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San Francisco Giants: 6 things to know about the 2020 schedule

By James Carroll

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 31: Mike Yastrzemski #5, Kevin Pillar #1, and Austin Slater #53 of the San Francisco Giants celebrate after the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on July 31, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Giants defeated the Phillies 5-1. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 31: Mike Yastrzemski #5, Kevin Pillar #1, and Austin Slater #53 of the San Francisco Giants celebrate after the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on July 31, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Giants defeated the Phillies 5-1. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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San Francisco Giants
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 21: Mike Yastrzemski #5 of the San Francisco Giants rounds the bases after hitting a walk-off home run against the New York Mets during the twelfth inning at Oracle Park on July 21, 2019 in San Francisco, California. The San Francisco Giants defeated the New York Mets 3-2 in 12 innings. San Francisco Giants (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) /

6. A competitive last few weeks of the season

For those holding out hope, the Giants still have a chance at making the playoffs this year — ESPN has their odds of making an appearance this postseason at 2.8%.

This number has gone up in recent weeks thanks to surges along the way that kept the front office from dealing Madison Bumgarner before the deadline, but it’s kept low for several reasons.

Aside from the fact that the Giants are in the mix with seven other teams for just two wild card spots, they’re looking at a daunting schedule of head-to-heads to close out the season.

Next season won’t be much different. While they limit their matchups against the Dodgers to only three games, they’ll have to face a collection of the same teams that could be gunning for wild card spots this year — the Cubs, Cardinals, Reds, Diamondbacks, and Brewers.

Their only break will be a four-game series against the Padres, but San Diego might wind up being a sleeper pick next season too.

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If the Giants plan on making a run for the playoffs, they’re going to have to buckle up against their toughest competition in the final month of regular-season action.

When it’s all said and done, there are more concerns for the Giants than what their schedule looks like next season.

There will almost undoubtedly be a period of growth that the Giants will have to face up to, whether it’s the cutting of ties with mainstays like Brandon Belt, the acceptance of saying goodbye to former faces like Bruce Bochy, or rolling the dice on guys who might crash and burn in the majors.

The good news is that the Giants could conceivably find their way into a better position than they’ve been in this year.

They have a two-month period where they have limited travel and get to play in front of their home crowd often. If they’re able to carry any sort of momentum into the last two months of the season, they’ll be in good shape.

The 2019 season, despite the Giants exceeding expectations, was never meant to be the time for San Francisco to perform at a playoff level. But it has shown that the front office is capable of making something out of nothing.

Next. Did the San Francisco Giants make a mistake at the trade deadline?. dark

Perhaps they can rediscover some of that even-year magic a couple of seasons earlier than anyone would have expected them to.

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