Surprising Giants Looking Like a Playoff Team

I’ve been quiet for a while now.  Things have been so good lately as a Giants fan that frankly there’s less to complain about (and therefore less to write about).

For starters, I was WAY off base about how awful the bullpen was going to be.  Despite rocky patches, Wilson and Howry have been pretty damned good so far this season.  I still feel like the bullpen is meltdown-prone – but there are few MLB bullpens not susceptible to meltdowns.

Gordon Edes on Yahoo! Sports wrote about the Giants’ quest for a left-handed bat over the weekend.  The three players (all first basemen) that Sabean is particularly focused on – Nick Johnson, Aubrey Huff and Adam LaRoche – don’t really excite me too much.  True – Ishikawa has been pretty disappointing overall this season.  But he does have five homeruns over the last month, and has definitely been trending upward as the season has progressed.  These other three players involved in trade discussions only seem like incremental upgrades, and nothing to get particularly excited about.

Also in Edes’ write-up:  “They’ve also spoken to San Diego about a deal that would send starter Jonathan Sanchez(notes) to the Padres for outfielder Scott Hairston(notes).”

WTF?  Sabean has the worst timing.  Going into the season, everyone was talking about using Sanchez for trade bait.  Instead, Sabean starts shopping him around at the nadir of his trade value, and we’re talking about Scott Hairston?

Bochy and the Giants are one of the most overachieving teams I can remember.  To see a really mediocre team at the start of the season gather this momentum has been really awesome.  And needless to say, Pablo, Cain and Lincecum are fun to watch every time.

Even if it means Sabean getting undue credit, it sure would be nice to see this team catch the Dodgers or win the wildcard to sniff their way into the playoffs.  With Lincecum and Cain going twice in any 7 game series, there’s not a team in the NL that wouldn’t fear that pitching in the playoffs.

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