The San Francisco Giants are continuing their fantastic 2023 campaign by surprising a ton of MLB pundits with their impressive performance. The usual veterans like LaMonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores have been fantastic, but it is the exceptional pitching staff, which is the primary asset of the Giants.

Since the Los Angeles Dodgers are likely to clinch the NL West, the prime objective of the Giants is to remain at the top of NL Wild Card race. The priorities before the trade deadline were bolstering their starting pitching staff or fortifying their middle infield depth, but they ended up adding outfielder AJ Pollock. As the only move completed before August 1, it was an underwhelming one for their franchise.

Adding Tim Anderson or Jack Flaherty would have been a splashier move, but this Giants team is ready for the last couple of months, especially with the return of guys like Thairo Estrada and Mike Yastrzemski. Watch out for a couple of more vital roster moves for San Francisco that will propel them to a legitimate spot.

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Activating Thairo Estrada

Before suffering a left-hand fracture, Thairo Estrada was developing into a steady and reliable middle infielder for the Giants. His WAR stands at 2.0 which is an incredible number, which is due heavily to his club-leading 18 doubles and team-leading 18 stolen bases. Estrada is bating .272 with a slugging percentage of .434, so his return is the best thing they are looking forward to after the trade deadline.

Ever since Estrada's injury, San Francisco's offense has plummeted to one of the worst in baseball as their runs scored, batting average, and team wRC+ was 30th in July. Casey Schmitt, Marco Luciano, and Brett Wisely were the players alternating at his position, especially because they could not add a star infielder before the deadline. Estrada's return could not come at a better time for the Giants.

Promoting Kyle Harrison

Alex Cobb and Logan Webb have been two of the best starting pitchers in the league this year. However, San Francisco relies a ton on these two individuals as their other pitchers use a tandem starter approach. Manager Gabe Kapler has been excellent in mixing and matching the strengths of guys like Jakob Junis or Alex Wood, but they are not being used as conventional starters.

Thus, San Francisco intends to promote star prospect Kyle Harrison sometime soon as an immense boost to their starting rotation. Harrison could have been in the majors sooner, but a hamstring strain sidelined him for a couple of weeks. He is rejoining Triple-A Sacramento on the weekend, so a promotion in the next week is an ideal scenario. President Farhan Zaidi has mentioned that he is banking on Harrison to be one of their reliable conventional starters, so Harrison must be ready to face the challenge.

Activating Mitch Haniger

With Mitch Haniger's serious forearm injury, the Giants' offseason acquisition has been disappointing. He is expected to be back by sometime next month, but the organization made the smart move by acquiring his good friend AJ Pollock from the Seattle Mariners.

Haniger mentioned that Pollock was the first player that introduced him to the concept of launch angles, so their relationship has been a commendable one. With Pollock filling in for Haniger's role while he recovers, it will be remarkable to see them both batting for the youthful Giants lineup. Haniger has mentioned that he is eager to come back, so it will be phenomenal to have another bat like him as a terrific option for Kapler.