Pedal to the Metal!

 Let's just stand back a bit and admire what the Giants have accomplished so far, especially in the second half.  They came into the All-Star Break with a remarkable record of 57-32 for a winning percentage of .640.  Many of us feared, based on painful experience, they would stumble after the break.  Those fears were not assuaged when they dropped the opening second half series to the Cardinals. They recovered to win a remarkable 4 game series over the Dodgers in LA but then dropped 2 of 3 to the Pirates.  Hmm....Giants have a long history of playing up to the Dodgers and doing faceplants against the Pirates of the league.  Well, folk!  They have not lost a series since!  Most of those winning series came against the very best teams in MLB, well, except for the Giants who as of right now are the best!:  2 of 3 from the Dodgers, 2 of 3 from the Astros, 3 of 4 from the D'Backs, 2 of 3 from the Brewers, 2 of 2 from the D'Backs, 3 of 4 from the Rockies, 2 of 3 from the Mets and 2 of 3 from the A's.  All that adds up to a second half record of 23-12 or a Winning Percentage of .657 better than their first half record!  

Looking at the season as a whole, the Giants have won in almost every way imaginable.  They've won at home(.689) and on the road(.603).  They have won every month so far with their lowest win% in July at .600.  They have gone 23-14 in one run games, by far the best in MLB.  They are 24-7 in "blowouts". They are 13-7 in interleague play. They are 8-7 in extra-innings.  The lone glaring weakness is in walk-offs where they are just 2-9.  They have a losing record against just 3 of the 18 teams they have played, the Cardinals(2-4), Pirates(3-4) and Mariners(1-2).  They are 8-8 against the Dodgers and are winning their season series against 14 other teams.  Oh, and thank god for the D'Backs who they are 14-2 against!

It remains to be seen if they can finish this out.  They could play very well the rest of the way and still lose to the Dodgers who are incredibly talented and relentless.  They could still faceplant.  The starting pitching in particular looks very shaky and thin,  but a complete collapse seems less likely.

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Let's do a quick comp of deadline deals here.  Since coming to the Giants, Kris Bryant  IF/OF has been invaluable, slashing .274/.329/.507 with 4 HRs in 79 PA while playing excellent D at multiple positions.  I don't have an exact number here but the Giants have won several times in games they likely don't win without Bryant in the lineup.  Considering the modest cost in prospects to obtain him, Bryant has been a steal regardless of whether the trade sets up a longterm deal or not. 

Compare Bryant's impact to Trea Turner IF for the Dodgers.  Make no mistake, Turner has been good for the Dodgers despite starting out on the IL.  He's slashing .328/.365/.483 with 1 HR and 3 SB in 69 PA.  I'll take Bryant and his power by a nose here.

Now lets compare pitching acquisitions.  The Giants traded for Tony Watson LHP at the cost of 3 third tier prospects, a trade that had me scratching my head at the time.  The word from the beat writers was the Giants scouts noted a recent uptick in velocity and were confident Watson would come on strong.  Well, he has at that!  9 appearances, 1-0, 0.00, 9 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K's, 3 Holds.  His addition filled a 7'th and 8'th inning gap in the Giants bullpen arsenal.  

The Dodgers acquired Max Scherzer RHP and he's certainly stood in the gap created by Trevor Bauer's personal meltdown.  4 Appearances, 3-0, 2.11, 21.1 IP, 4 BB, 31 K.  Pretty tough to beat that but Watson's Win + 4 Holds may have contributed to as many wins as Scherzer.

FZ may yet regret not bringing in a proven SP at the deadline.  I, for one, wish he had.  For now, his deadline haul stacks up favorably with the Dodgers who everyone thought were the runaway winners of the trade deadline.