The Dynasty of the San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants have been to the world series a total of three times in the past five years, winning both of their previous appearances in 2010 and 2012. In light of this undeniable streak of success one cannot help but ask why are they still viewed as such underdogs?
The SF Giants were projected to lose each playoff series of 2014, but overcame the odds and beat out every opponent. Going into the playoffs there were very few major sports publications that believed the Giants could get to the world series, let alone past their first playoff game against the Pittsburgh Pirates ( http://bit.ly/Predictions2 ). Even now going into the world series few believe the Giants can overcome the momentum Kansas City has on their side (http://bit.ly/BleacherReport1).
This is lack of faith is nothing new however as national sports writers overwhelmingly picked the Texans to win the 2010 world series (http://bit.ly/GiantsvTexans) and again for the Detroit Tigers to crush the Giants in 2012 (http://bit.ly/TigersvGiants). Keep in mind the Giants defeated the Texans in a five game series and two years later upped the Tigers in a decisive four game sweep.
Now these sportswriters are not just making these predictions because of some hidden resentment they feel towards the Giants. The fact of the matter is that every year the Giants have been in the playoffs they have had some very serious shortcomings that many believed they could not overcome. With this in mind lets look at this years team and examine some of their weaknesses.
The Giants have had to face this season without some of their most talented players due to season ending injuries. At the start they lost their very talented second baseman, Marco Scutaro, to a lower back strain. Batting a consistent .297 Scutaro boasted the highest batting average of any Giant in 2013. In addition to Scutaro, the Giants lost Matt Cain for the year due to an elbow injury he suffered early on in the year. This was a devastating injury as Matt Cain has arguably been the most consistent pitcher at the Giants disposal for the past nine years. Angel Pagan, the Giants star center fielder, was also ruled out for the season due to a back injury that required surgery.
Going in tandem with the injuries the Giants have faced is the lack in depth of players they have on their roster. Depth at the position of pitcher has been particularly difficult to fill for the Giants this season, particularly with the loss of Cain, Tim Lincicum and Barry Zito. Two time Cy Young winner Tim Lincicum was at one time the Giants ace pitcher. However, after struggling all season with a drop in his ability to get high velocity behind the ball, Lincicum was benched and designated a relief pitcher. The Giants also lost Barry Zito this season due to an inability to agree to terms of a new contract. Zito pitched in the Giants 2010 and 2012 world series victories.
The loss of these key players, along with several other factors, have all contributed to the Giants underdog appearance. Analysts have serious concerns about the Giants depth, consistency, as well as their ability to get hits in key games. Despite all that they have going against them, the Giants still have made it to the final series of baseball. So what is it that they have going for them?
One of the greatest assets the Giants have is their General Manager, Brian Sabean. Sabean has an amazing eye for talent when it comes to picking up skillful players. Over the past several years Sabean has been able to sign so many of San Franciscos key starters on cheap minor league contracts. By signing players that were thought to be past their prime, such as starters Ryan Vogelsong, Joe Panik, Tim Hudson, Travis Ishikawa, he was able to conserve finances to sign their big name players i.e Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Pablo Sandoval.
Another strength in San Francisco’s bullpen is the return of some of their key leaders from their 2010, 2012 campaigns. The most important of these being the team’s franchise catcher Buster Posey. Posey has been a leader all year, inspiring his teammates with big defensive plays, a .311 batting average and an unbelievable .854 on base percentage. To put it bluntly Buster Posey is THE giants superstar.
Arguably the greatest strength the Giants have at their disposal is their Manager Bruce Bochy. He just seems to squeeze all the talent he needs to out of a rooster. When Grantland’s John Keri looked into the numbers (http://bit.ly/BruceBochy) he found that when Bruce Bochy managed his team won 26 or more games than they were projected to. Thats every season he has been a manager, thats some impressive statistics. Still if you asked Bochy how his team has gotten so far he credit to “The unselfish way they play the game.”
Regardless of what the Giants have going against them it is clear that they have a lot more going for them. The Giants Dynasty is in full swing and other teams had best prepare or die.
