Going into last season, the San Francisco Giants were the defending World Series champions. Well, things didn’t line up perfectly and they fell flat on their faces. Buster Posey missed some time with an injury and pitchers Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum pitched poorly.
They come into this season healthy (sort of) and with a chip on their shoulder. Every baseball talking head has already given their rival Los Angeles Dodgers the NL West crown. They will do everything possible to keep that from happening. The Dodgers will have to fight for the division.
Can Pablo Sandoval keep his weight under control during the season?
Here is the 2014 MLB season preview for the San Francisco Giants.
2013 Win/Loss Record: 76-86
Key Additions: OF Michael Morse, SP Tim Hudson & RP David Huff
Key Losses: SP Barry Zito, OF Andres Torres, RP Chad Gaudin, RP Jose Mijares & RP Guillermo Moscoso
Interleague Schedule: AL Central + Oakland A’s
Projected Starters: Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Marco Scutaro, Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Crawford, Michael Morese, Angel Pagan & Hunter Pence
Projected Starting Rotation: Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum, Tim Hudson & Ryan Volgelsong
Closer: Sergio Romo
Fantasy Sleeper: SP Tim Hudson – Hudson is currently not 100% owned in fantasy leagues. He’s hovering around 70%. The reason he missed time last season was become a freak accident to his ankle. There is no issues with his shoulder or elbow. I think he still has at least one more season of productive pitching left in him.
Prospect To Keep Your Eye On: RP Heath Hembree – I would love to list young pitchers Kyle Crick or Edwin Escobar, but they won’t appear in the Majors this season. The Giants just don’t have many top prospects ready for a call up. The best bet is reliever Heath Hembree. He was actually called up late last season and didn’t allow a run in nine appearances. I know that he has no fantasy relevance, but who knows, he could help you have a ‘Holds’ category in your league.
Team Analysis: 2013 was a wasted year for the Giants. They were defending World Series champs and had hopes of repeating, but they weren’t even close. The injury bug bit Buster Posey early in the year and Matt Cain had an off-year. The only player healthy for the entire season was Hunter Pence, who had a career year. The NL West will be hard to win with the Dodgers bloated payroll, but the Giants are much improved. I like the addition of Michael Morse and Tim Hudson. They are improvements over Andres Torres and Barry Zito. I expect the Giants to battle for a Wild Card spot.
2014 Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 86 (Prediction: OVER)
2014 Projected Win/Loss Record: 89-73 (2nd NL West)
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.