The surprising parity in the National League West
The Giants are rebounding from a 64-98 record last year, which is pretty impressive. I mean, they are only 15 wins away from beating that total this year in mid-July. While no one suspected San Francisco to be as bad as they were in 2017, the improvement they have made is commendable.
They have enjoyed decent seasons from their veteran offseason additions in Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria. Moreover, important pieces in Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt have bounced back in a big way this season. Their offense has been adequate, especially relative to last year, but their real strength is their pitching staff.
Their rotation is finally healthy with Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija all off the shelf. Even when it was not, though, San Fran. has had big-time contributions from placeholder starters who stepped up in an enormous way. Derek Holland still exists and he did admirable work but has now been moved to the bullpen, along with Dereck Rodriguez. Chris Stratton was decent but he now finds himself in Triple-A. Lastly, Andrew Suarez has been excellent and has carved out a permanent role for himself as a starting pitcher for the Giants.
With a healthy rotation, it is not hard to squint and see this team being a serious competitor for a Wild Card spot. Moreover, their bullpen is one of the best in baseball, even without Hunter Strickland. Giants relievers place sixth in team fWAR, headlined by the underrated Will Smith (0.95 ERA) and Tony Watson (1.67 ERA). Reyes Moronta is not too shabby himself (1.67 ERA), while Mark Melancon and Sam Dyson have revitalized their careers. Add Holland and Rodriguez into the bullpen mix and there is a viable case this group is the best in the National League. Even though the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers have pretty good bullpens, too.
Moving to the Rockies, the Bud Black-led squad is looking for its second consecutive playoff berth. They are certainly within striking distance but the team has been plagued by underperformance. Colorado spent an inordinate amount of money on their bullpen and it has been just awful. Jake McGee, Wade Davis and Bryan Shaw, the offseason reliever signings, have combined for a putrid -0.3 fWAR. Thankfully, Adam Ottavino exists. This bullpen would be in shambles without him.
Their best pitcher, Jon Gray, has been demoted to Triple-A indefinitely, despite a better FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) than Corey Kluber and James Paxton. Still, Kyle Freeland, Tyler Anderson and German Marquez have pitched well this season, even though they pitch half their games in the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field. Colorado’s rotation ranks somewhere in the middle in fWAR and it is undoubtedly their strength this year.
On the offense side of the ball, they have been atrocious. Moving past their inflated offensive numbers in Coors Field, their batters rank 26th in Major League Baseball in wRC+, which is park adjusted. The only offenses they have performed better than this season have been the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins. Wow.
Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado have been very good this season while Charlie Blackmon has been decent. The rest of this lineup has been horrendous, however.
It would take quite a bit for this team to make a postseason push. They would need some of their lucrative bullpen pieces to start pitching like they are capable of and Charlie Blackmon to do what he has done for the last few years in a Rockies uniform. This is an average team, with an underrated rotation, and could definitely wind up around the .500 mark.