It was certainly an uneven first half for the San Francisco Giants, yet they find themselves just half a game out of a playoff spot with the second half set to begin on Thursday in Los Angeles. The Giants are 12.5 games back in the NL West.
The Giants' position players don't really jump off the page, but they've been a solid unit nonetheless. Their team wRC+ of 107 is 10th in MLB and the Giants' baserunning has been a net positive, but defense that has been among the worst in baseball has their overall production more or less league average. If they could improve their defense to go along with a solidly above average offense, they could get back to being one of the upper-third offensive units in baseball. Wilmer Flores, Austin Slater, Thairo Estrada, Mike Yastrzemski, and Joc Pederson all were among the Giants' best contributors. Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Evan Longoria, and Tommy La Stella, for various reasons (injury and underperformance) were differing degrees of disappointing in the first half. As were Darin Ruf and LaMonte Wade Jr.
Starting pitching, as expected, has been the Giants' greatest strength. Logan Webb and Carlos Rodón form a dynamic duo at the top. Alex Wood and Alex Cobb have excellent peripherals but seem to have been hurt by the defense. Jakob Junis was a bright spot before getting injured and should re-join the rotation in the second half. Anthony DeSclafani had a disastrous second year for the Giants, as he was totally ineffective and ultimately succumbed to season-ending ankle surgery. The bullpen has taken a big step back, but Camilo Doval, John Brebbia, and Dom Leone were bright spots. Tyler Rogers was also hurt by the SF Giants' poor first-half defense.
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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.
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