The Giants Baseball Blog

If you would have told me that the Giants would have only scored 2 runs total in the first two ballgames of the season vs. the Dodgers, I would have for surely predicted an 0-2 start. However, 2 games into the 2018 season, and the Giants have a lot to be optimistic about after starting out 2-0. I know it's way too early to be too optimistic about things, but two things that were a big mess for this team in 2017, the pitching and the defense, have looked great in the first couple of games of 2018. Johnny Cueto followed up Ty Blach's brilliant outing in the opener with an even better showing Friday night at Dodgers Stadium. The pivotal Giants arm, and their ace until Madison Bumgarner comes back, looked the part on Friday, keeping the ball down and where he wanted it throughout the night yielding only a little bloop single to Chris Taylor. That was the one and only hit the Dodgers would have on this night, as Cueto went on to go 7 strong, allowing just the one baserunner and s...

Baseball is back ladies and gentlemen! And taking into account all the bad news the Giants have received regarding their starting pitchers and now their closer, Mark Melancon, it makes this victory that much sweeter. Ty Blach, filling in for what should have been another Opening Day start from Madison Bumgarner, did his best Bumgarner impression, tossing 5 shutout innings, holding the Dodgers to just 3 hits and really staying in control of this game. In fact, on this night, Blach looked even better than Clayton Kershaw, who was on his game himself. The only difference in this game came on one swing of the bat from Joe Panik as he barely hooked a towering home run inside the right field foul pole off the Dodgers' ace for the games only run. The Giants were threatening in the first couple of innings with multiple base-runners and repeatedly were unable to cash in as Kershaw was doing what Kershaw does so well. So who knows how things would have shaken out had Joe Panik not inched t...

Spring Training is over everyone, and in about 24 hours from posting this, we/re going to see what the new look Giants will look like when games start counting for real! I know we're all still reeling a little from the Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija news. Now there's a chance closer Mark Melancon starts the year on the DL, or at the very least will be on limited duty to start the year, which would add that much more pressure onto the pitching staff. However, if the Giants are truly a team built to win and play in October, they will find a way to survive until they get their two horses back. Being a Giants site, I'm not gonna lie and say we're not a little biased in picking the Giants to clinch a wild card spot, but if they survive until they get their starters back and Melancon can comfortably throw when needed, then they'll be in position to do just that. Here's how we see the NL West breaking down in 2018. 1st Place, Los Angeles Dodgers Lineup: ...

According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network and Fox Sports, the Giants are looking into adding another starting pitcher to their rotation, although it likely won't be via trade. Obviously the Giants rotation is in disarray after the losses of both Bumgarner (out first two months of season) and Samardzija (out first month of season). And being in a year in which they're really trying to go for it, it's no surprise they'll be looking into adding another starter to their roster, possibly before opening day. Morosi said that his source says it's probably not gonna be through a trade. So either the Giants will take a look at the scrap heap that is released here in the final days before the seasons starts, or they'll take a look at some guys already on the market. The two guys I see as the most logical fits, if they can get here and somehow be ready to go for the Giants in a couple weeks when they first will need to use a 5th starter, are Matt Garza and R.A. Dickey. T...

After the tough pill to swallow that is the Madison Bumgarner injury (more on that in this post ), we have to tread forward and we're going to try and get our minds off it for a few minutes by continuing our season previews. Last week we started with the NL East and today we'll be dissecting the NL Central. Without further ado, let's get to it. 1st Place, Chicago Cubs Lineup: CF Ian Happ (S) 3B Kris Bryant (R) 1B Anthony Rizzo (L) C Wilson Contreras (R) MVP Candidate Kris Bryant LF Kyle Schwarber (L) SS Adison Russell (R) RF Jason Heyward (L) 2B Javier Baez (R) Key Reserves: UT Ben Zobrist (S) OF Albert Almora (R) Rotation: LHP Jon Lester RHP Yu Darvish RHP Kyle Hendricks LHP Jose Quintana RHP Tyler Chatwood Key Relievers: CL Brandon Morrow RH SU Pedro Strop RH The Cubs should skate to a relatively easy division tittle as they have the talent and experience others in this division do not, but they aren't quite the powerhouse they were a ...

Well the Giants got just about the worst news they could have received on Friday afternoon, as the dark cloud of bad luck that has haunted this team since the second half of 2016 looks to continue, at least to start the 2018 season. As most of you reading this already know by now, the Giants lost their ace for the foreseeable future in sadly, what was his tune-up start for his would be opening day assignment in LA. Granted, the news could have been worse and it could have been a season-ender, at this point it almost feels like one, and the season hasn't even started yet. We all saw how tough it was on the team last year when they lost their horse for 3 months in the middle of the season and things eventually spiraled out of control into the worst Giants' season in years. This one hurts even more though because of all the expectations that surrounded the club and the offensive makeover they went through in the offseason to provide the club with more depth in their lineup. It c...

We're getting towards the end of spring training, with under two weeks left until the regular season gets underway. And while the Giants have improved their roster this winter and will be expected to return to their winning ways after losing 98 ball games last summer, their most likely path to the playoffs will be via the Wild Card route. Of course, Major League Baseball is not the NBA, so although the Dodgers (barring some catastrophic injuries or under-performances) seem to have a strangle hold on the NL West heading into 2018, anything can happen in baseball. So, over the next few posts, we'll be breaking down each division in the National League and identifying the Giants biggest competition for those wild cards spots in-case they aren't able to dethrone LA from their pedestal atop their division. We'll start by taking a look at the NL East, picking how we think the division will break down come October, providing each teams projected lineups and rotations a...

We're about halfway through the Cactus League schedule, with just over a couple weeks until the Giants open up their season in LA vs. the Dodgers on March 29th. After the mid-way point of spring training, teams start stretching out their starting players and pitchers a lot more as the season inches closer by the day, so expect to see roster competitions heat up over these last couple of weeks in the desert. Players in competition for roster spots really make or break it down the stretch, and the Giants have a few of those battles currently in progress. They have a utility infield spot up for grabs, as Pablo Sandoval will likely be the backup guy on the corners, meaning the Giants would need the other guy to be able to play up the middle (man would Eduardo Nunez look awesome right about now), giving guys like Chase d'Arnaud, Josh Rutledge and Orlando Calixte a legit shot to snag that role. They also still have their other two outfield spots, assuming they carry 5 outfielders t...