Evan Longoria’s injury won’t sink the Giants
The San Francisco Giants may not make the playoffs this season, but if they don’t, it won’t come down to Evan Longoria’s finger injury.
The Giants entered the 2018 season with high aspirations. They certainly didn’t expect to be 5.5 games back in the division this early in the season. The news that Evan Longoria is going to miss between six to eight weeks with a broken finger certainly isn’t going to help them close the gap.
It’s also not going to prevent the Giants from making the playoffs. The simple truth is that Longoria hasn’t provided his club a ton of value this season. Third basemen who hit .246 aren’t exactly a rare commodity in the major leagues. Longoria does have 10 home runs on the season, but his OBP of just .278 illustrates just how mediocre he’s been.
Fortunately for Giants fans, their lineup still has enough star power to produce solid offensive results without Longoria in the lineup. They need improved production from Hunter Pence and Andrew McCutchen. Neither outfielder is living up to their full potential on the relatively young season.
Brandon Belt, Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford just need to keep doing what they’re doing. Belt’s recent return from the DL should help ease the loss of Longoria in the short-term. Each player is having an All-Star caliber season at the plate.
It’s all well and good to talk about the Giants offense, but if they’re going to make a run, it’s going to require significant improvement from their starting rotation. Ty Blach currently owns the best ERA among San Francisco starters. It’s safe to say he isn’t going to be making the All-Star Game with his mark of 4.22.
The return of Madison Bumgarner was supposed to help galvanize the rotation. Unfortunately, he’s struggled a bit since his return from injury. His ERA of 4.67 in his three starts is well below what his talent should provide. It’s a good bet that he’ll be able to progress to the mean as the season goes on.
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If the Giants make a run this year, it’s going to coincide with a run of good starting pitching. The lineup will miss Longoria while he’s out, but his injury isn’t going to eliminate the team from postseason contention. Only continued struggles from the starting rotation can do that.