Playoff odds remain low, but the SF Giants have the schedule in their favor in September

According to Fangraphs, the SF Giants started Monday with a 2.1 percent chance of reaching the playoffs. While the odds remain extremely low, they have the schedule in their favor in the final month of the year.

Playoff odds remain low, but the SF Giants have the schedule in their favor in September

Queue the "So, you're telling me there's a chance" gif. The odds are low, but they are not zero yet. The Giants have one of the softer schedules in September. They only play four opponents, including the Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

They play the Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Cardinals for six games apiece. However, they have seven games remaining against the Dodgers. Of course, three of those four teams are out of the playoff picture.

Oddly enough, the Diamondbacks and Cardinals are not far behind the Giants in the standings, with each team having a 68-70 record. The Giants are only a half-game ahead of either team, with a 68-69 record.

They face a steep uphill battle to even be in the playoff picture. The Giants sit 5.0 games behind the New York Mets for the third Wild Card spot. The Cincinnati Reds are also one game ahead of San Francisco in the standings. The Chicago Cubs lead the Wild Card standings with a 78-59 record, followed by the San Diego Padres with a 76-61 record.

Barring a collapse, the Cubs and Padres will remain in the playoff picture at the end of the year. The question is whether the Mets will also be able to stick. Similar to the Giants, the Mets have struggled in the second half, with an 18-22 record.

They are on an 86-win pace and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Giants. Conservatively, the Giants need to go 17-8 in the final 25 games to even be in the playoff conversation. That would put them at 85 wins.

If the Mets remain on pace for 86 wins, then the Giants need 87 wins to reach the playoffs. This assumes that the Reds do not go on a huge winning streak to finish out the year. To be safe, the Giants might need to go 19-6 to reach the playoffs. The chances of them doing that are low, but they do have the schedule in their favor.

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