San Francisco Giants: 3 players who surprised the most in the first half

1. P Will Smith

It’s nearly impossible to talk about the Giants this season without first mentioning the greatness that has been Will Smith so far this year.

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The Giants lone All-Star this season put together a first half for the ages posting an ERA of under 2.00 and going a perfect 23-of-23 in save opportunities. Unfortunately, Smith did blow his first save Friday night ballooning his ERA to 2.27, but that hardly takes away from his excellence.

Smith has been a very reliable reliever throughout his career which is why it wasn’t all too surprising to see the Giants give him some save opportunities last season following Hunter Strickland‘s embarrassing ‘injury.’

After being named the Opening Day closer to begin the season, few could have expected this type of performance from the first-year closer. But here we are and Smith has been one of the most dominant closers in the entire MLB through the first three and a half months of the season.

With the Giants still likely looking to sell, there will be no more valuable trade chip at the deadline than their All-Star closer. While the attention will certainly be on longtime ace Madison Bumgarner, it’s likely that Smith gets them the better return package.

Smith may not be a member of the team past this month, but to this point, there has been no player on the Giants more surprisingly excellent this season than their recently-turned 30-year-old closer.