Play 60

Well, after 60 games this year the Giants are 9 wins ahead of where they finished last year. That makes as good as any a demarcation point for reviewing this most unexpected season so far. So, with the Giants clinging to a 2-1 lead in Texas today after last night's thrilling win, we'll proceed, in no particular order...

Brandon Crawford not only deserves congratulations for starting more games at shortstop than any man in Giants history, San Francisco or New York, and for belting 2 home runs and driving in 4 runs last night, he also deserves some serious MVP consideration, and we ain't kiddin'. Crawford, 34, is 7th in the league in OPS, fourth in slugging, fifth in homers, and is playing shortstop as he did several years ago when he was defining that position. He's also drawn 23 walks in 170 AB, which boosts his .265 average to a .357 OBP. It's not that he should win it, it's that he's going to be in the discussion, and that's a wonderful thing.

We won't be watching the All-Star Game, but Crawford, along with Kevin Gausman and Buster Posey, will certainly be there.  Had Posey enough ABs to qualify, he'd be third in average and OBP, and fourth in slugging and OPS. Of course, we can argue that his frequent off-days (19 out of 60) are what's helping keep his numbers up. But 10 homers in 41 games is pretty good no matter how you look at it.

Crawford, by the way, is the only Giant with enough PAs to qualify for the batting title. If anyone gets more out of a full lineup than does Gabe Kapler, we'd like to meet him. And given the cascading toll of injuries that have befallen this club, it's a testimony to the "Resilient" banner that adorns the Giants' website. There'll need to be a lot more of it in the coming weeks.

Are we ever glad to see Steve Duggar measuring up! .307 with a .899 OPS in 35 games and superb defense in center field. He's one of eight Giants slugging over .500 on the season-- though two of those guys are currently on the IL. And we wish we could see some better numbers from another of our perennial favorites, Austin Slater. He's done remarkably well as a pinch-hitter but overall he's not doing enough to keep Duggar, LaMonte Wade, and last night's grand-slam hero, Mike Tauchman, out of the lineup. 

As a  team, the Giants lead all of major-league baseball in home runs (!) as well as in wins. They're sixth in OBP, seventh in OPS, and sixth in runs. On the pitching side they're sixth in ERA, tops in saves with 23, and second in fewest walks allowed. It warms the heart, it does. And, in a season with historically low WHIP totals, the Giants are fourth at 1.11, which is generally Cy Young territory for individual pitchers. For teams... !

The Giants are 18-9 at home, 20-13 on the road (with a chance to make it 21-13 if they hold on here), and they've got a four-game set at Washington coming up, which means an excess of home games down the road, when things are likely to get much tighter and tougher.  

How many of you would have figured with Evan Longoria and Mike Yastrzemski both on the injured list, the Giants would still have the best record in major-league baseball, holding a two-and-a-half game lead over San Diego and three full over LA?

What about Connor Menez, another of our favorites, recently called up, with two scoreless innings today on the road, in the late innings of a one-run game?  We're glad to see the Giants bringing up the younger guys to work out of the bullpen, which has been by far the shakiest part of this team all season long. It's another way Kapler and his coaches have managed to "find out who can do it and who can't" while still keeping the team in contention. Contention? First place, sports fans!

And today we have the local boy, Sammy Long, whose major-league debut over 4 innings showed 7 strikeouts, one hit, and one run.  He's a 18th-round pick out of Sacramento State, and, you know, you never can tell.