SF Giants: 3 reasons they will win the National League West

SF Giants: 3 reasons they will win the National League West

Reason #3: The bullpen will get better

This may be the most controversial reason of the three. We all know how much the Giants bullpen has struggled at times this season. It is actually quite remarkable that the team still has the best record in baseball despite all of the bullpen mishaps.

This should give us hope because I imagine that the front office makes a move or two around the trade deadline to get some reliable relievers. Even if they don’t, our own Marc Delucchi described three different avenues to upgrade the pen from within the organization. The Giants are just an arm or two away from upgrading their bullpen from below average to above average.

Of course, shopping for bullpen arms at the deadline can be a little bit of a crapshoot. It can work out spectacularly like it did with Javier Lopez in 2010, who went on to become a fixture of the team’s bullpen in the championship runs, but a trade can just as easily not work out.

We have already seen the Giants trying to figure out the bullpen this season. They have traded relievers, designated them for assignment, and sent them back to the minors. They are still trying to figure out which guys are worth keeping around for the second half which can be a messy process.

It is worth keeping in mind that part of the reason why the bullpen was so bad in 2020 was because the Giants only had 60 games to try to figure the bullpen out. This season, with a full 162-game schedule, they will have more time to put together all of the pieces and construct a solid bullpen.

Of course, if the bullpen continues to blow games late into the season, then these words will come back to bite me, but I believe that there are already some solid pieces in the bullpen and that just one or two key additions could really make a huge difference for the team.

So there you have it, three reasons why the Giants will win the NL West. No matter what, we should be proud that the Giants are even legitimate division contenders when basically nobody was giving them a shot at the start of the season.

If the team’s starters stay hot, if Posey and Crawford continue their renaissance, and if the bullpen sorts itself out in time (all big ifs, I know), then the SF Giants will have a very legitimate shot at winning the National League West.