NLWest_San Francisco Giants

2014 Cleveland Gameday HQ

San Francisco Giants 5-YEAR SCORECARD 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 WINS 76 94 86 92 88 RUNS PER GAME 3.88 4.43 3.51 4.30 4.06 RUNS ALLOWED PER GAME 4.26 4.01 3.57 3.60 3.77 OPENING-DAY PAYROLL (millions) $136 $131 $118 $96 $82 Madison Bumgarner 2014 STRENGTHS: • Potential for best starting four pitchers in majors 2014 WEAKNESSES: • Inconsistent hitting • Drop off at bottom of lineup The Giants are the only team expected to give the Dodgers a run for the National League West division title. As the 2012 and 2010 World Series champs, San Francisco’s premier pitching staff led the team to 94 and 92 wins, en route to two division titles. To upset its rival in 2014, the Giants need a repeat of that feat. HITTING Granted, AT&T Park is as pitcher-friendly as they come, but San Francisco’s 2013 offensive output was as shocking as it was bad. Remember, much of the same squad that came off a World Series-winning season where the Giants put up 4.43 runs per game in 2012 could only muster 3.88 runs per game in 2013. If 27-year-olds Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey can get 30-year-old Hunter Pence (27 homers, 99 RBI, 91 runs, while playing all 162 games) to share his fountain-of-youth hitting secrets, then this 3-4-5 heart of the Giants’ lineup will be big once more. Remember, those two potent sluggers should be elevating their hitting numbers at this age, as opposed to last year’s regression (Posey, .957 to .821 OPS; Sandoval, .909 to .789 to .758 OPS). Watch out for these two specifically in 2014. Speaking of upside, 25-year-old first baseman Brandon Belt is showing he too may be on the verge of a breakout season. NL WEST JASON O. WATSON/GETTY IMAGES SPORT


2014 Cleveland Gameday HQ
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