SF Giants: Three reasons the team can come back and repeat as NL West Champions

1 of 3

Last year, the SF Giants could do no wrong as they made it through every hurdle in the regular season on the way to the National League West division title and the league’s best record.

SF Giants: Three reasons the team can come back and repeat as NL West Champions in 2022

As expected, the Giants and other teams have come back down to earth after last year’s historical race in the division.

What if I told you that the Giants are still good enough to win the NL West after all that they’ve been through to begin the campaign? Well, it’s very much a possibility. There are three major reasons why the Giants are going to win the division again in 2022.

1. Health of key players

It’s been no secret that the Giants have had some of their key guys out or not at full health at the beginning of the season.

Key contributors from last season have missed a large majority of the games so far. In fact, it’s hard to remember that LaMonte Wade Jr. has only played in a few games this season since he’s been on the shelf for all but 10 games.

Then, there are the veteran players. Evan Longoria is a shell of his old self and Brandon Belt is once again battling injuries in the middle of the season. In all, he’s missed a total of 37 games this season.

As far as the pitching staff goes, the Giants have also been without Alex Cobb, Jacob Junis, and Anthony DeSclafani. In fact, they haven’t had a full starting rotation healthy so far this season. This leaves a lot of questions as to what could be possible when the starting rotation is at full health. Plus, Matthew Boyd will eventually join the club to add to the rotation.

If all the pitchers are back, the Giants could easily have one of the best baseball rotations.

On the flip side of this, other teams in the division have had some key guys go down. Walker Buehler is currently on the 60-day IL and likely won’t return until September. Mookie Betts is also on the 15-day IL. Manny Machado likely won’t need an IL stint but has missed some time recently.

Chicago Cubs v Pittsburgh Pirates / Justin Berl/GettyImages

SF Giants: Three reasons the team can come back and repeat as NL West Champions in 2022

2. Giants will be buyers at the trade deadline

Though they are off to a solid start to the year, the Giants will need to make a few upgrades before the August 2nd trade deadline comes and goes.

The Giants could be in the market for some key names like Willson Contreras, Sean Murphy, Josh Bell, Nelson Cruz, Frankie Montas, Tyler Mahle, Luis Castillo, Daniel Bard, and David Bednar. Some of these guys may be a stretch, but the Giants will need to make a few moves to stay in the hunt for the division and in order to stay in the wild-card race as well.

Ideally, the Giants make a few moves here by grabbing a few pitchers and a right-handed power bat. The farm system should be in a good enough place for the team to sell off some pieces in order to get the right people for the right price.

One thing they likely won’t do unless it’s for the right price is to get a big-name rental that will cost a lot from the farm system.

The front office will most definitely have to walk a fine line here. Given the Giants' current position with everything, they have to be aggressive. Last year the deadline was more to add the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae. The situation is a bit different this year where the team has legitimate holes to fill.

Los Angeles Dodgers v San Francisco Giants / Lachlan Cunningham/GettyImages

SF Giants: Three reasons the team can come back and repeat as NL West Champions in 2022

3. Current standing in the division

There is no doubt about it that the first few months of the season have been a roller coaster ride of emotions.

With all of that being said, this team is still over .500 on the season and sitting in prime position for a playoff spot as it is. The majority of the metrics point to the Giants being a team that is in the thick of things, which is the case here. When it comes to run differential, they sit with the ninth-best in the league and the sixth-best in the National League. They also have been pitching fairly well since they have the 9th best ERA in the NL.

However, those numbers are all meaningless in the grand scheme of things. After all, the main numbers that matter in all of this are the record and the games back in the standings. As of now, the Giants are 5.5 games back in the NL West and just a half-game out from a Wild Card spot. Basically, this means they are right there as they approach the halfway point of the season.

When it comes to facing winning teams, the Giants could most definitely do better. But they currently sit with an 18-18 record against winning teams, which is comparable to many other teams. They have shown moments where they can play with contenders and moments where they look lost against them, which has led them to an even record against those teams. If they could just start sealing some series, this could lead to great things from the club. July will be a month for the Giants to prove themselves since they face the Padres, Brewers, and Dodgers.

The cause for concern here comes with the fact that they are 9-14 in one-run games. Yet, they are 4-2 in extra-inning games.

On the flip side of the coin, the Giants have also been doing well against teams they should beat. They are 20-13 on the season against teams that aren’t winning many games, which means they will likely stay in position to compete for the division title.

So what does all of that mean? It’s a stretch to say the Giants won’t win the National League West at this point.

Home / SF Giants News