Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Nothing is the same as last year, in the world at large or in the baseball ecosystem.
And yet.
A year after the Giants rattled off a torrid 19-6 July that made the front office think twice about the selling plan that always seemed inevitable — much of the bullpen was shuffled out, yet Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith were kept — the Giants have won six straight and reversed so much of the feeling around the club.
Yet again Farhan Zaidi & Co. will have complicated decisions to make. Removing a Kevin Gausman or Johnny Cueto or even Sunday’s star, Trevor Cahill, would send a poor message to a team that, at least at the moment, is rolling during a season in which 16 teams make the playoffs.
If the season ended at today’s halfway point, the 14-16 Giants would be one of those teams.
“In 60 games, anybody has a shot. It doesn’t even matter where you’re at in any division right now,” said Alex Dickerson, who stroked a three-run shot in the 6-1 victory over the Diamondbacks at Oracle Park. “You can get hot and maintain that for just over a month — we did it last year — you’re in the playoffs. It’s definitely something we’re starting to feel and you take a peek at the standings now and then, see see us moving up. That’s what you play for. We’re in August, late August, and we’re still in a playoff hunt.”
Indeed. Sweeping Arizona has catapulted the Giants to third in the NL West, four games back of the Padres and with the eighth best record in the NL.
They have done it most recently with starting pitching, Cahill pitching 5 1/3 excellent innings against the Diamondbacks, against whom Giants starters went 21 1/3 innings with nine hits, two walks and three earned runs, which will beat a lot of teams.
They have done it with contributions from a bullpen that has stabilized, Caleb Baragar allowing an inherited run to score but Tony Watson, Tyler Rogers and Jarlin Garcia closing the door Sunday.
They have done it with an offense that has gone mad, averaging seven runs a game during this win streak. The veterans, apart from the DFA’d Hunter Pence, have made significant strides, Brandon Belt’s 3-for-3-with-a-walk day bumping him up to .274/.357/.484. They have done it with contributions from younger players, Mauricio Dubon playing better and Joey Bart looking as if he were called up for now and not just the future.
“I believe in this club,” Gabe Kapler said over Zoom. “I believe in the resilient nature of this club. I believe in the offensive strides we’ve made, obviously the starting pitching has been one of the strengths of this club. I just believe in our capability from every angle right now.”
And they have done it with a legitimate MVP candidate.
Mike Yastrzemski entered play leading the majors in WAR and proceeded to hit the go-ahead homer, his seventh of the year, on the same day he turned 30. He has been a superstar on offense who plays against everyone, whose 1.074 OPS is the sixth best in baseball, whose 28 runs scored are the second best in baseball. He has been a standout on defense whose remarkable play Saturday helped save another win, which should count for an entire Win Above Replacement.
Yastrzemski remembers last July and said this feels similar. And yet.
“It feels like that but it also feels a little more complete,” said a very complete player. “I don’t know if that makes much sense, but it feels like we’re doing things on both sides, and we’re really comfortable where we are. And we’re feeling good, so hopefully we’ll be able to ride for a little bit longer than we did last year.”
The Giants have six more games before the trade deadline, and if the wave lasts that long, this team would last longer.
Kapler announced Johnny Cueto, Kevin Gausman and Logan Webb, in that order, would be his starters against the Dodgers starting Tuesday at Oracle Park.
Yastrzemski on the loss of Pence:
Despite the win Mike Yastrzemski says the #SFGiants clubhouse is a little somber because of Hunter Pence’s departure.
“He’s someone I look up to and someone that I really focused on building a good relationship with… That’s a lifelong friendship. Glad to have started it here." pic.twitter.com/7jg72Jv5Fw
— KNBR (@KNBR) August 24, 2020