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The San Francisco Giants won 107 games last season and look every bit as good — if not better — to begin the 2022 campaign.
The Giants put to sleep a suddenly vaunted Cleveland Guardians offense over the weekend, sweeping Cleveland with relative ease thanks to outstanding pitching and the Giants' typically timely hitting. Heading into Monday, the Giants now sport the best team ERA at 2.20, just ahead of the division rival Dodgers (2.28) and a team they'll be facing off with this week in the Mets (2.35).
Though they had an incredible 2021, the Giants weren't standing pat this offseason, especially with the retirement of catcher Buster Posey and departure of pitcher Kevin Gausman to the Toronto Blue Jays. No, San Francisco made a few particularly shrewd moves that, not only re-signing starters Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood, but adding Alex Cobb and Carlos Rodón to the rotation mix as well to help ace Logan Webb. It's sure paying off so far.
Then, to pad the offense, the Giants signed outfielder Joc Pederson to what feels like the world's most affordable deal, a one-year, $6 million contract. Though he'll go through his own offensive ups and downs throughout the season, Pederson provides plenty of pop and protection within the lineup, especially as the Giants await the return of third baseman Evan Longoria following his finger surgery.
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As currently constructed, the offense is holding up its end of the bargain as well, sporting a collective 106 wRC+, a solid xBA (.256), and five players currently in the 67th percentile or better in xwOBA: Pederson (99th percentile), Brandon Belt (86th), Wilmer Flores (72nd), Brandon Crawford (72nd), and Joey Bart (67th).
The Giants are a veteran-laden team that knows how to win year in and year out. While it feels like guys like Belt and Crawford have been playing forever — which they kind of have — and so many major contributors are on the “wrong” side of 30, that feels like much more of a strength, as so many other teams opt to get younger and younger every single year. This particular Giants core might not have that much time left together, but they're built for at least one more championship run.
San Francisco will be put to an early-season test this week in a four-game series with the Mets in New York. The Mets are off to an incredible start themselves, especially on the pitching front, and all four games of the series look like must-see television. (Unless you're a victim of baseball's archaic blackout rules, of course!) The Giants then head off to Washington for the weekend, stopping in Milwaukee next Monday for one of those strange original schedule make-up games before finally heading home.
The Dodgers, per usual, get most of the headlines in the NL West, but nobody should be forgetting about the Giants. They'll be right there with Los Angeles all season, and it wouldn't be surprising at all to see this San Francisco Giants team get further into October.
