If it weren't for the existence of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the entire baseball landscape would be touting the San Francisco Giants as the reigning champions of the 2023-24 offseason, with their numerous All-Star acquisitions and exciting new depth on both sides of the ball. Instead, because the Giants have the misfortune of existing at the same time in history when the Dodgers added Shohei Ohtani, they're seen as the underachieving little brothers.
It's a familiar story for San Francisco, which has seen their archrivals to the south dominate the division over the past decade. The Dodgers have won 10 of the past 11 NL titles, and the one year the Giants miraculously won 107 games to steal that division title by just one game, the Dodgers promptly eliminated them in the NLDS.
But now they have the opportunity to start chipping away at that narrative.
Giants look to set the tone
The two teams will square off for three games at Dodger Stadium, beginning Monday night with the first starts of the season for Keaton Winn and James Paxton. They'll be followed by aces Logan Webb and Tyler Glasnow Tuesday night, then young phenoms Kyle Harrison and Bobby Miller on Wednesday.
Pitching matchups will continue to be star-studded throughout the season series, especially as the Giants add Blake Snell to the mix in the near future.
San Francisco has the opportunity to play with a chip on their shoulder in each of the 13 matchups with Los Angeles this season. For the Dodgers, every series at this point is taking on a similar tone. As the team that spent upwards of $1.2 billion in free agent contracts this offseason, it's generally acknowledged that every team is going to be circling their matchup with L.A. on their respective calendars.
But the Giants know that the Dodgers are the gold standard they are likely to be chasing, so they should be able to find extra motivation when they see those white and blue uniforms in the opposing dugout.
So in addition to the obvious goal of taking the series from their bitter rivals, here are the main objectives the Giants can hope to achieve in their first clash with the Dodgers in 2024:
Get Jorge Soler going
Signed to be the first Giant to hit 30 homers in a season since Barry Bonds in 2004, the streaky Jorge Soler got off to a bit of a slow start in the team's opening series in San Diego, going 2-for-15 with a double and three walks. Driving a couple balls deep into the Hollywood night would do wonders for the Giants' overall morale, plus ideally, it would establish Soler as a bit of a Dodger-killer moving forward.
Here's the problem: Soler is a combined 1-for-11 in his career against Paxton and Glasnow, and he's yet to face Miller. The narrative would seem to favor the pitchers in this matchup-within-the-matchup, only adding to the importance of Soler flipping that narrative at the earliest possible opportunities.
But Paxton is also largely a fastball pitcher and Soler does his most damage when it's fastballs he's seeing. He can afford to sit dead-red for an at-bat or two and look to give the Giants a spark in the opening game of the season series Monday night.
Figure out a bullpen formula
The Giants used eight relievers in their series down in San Diego, not including position player Tyler Fitzgerald. Seven of them surrendered at least an earned run, with a total bullpen ERA of 9.00 in 14 innings pitched.
The Giants were comfortable with the duo of twin brothers Tyler and Taylor Rogers bridging the gap to Camilo Doval in 2023, but have yet to establish that flow in a small sample size this season. Against the Dodgers, it will be paramount to see that blueprint work at least once.
In addition, the names that make up the Giants' middle relief picture are largely unproven. Ryan Walker and Luke Jackson were the key returners and neither stood out in San Diego, with Jackson failing to record an out while surrendering three earned runs.
Whether it's one of those two or some unexpected names stepping up, the Giants are going to need to find outs from all over the pitching staff when they match up with one of the most potent lineups baseball has ever seen.
Keep launching dingers
In 2023, San Francisco ranked 19th in baseball with 174 home runs. That translated even more poorly when it came to slugging percentage, where the Giants managed just a .383 mark, fourth-worst in the majors.
The sample size is barely enough to go on, but so far, their luck seems to be turning. The Giants clubbed six longballs in notorious pitcher's haven Petco Park, with Matt Chapman and Michael Conforto leading the way with two each.
It is well-documented that the Giants have struggled to sign big-name free agents to anchor their lineup, especially home run hitters. Bringing in Soler and Chapman, who has a 36-homer season to his name back in 2019, was supposed to give the Giants that added dimension, and bonus contributions from names like Conforto and Jung Hoo Lee in the power department will always be welcomed.
But whomever they may come from, longballs will be a crucial ingredient to the Giants matching the offensive firepower of the boys in blue.
Giants must weather the storm
Every pitcher that faces the Dodgers knows his number one challenge will be getting through the gauntlet of Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman at the top of the lineup, a gauntlet unlike any we've ever seen in the modern era. You can't hope to consistently put those guys down 1-2-3, but minimizing the mistakes and keeping that ungodly trio from busting the game open when they step to the dish will be a huge focus for this Giants pitching staff all season long.
Much of the burden falls on the starters, who must keep those big names at bay at least a couple times each. But it's also an early test for Bob Melvin, with assistance from new pitching coach Bryan Price, in the arena of bullpen management.
The Giants will have to properly play the matchups and pull the right strings at precisely the right times in order to establish the upper hand against the Goliath that is the 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers.
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