MLB Insider Reveals San Francisco Giants' Best Strength as Playoff Contender

The San Francisco Giants enter play on June 22 with a 43-34 record and a hold on one of the three National League wild card spots.

The Giants have only won one of the four games played since they acquired Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox in one of the biggest blockbuster trades in recent history.

It wasn’t a massive haul San Francisco had to give up for Devers, sending Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, No. 4 prospect James Tibbs III, and minor league pitcher Jose Bello in return.

However, many teams across the MLB couldn’t afford to trade so many pitchers off for a designated hitter.

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Power hitting was a dire need ahead of the trade deadline, as the Giants entered play on June 21 slashing .232/.313/.372 with a 95 wRC+ that ranks No. 20 in baseball.

That’s what they will need to improve if they want to make a deep run for a World Series title.

As many teams desperately search for pitching help ahead of the July 31 deadline, San Francisco won’t be one of them.

Longtime insider David Schoenfield of ESPN.com thinks that front-line pitching is the team’s best strength and what will make them contenders in the postseason.

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“The Giants are third in the majors in ERA and fifth in runs allowed per game but have relied on a relatively small group of pitchers to achieve that,” Schoenfield writes.

That 3.30 ERA is the result of a strong starting rotation and bullpen — and starter Logan Webb having an MLB-record 39 starts pitching seven or more innings.

Schoenfield highlights starters Webb (7-5, 2.49 ERA) and Robbie Ray (8-2, 2.68 ERA), relievers Randy Rodriguez, Camilo Doval, Tyler Rogers, and Erik Miller, and recently moved Hayden Birdsong.

Rodriguez, Doval, Rogers, and Miller all have sub-2.00 ERAs, while Birdsong is carrying a 3.25 ERA.

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Rodriguez leads relief pitchers with a 0.84 ERA through 32 innings, and he’s followed by Miller’s 1.07 ERA over 25.1 innings. Rogers is fourth best with a 1.31 ERA over 34.1 innings. With 34 innings pitched and a 1.59 ERA, Doval is ranked ninth.

That’s all four relievers in the top 10 in baseball. No other team has more than one.

Schoenfield does point out the ballpark factor, as their ERA is 2.89 at Oracle Park compared to 3.72 on the road, which is the seventh-best road ERA in the majors.

However, that home advantage has propelled them to a 23-14 record while averaging fewer than four runs per game.

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The intent of acquiring Devers is to alleviate pressure on the starting rotation and bullpen to win close games with low-scoring margins.

They seem as adept as any team in baseball to pull that off, though, as Schoenfield points out.

“The Giants are 18-15 in one-run games, leading the majors in one-run games played and one-run wins—with 10 such wins coming when they've scored three or fewer runs,” he writes.

That hasn’t been enjoyable for fans to endure, but it’s proved that San Francisco has elite-caliber pitching that can close those games out, and that high-leverage performance will be invaluable in the postseason.

For more Giants news, head over to Giants On SI.