Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
After much meditation and deep thought I have decided that the San Francisco Giants really haven’t played well enough to be fighting for first place in the National League West. Actually as of this writing, they are in first place by a nose. But their usual strong points aren’t really there so why are they there around first place? Honestly I didn’t understand it when I started researching this article. I think I have a little clearer idea now.
First of all the other first place fighting team, the Colorado Rockies have faltered a little bit and that has helped the division stay a tight race. That by itself isn’t why. They usually have great pitching and an offense led by Buster Posey and others that is strong and fierce. This year though the starting staff is ranked 20th in Major League Baseball with a 4.40 ERA. Matt Cain has been terrible at time and if it weren’t for Madison Bumgarner, they would all be struggling.
The offense is also not what it was a year ago so they aren’t really picking up all of the slack left by the starters. So then I was at a loss still as to what has the Giants afloat still. Then I looked closer. While they are near the bottom in batting average, they are higher in homeruns and runs scored. Their on-base percentage is pretty good as well. Also while their starters are near the bottom of the league in ERA, the bullpen is tied for the top spot in National League bullpen ERA with a mark of 2.78.
It might not seem like a clear answer but it is an answer just the same. They haven’t put it all together yet and they might not for the rest of the season. What they are doing is having clutch bullpen holds and big time walk-off hits and homers. Timely pitching and timely hitting is keeping them afloat. With that said, you also have to factor in the fighting spirit that led them to the championship a year ago. All things considered the Giants are fighters and they never give up. If they do happen to suddenly put it all together sometime soon, that is when the rest of the league had better look out.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.
