San Francisco Giants: NL West Power Rankings

Rank #1: The San Francisco Giants

Oct 31, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; The San Francisco Giants team poses for photos during the World Series celebration at City Hall. The San Francisco Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals in game seven of the World Series. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The Giants are ranked number one, because they won the 2014 World Series. Going into 2015, the team is better off than most fans give them credit for. The Giants will have a healthy Matt Cain and Angel Pagan returning to the team, and aside from losing Sandoval, the Giants roster has not changed. The new additions of McGehee and Aoki, are not the most ideal replacements for Sandoval and Michael Morse, but they’re not the most terrible either.

McGehee, last year with the Miami Marlins won NL comeback player of the year award after posting a .287 batting average, .357 SLG and a .355 OBP. He also had four home runs, 29 doubles and drew 67 walks in his first season back in the major leagues after playing overseas in 2013. Signing McGehee, will not replace Sandoval entirely, but if he can produce hits and walks like he did last year, then the Giants should be just fine.

Sep 21, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals right fielder

(23) hits a two-run triple against the Detroit Tigers during the fourth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Now with Aoki, he does not hit the long ball much but had a .285 batting average, .349 OBP, and a .360 slugging percentage. The best part of Aoki’s game is speed, last season he stole 17 bases, had six triples, and hit 22 doubles.

Speed is something that was lacking last year in left field between Morse and Travis Ishikawa. The Giants often played Gregor Blanco there for his speed, but Blanco is more of center fielder than a left fielder. Although Aoki is mostly a right fielder, in 18 games in left field, Aoki posted a 1.000 fielding percentage.

Even without McGehee and Aoki, the Giants still have a solid foundation in terms of offense with Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Brandon Belt, Joe Panik and Angel Pagan. Getting Pagan back will be the Giants’ most important piece heading into the 2015 season.

Pagan, is the Giants’ leadoff hitter and energizer at the top of the order. There is a clear difference in the way the Giants play with Pagan compared to when they play without him. For example in 2013, with Pagan the Giants were 34-32 (.515), which was surprisingly better than their record without Pagan that season which was 42-54 (.438).

More from San Francisco Giants

• Thank you SF Giants for a fun, wild, surprising 2020 season
• SF Giants lose in heartbreaking fashion and miss 2020 MLB playoffs
• SF Giants: Mike Yastrzemski named 2020 Willie Mac Award recipient
• SF Giants: Chadwick Tromp placed on IL with shoulder strain
• SF Giants: Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners postponed

Another important factor for the Giants, is the return of Matt Cain. Despite winning it all last season, the Giants starting rotation had many flaws and problems. In 15 starts last season, Cain had 2-7 record, 70 strikeouts, and a career worst 4.18 ERA. However, a lot of his struggles were due to the pain he suffered in his throwing arm which ultimately resulted in season ending surgery.

Tim Lincecum recorded his second worst season in ERA, at 4.74 despite going 12-9. He also had career lows in strikeouts (134) and innings pitched (155.2). After the Jake Peavy  trade in August, the Giants converted Lincecum into a relief pitcher. However, he was hardly called on because of the talent of Yusimero Petit, and a strong San Francisco bullpen.

Ryan Vogelsong, was not the “Vogelstrong” that was seen in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Vogelsong went 8-13 with a 4.00 ERA last season. Tim Hudson, also had the worst season of his career, posting a 9-13 record, to go with his 3.57 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. Jake Peavy had a streaky three months with the Giants going 6-4, with a 2.17 ERA in the regular season, and posting a 1-2 record in the playoffs with a 6.19 ERA, nine walks, eight strikeouts, and a  1.69 WHIP.

Oct 29, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher

(right) celebrates with catcher

after defeating the Kansas City Royals during game seven of the 2014 World Series at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

The only starting pitcher that was consistent last year for the Giants was Madison Bumgarner, who was absolutely lights out in the regular season and in the playoffs. Hopefully, with a renewed confidence in San Francisco’s starting pitching, it will get them back to the level they were at in 2012.

What keeps the Giants in contention is their bullpen. They have a strong and deep bullpen, so when their starters do struggle, they at least have an adequate back-up system to get them through games.

In a word, the Giants are scrappy, but scrappy in a good way. They grind out games and play with their heads held high. There might be a lot of ifs going into the 2015 season in terms of winning, but the Giants are better off than most people seem to believe.

Next: The Los Angeles Dodgers