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

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. 

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.