Season Recap

           The 2012 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants come into this season primed to repeat, but face numerous questions. “The Freak,” Tim Lincecum is a major area of concern for the Giants, after he posted an abysmal 10-15 record with 5.18 ERA last season. Bruce Bochy and Dave Righetti hope that Lincecum will return to the form that made him one of the best pitchers in the game earlier in his career. After the departure of Melky Cabrera through free agency, the Giants are forced to platoon in left field with Gregor Blanco and Andres Torres. While both Blanco and Torres have solid gloves, their bats have been very inconsistent over the past couple of seasons. Another worry for the Giants has to be the 37-year-old Marco Scutaro, who batted .362 in his 61 games in San Francisco, but it is unlikely he will keep this outrageous pace up through 2013.

            The Giants are a very solid 16-12 and are coming off a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are sitting second in the strong NL West behind the Colorado Rockies (17-11), who are off to a very hot start.  Because of a lack of experience and a weak pitching staff, the Rockies will almost certainly tail off as the season progresses. The Arizona Diamondbacks traded away their star Justin Upton in the offseason, and added a lot of depth through the signing of Cody Ross, making them a serious contender in the West. The Los Angeles Dodgers have spent millions of dollars acquiring big name players through trades and free agency, but they have been decimated by injuries to Chad Billingsley, Zack Greinke, Chris Capuano, and Clayton Kershaw was just placed on the Bereavement List. The NL West is one of the best divisions in baseball this season, making it a tough challenge for the Giants to repeat.

            Over the past few seasons, the Giants have relied heavily on their staring pitching and timely hitting, but this season it seems to be the opposite. Starters Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong have struggled mightily this season, Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito have been very inconsistent, but Madison Bumgarner has become the Giants new ace. NL MVP Buster Posey started 2013 very slowly, but he has come on strong as of late, and is now batting .267 with three homeruns and 15 RBI. The surprise of the season so far has to be Brandon Crawford, whose bat is finally catching up with his glove. Crawford is now leading the Giants with five homeruns. If these two guys can continue their production into the summer, San Francisco will be a shoe-in for the playoffs.

            The month of May presents the Giants with a lot of challenges in terms of the schedule. They have series’ against the A’s, Braves, Nationals, Phillies, Dodgers, Rockies, and even take a trip to Toronto to square off with their old teammate Melky Cabrera. If the Giants can finish this month with a record of .500 or better, they will be in a great position to make the postseason.

            My prediction for the NL West this year is that the Giants will win their third division crown in the last four years with a record of 92-70. As surprising as it sounds, the Dodgers will miss the playoffs, and their expensive experiment will fail once again.