On August 15, the San Francisco Giants' All-Star outfielder Melky Cabrera was suspended for the remainder of the season for violating MLB's drug policy. At the time, the Giants were tied with the Dodgers atop the NL West. This stunning news, coupled with LA's soon-to-be-consummated deal with Boston to acquire Adrian Gonzalez, made most onlookers wonder whether or not the Giants would make the playoffs, let alone with the division. And what ended up happening? A few days ago, the Giants clinched the NL West title, outpacing their competition by 10 games since the Melky suspension. But how?
1. Healthy Starting Pitching: This is a common thread for the NL playoff teams. Like the Reds and Nationals, the Giants have survived the season without a major pitching injury besides closer Brian Wilson. A pair of aces led the way (Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner) followed by two dependable mid-rotation arms (Ryan Vogelsong and the immortal Barry Zito). Shockingly, Tim Lincecum was the weak link in the group; he posted the worst ERA (5.15) of any qualified starter in the league. At least he stayed healthy.
2. A Clutch Offense Catered To AT&T Park: The Giants' home ballpark is huge. It's very hard to hit home runs there. So instead of packing the lineup with all-or-nothing power hitters, the Giants rely on batting average, speed, and simply putting the ball in play. The result? The fewest home runs in baseball, but the second-most hits with runners in scoring position as well as the most sacrifice flies. Before his suspension, Melky Cabrera was hitting a league-leading .346; Buster Posey is hitting over .330; Marco Scutaro's average with the Giants after his midseason trade is up to over .360. And five Giants have double-digit steals. Despite the power outage and Cabrera's absence, San Francisco is still the sixth-best scoring offense in the National League thanks to sustained rallies, speedy baseruners, and sacrifice hits.
3. A Dominant Bullpen: Another similarity with the Reds and Nationals. The Giants losing closer Brian Wilson for the season was supposed to cripple their bullpen. Instead, others have stepped up. Sergio Romo (1.82 ERA) and Santiago Casilla (2.74 ERA) have replaced Wilson effectively and the 'pen also features a trio of lefties with sub-3.00 ERAs.
4. Buster Posey: The Reds and Nationals relied heavily on their offensive centerpieces, but not nearly as much as the Giants have depended on Buster Posey. Not only did he manage an excellent pitching staff as the catcher; Posey is hitting nearly .340, getting on base over 40% of the time, and has smashed 23 home runs. He's hitting .389 in the second half of the season. He's probably going to win the NL MVP award. He deserves it.
5. Winning Trades: The Giants didn't turn to expensive free agnents to upgrade their team. Instead, they found surplus value on the trade market. They traded for two starting outfielders before the season, Angel Pagan and Melky Cabrera. During the summer, they brought in Hunter Pence at right field, Marco Scutaro at shortstop, and Jose Mijares in the bullpen. They haven't missed anything they've given up, either.
The Giants were criticized this offseason for failing to spend money on a team one year removed from a World Series title. They just stuck to the two things they do best: developing pitching from within and revitalizing the careers of washed-up veterans. The formula worked like a charm in their championship season of 2010, when a rotation of four homegrown starters and a lineup of veteran cast-offs (Aubrey Huff, Edgar Renteria, Juan Uribe, Cody Ross, Pat Burrell...) won it all. And it worked again in 2012.
The Giants have one of the best righty-lefty combinations at the top of their starting rotation, both of whom came up through the farm system. Matt Cain notched yet another 200+ inning season, and his ERA is under 3.00. Madison Bumgarner is only 23, but he too threw over 200 innings, with an ERA of just 3.37. His strikeout-to-walk rate is even better than Cain's. San Francisco drafted them, developed them, and have signed both to long-term contracts.
But what truly defines San Francisco's roster construction is their uncanny ability to pick up terrible veterans no one wants, get ridiculed for doing so, and then turn those players into useful contributors again. The best example is Ryan Vogelsong. Vogelsong was a career journeyman who had never experienced even remote success in the big leagues before coming to San Francisco last year. Since then, he's thrown 364.1 innings with an ERA of 3.09. Angel Pagan suffered a down year for the Mets, so the Giants traded for him; he's hitting .287, has stolen 29 bases, and leads the league in triples. Marco Scutaro was hitting .271 in 95 games with the Colorado Rockies when the Giants traded for him and with his new team, Scutaro has hit .360 and knocked in 41 runs. It's fairly remarkable that while the rest of baseball has put such an emphasis on getting younger, the Giants keep getting by with cheap, older guys. It's hard to argue with a strategy that has won the franchise two NL West titles and a World Series in the past three years.
San Francisco's Formula: Healthy starting pitching, dominant bullpen, and a lineup built for home-field advantage achieved through strong pitching development and the revitalization of declining veterans' careers.
Washington's Formula: Healthy and elite starting pitching, dominant bullpen, and balanced lineup achieved through homegrown talent and superb talent evaluation.
Cincinnati's Formula: Healthy starting pitching, dominant bullpen, and balanced lineup achieved through homegrown talent and low payroll.
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