The path through the NL West is not getting any easier for the SF Giants 

The SF Giants are off to a slow 9-13 start, and they are not getting any help in the standings. The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks are both ahead of them by a comfortable margin.

The path through the NL West is not getting any easier for the SF Giants 

It is way too early to be looking at the standings. That really only starts to carry meaning around the All-Star break.

The Giants are 22 games through the season. They are 6.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top spot in the division. The Dodgers are also coming to town for a three-game series. 

The Giants are not competing with the Dodges in the standings. They are competing with the Diamondbacks and Padres in the standings. 

The Giants narrowly missed the playoffs last year after winning 81 games. They were one game ahead of the Diamondbacks in the NL West but nine games behind the Padres.

Both division opponents conveyed that they would be scaling back on payroll in the offseason. The Padres watched Dylan Cease depart in free agency, but retained Michael King. On the other hand, the Diamondbacks brought back Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen to a roster that features Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte, and Geraldo Perdomo.

On paper, neither team looked like they improved in the offseason. That said, AJ Preller of the Padres always finds value moves, and the Diamondbacks have an enviable core of players.

The Giants countered this by pursuing a middle-of-the-road approach where it felt like they maintained the floor of an 81-win team but did little to raise the ceiling. 

When the Giants faced off against the Padres earlier in the year, they took the series with ease. Sometimes, it is when you play a team, not how you play them. The schedule was in their favor, as they faced off against Walker Buehler and Germán Márquez.

The Giants are off to a slow start, and have a -21 run differential that agrees with their schedule. The Padres and Diamondbacks are 15-7 and 13-9, respectively. It is still very early in the year, and there is plenty of time to catch either team, but this also serves as a reminder that the NL West remains a tough division.

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