After a mediocre start over the first two months of the season, mirroring last year’s precisely .500 record, the San Francisco Giants have caught fire in the last two weeks, winning eleven of the last twelve games and eight of nine against their rivals in the National League West, including a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers the prior weekend. Much of their success has come from several call-ups from a farm system that seems finally to be producing the dividends that had been hoped for when its architect, team president Farhan Zaidi, was hired four years ago from the Dodgers. There are still some issues to resolve, including a starting rotation beset by injuries with only one starter, Logan Webb, staying healthy and pitching well all season. Offsetting this, however, is an outstanding bullpen including Tyler Rogers, who pitches underhand and gets hitters to swing and miss at 73-mph pitches, and Camilo Doval, who routinely throws 100 mph-plus fastballs and leads the National League with 22 saves. Just as important, this team hits like crazy, routinely bursting out with big innings and running up scores like a 15-0 beatdown of the Dodgers a week ago. Yesterday, as I and my daughter watched from our seats in the club section, they followed a four-run Arizona Diamondbacks fifth inning with two runs in the bottom half and two more in the sixth to retake the lead for good, including a triple by their bleach-blond designated hitter, Joc Pederson, and a two run homer by one of their recent call-ups, Luis Matos. You never feel like they’re out of a game no matter the score, and as their 44-33 record suggests, you can bet on them succeeding in the end more often than not.
It’s early to predict how far these Giants will go this season, but I sure like the direction they’re headed. There’s rarely a shortage of fireworks when they take the field, and as I said to my daughter yesterday, you feel that whether they win or lose, they’ll give you your money’s worth.
