Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Yaz You Were

 


After a fairly human stretch, not only have the Padres caught up to the Dodgers, but the Giants have done so as well. Which means once again, the NL West race is gonna be an all-out battle for a bit. Which...I'm certainly not complaining about. It's entertaining, they know it's entertaining, they aim to deliver. And so here we are again.

The Giants, unlike last year, are the lowest seeded fighter in this race. The Dodgers are the alpha, with their better record and unbelievable contracts, the Padres are the successor, with their improved rotation and nice rollout of prospects, and the Giants right now are the spoiler. This year they do not have the flashiest team, and with Buster Posey retired, Belt and Disco injured and the prized catching prospect Joey Bart still unable to make it work at MLB level. But they still have a lot going for them, and it's enough to still be a formidable piece of the NL West race.

For instance, as basically expected, with Posey down as the leader, the team has now built itself around Mike Yastrzemski, who's stayed pretty consistent the last few years. Right now he's hitting .275 with 22 RBIs and 6 homers, not an earth-shattering start but enough to be high up on the leaderboard for the team. Most of the people doing well at the plate for this team are similar contact, 'hit-em-where-they-ain't' guys like Austin Slater, Luis Gonzalez, Thairo Estrada and Curt Casali, though having a solid power hitter in Joc Pederson is also helping exponentially. I think that this is one of the first lineups that isn't completely based around members of the 2010s runs, as Crawford has a smaller role here and Belt is out, and it's working to enough of an extend right now. I do wish Darin Ruf was a little more on, but he's been prone to heat up later on.

Unsurprisingly, the rotation's been succeeding as well, even if Jakob Junis is on the IL. Rodon, Webb and Wood are all in good shape right now, and while they may need to do some bullpen games to fill the void before Junis or perhaps even Boyd [is that a thing that can happen? Is he ever gonna pitch this year?] gets activated, the bullpen is good enough that I'm not immediately worried. I also think giving Camilo Doval the ninth full time was a good idea, as he's got the sort of smoke and flashiness one needs to be a good closer.

This isn't a perfect team right now, but it's an underrated, low-key charmer that can do some serious damage if teams keep underestimating them. I would love to see what circumstances lead to this team taking 1st, but this three-team battle could go so many different ways.

Coming Tonight: It took him a month...but this guy isn't quite done punishing baseballs.

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