SF Giants projected to be in an extremely tight race for 2nd place in NL West

The SF Giants finally have a couple of wins under their belt and have washed the bad taste of the opening series against the New York Yankees from their mouth. They already won their first road series of the year by taking the first two games of their current series against the San Diego Padres and the Giants are projected to be in a very tight race in the National League West.

Obviously, most people assume that the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to take home the NL West crown yet again. Given how stacked their roster is, that seems like a near certainty barring a large number of injuries. But the race for second place could be very interesting to watch and the Giants should be right in the thick of it.

SF Giants projected to be in a tight NL West race for 2nd place

FanSided recently previewed the season and local site experts, including yours truly, projected how their teams would finish on the year. Here is how the NL West is projected to shake out:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (99-63)

2. San Francisco Giants (85-77)

3. San Diego Padres (84-78)

4. Arizona Diamondbacks (80-82)

5. Colorado Rockies (58-104)

That's a pretty tight race for second between the Giants, Padres, and Diamondbacks. It is pretty consistent with what FanGraphs projects for the NL West as they have Arizona finishing at 81-81, San Francisco finishing at 80-82, and San Diego finishing at 78-84.

Expect all three of those teams to be right around each other in the standings for much of the season. The Giants made enough offseason additions, including the coaching staff shakeup, to make one believe that they can earn second place in the division

The Giants have really struggled against NL West opponents the last few years, outside of the Rockies of course, but this could be the year that changes.

We have seen in the current Padres series that San Diego's starting pitching is not as formidable as it once was. With Yu Darvish being injured and Dylan Cease departing in free agency, the Padres have filled those holes with Walker Buuehler and Germán Márquez, two pitchers who were not all that impressive in the first two games of the season. The Giants have been hoping for years to leapfrog San Diego for second place in the division, but maybe this is the year it actually happens.

As for Arizona, they are a solid team but neither their lineup nor their rotation look all that scary at least on paper. Plus, both Corbin Burnes and Merrill Kelly, two of their best rotation arms, are hurt right now.

We will see how the season turns out, but do not be surprised if the Giants are locked in a tight battle with Arizona and San Diego, the winner of which could earn a Wild Card spot in the playoffs, coming down the stretch.