Pitchers
Logan Webb, R, 24 : Fine spring earns him early spot in rotation
Tyler Rogers, R, 33 : Submariner one of 4 bullpen holdovers from 2020
Jarlin Garcia, L, 28 : Had 0.49 ERA but walked 7 in 18 IP last year
Caleb Baragar, L, 26 : Showed some real stuff a year ago
Wandy Peralta, L, 29 : Lots of strikeouts and lots of walks
Jake McGee, L, 34 : 0.84 WHIP for LA’s last year: SF’s 2021 closer?
Matt Wisler, R, 28 : Even more walks and K’s than Peralta
Jose Alvarez, L, 31 : One of five lefthanders in this overstocked bullpen
Position Players
Buster Posey, c, 34 : Back from a year’s rest and fresh as a rookie—we hope
Mike Yastrzemski, rf, 30 : Team MVP continues to produce
Brandon Belt, 1b, 33 : Absolutely must shake off rust and hit like 2020
Brandon Crawford, ss, 34 : Played well in 2020, starts 10th year at short
Austin Slater, of, 28 : Will get plenty of ABs if he can match .914 OPS
Wilmer Flores, if, 29 : Another of Giants’ powerful right-handed hitters
Seattle?! Well, you take what you can get, and interleague baseball is a fact of life, and facts being facts, the Giants defeated the Mariners all four times they played last season. Buck up, everyone.
It's a pity, though, that the first game of the season starts at night. Opening "Day," hah? Another one bites the dust.
Such mild griping is blown away by the simple joyous fact that, at least in the MLB, Fear Strikes Out and yes, there will be fans in the seats! Sure, an' it's about time, eh? We've no issue with a gradual ramp-up of available seats over the next two or three months; a sane society doesn't recover from a panic, or a pandemic, all at once. But Commissioner Manfred's statement that he'd like to see full ballparks by summer shows the kind of resolute confidence that's been in all-too-short supply among so-called "leaders" this year so far. We need more of it.
On a personal note we're hoping to see the Giants in Pittsburgh in May for a four-game set at the little jewel of a ballpark they call PNC.
Now, what to expect? The Giants will score runs; this is the most loaded lineup the team has sent out since at least the last postseason appearance in 2016, and this one probably is better than that one. Ten of the thirteen are good enough to DH in the AL parks. Six are flexible enough to play multiple positions, and that doesn't count Buster Posey, still a great defensive catcher until proven otherwise. There's a good balance between lefty and righty bats, and more than half the hitters have done well without the platoon advantage. At least four Giants are legitimate leadoff men. Gabe Kapler has made a conscious decision to prioritize offense over defense; we'll see how that works out over a full season.
We're officially skeptical about the entire starting rotation. Kapler is depending on two guys-- DeSclafani and Sanchez-- to rehabilitate careers that are one step from the toilet. He's got one guy, Cueto, whom we all know can pitch and who is at the crossroads of advancing age and a show-me season. He's got two stratosphere-ceiling but basement-floor guys, young Webb and veteran Gausman. And everyone knows how good Alex Wood can be-- when he's healthy enough to pitch.
We're terrified of the bullpen, but that's usually the case at the start of a season when every single candidate-- and there are eight of them-- is essentially an unknown quantity. Well, not quite. Several guys we know throw hard-- and they walk people. Caleb Baragar, we know has talent-- but will have to prove it over a full season. Reyes Moronta, we know had it goin' on-- two years ago before the surgery. And Tony Watson, we know is gone, gone, gone.
There's the possibility that everyone hits, Webb blossoms into a star, Gausman strikes out 200, the rest of the crew holds it together, and the Giants win 88 games... and finish 22 behind LA, 9 behind San Diego, and have to scramble until the last day of the season to see if they can get in as the second wild-card. You know, kinda like last year, but with legitimate numbers. And that's the good possibility.
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