4 biggest roadblocks to the SF Giants making it back to the postseason

The competition in the National League for playoff spots is going to be very tight

Going into the trade deadline, there were three teams in real contention for the National League West crown: the Dodgers, Giants, and Diamondbacks with the Padres lurking in the background hoping to go on a run. The Diamondbacks have fell off a cliff in the weeks since and the Padres have continued to underperform. However, the Dodgers have pushed their lead in the division to 7.5 games thanks to a recent hot streak and now the Giants' chances of a division title look slim.

That brings us to the wild card race and while the Giants currently sport a 1.5 cushion for one of those spots, the competition there remains fierce. The Phillies, Giants, and Cubs are currently in, but the Reds and Marlins are only a half game out and the Diamondbacks and Padres are a few games behind them. With all of the competition for playoff spots, it would not take much of a slip up for San Francisco to go from playoff bound to being on the outside looking in.

Will the Giants' starting rotation be good (and healthy) enough?

One way for things for any contender to go sideways in a season is if the rotation runs out of steam. At 6.3 fWAR in 2023, the Giants' rotation has already been living on a knife's edge this season at 19th in all of baseball. The results are even worse if one looks at just the second half as San Francisco's rotation is 23rd in baseball in fWAR and sports a 4.62 ERA in 101.1 innings.

Logan Webb has been great, but he is going to need some help if the Giants are going to finish this season off the way they want. Anthony DeSclafani getting hurt didn't make things any easier. The good news is that top prospect Kyle Harrison is back pitching at Triple-A after suffering a hamstring injury. Once he is stretched back out, he has the upside to give the Giants a boost down the stretch assuming San Francisco actually calls him up as expected. However, if things don't improve soon considering what their schedule looks like, the Giants could be in trouble.

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