The San Francisco Giants were last year’s World Series champions, but their title defense may already be over. It’s a familiar story for the Giants, who have alternated World Series-winning campaigns in even-numbered years with forgettable seasons in odd-numbered years. Last year’s championship formula was a Wild Card berth, great pitching, and a timely hot streak. So what’s keeping them from repeating things? Here are the things keeping the Giants’ odd-year blues alive.
3 Things Keeping The San Francisco Giants Out Of The Playoffs
New Wild Card Competition
One thing that this year has in common with last year is that the Giants are not the best team in their division – the Dodgers are. The Dodgers have been mediocre since the All Star break, but even that hasn’t been enough to let the Giants catch up. That leaves the Giants looking for a Wild Card berth, but that’s okay: last year’s Wild Card vs. Wild Card world series proved that any path to the postseason will do.
But this year, the Wild Card isn’t nearly as easy to get. The Giants won the Wild Card last year with a record of 88-74, good for a .543 win percentage. That’s not good enough to hold a Wild Card spot at this point in 2015. The Pirates, who would hold the second and last Wild Card spot if the season ended tomorrow, have a .598 win percentage. Both the Pirates (the current Wild Card leaders) and the Pirates boast a record rivaling the NL West-leading Dodgers, so they’re more than a match for San Francisco.
One and Done
One of the big reasons that the Giants won the World Series last year was Madison Bumgarner, their young ace pitcher. He’s still their ace, and he’s not the problem. The rest of the pitching staff is.
Chris Heston has had a pretty good year, but he is starting to turn back into a pumpkin. The rest of the rotation is in shambles. They’re a mediocre squad that was supposed to be carried by a good offense; the offense is full of old guys and keeps getting hurt. The Giants staff isn’t a complete disaster, thanks in no small part to Bumgarner, but it is not nearly good enough to carry the team into the playoffs, as it’s being asked to do.
A Closing Window
Let’s keep things in perspective: the Giants have won three World Series in six years. That’s a remarkable accomplishment, and doing it took some creativity on the part of the front office. But nothing lasts forever. The Giants do not have the payroll flexibility or robust farm systems of some other teams. The Giants have been good for so long that some of the rebuilding teams they traded prospects to at their peak – like the Mets – have already matured into legitimate contenders themselves. My, they grow up so fast.
The Giants are also old. With an average age of 30, they are younger only than Toronto and Kansas City. And while the success of those other two teams show that old players aren’t necessarily broken down, the Giants’ injury-plagued season tells a different story. It was nice while it lasted, though; and this is the Giants, so maybe they’ll win next year when the year is even again.
