect from the team in a shortened year? Going into the regular season before the league and world were shut down, there was not a lot of optimism among Giants fans for the 2020 season.

They had lost three of their best players from last year in Madison Bumgarner, Kevin Pillar, and Will Smith. Plus, their additions of Wilmer Flores, Yolmer Sanchez, Hunter Pence, and a slew of veteran starters did not give the impression that they were going to turn the boat around in 2020.

But after all, it is only a 60 game season and anything can happen. We all remember that stretch last summer where the Giants made a legitimate push for a Wild Card spot. If they could replicate that success this season there is a good chance they could make the postseason.

That is a rather large if. We still know the Giants have a lot of holes on the team, both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. I think we should look at the 2020 season as basically one long spring training.

The Giants will get a good long look at new additions and young players like Joey Bart and be able to assess their abilities and possible futures with the team. Going into it with that mindset is much more productive in my mind than getting our hopes up just because it is a shortened year.

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No matter what, just the fact that it looks like baseball will be played at all in 2020 is an exciting prospect. It remains to be seen whether the season will go on unabated or if it will have to shut down due to a breakout of COVID-19, but we can only hope that 2020 will be a safe and productive season for the Giants.