[Mick]

A quick note re: why getting to 88 will be a struggle - the NL West is loaded.  It is probably the best overall division in baseball.  Unfortunately for SF, that means playing thirteen games v. LA, SD, AZ (and the Rockies) while their wild card rivals in the other divisions only play them six times.  

I think the playoffs are a bridge too far…..

I wonder about that. The Giants actually did slightly better against their division than the rest of baseball last year. They were 26-26 against the teams you mentioned (.500) and 54-56 against the rest of MLB (.491). They went 23-23 against the AL (.500) and 31-33 against the NL teams not in the West division (.484).

Their real problems are against the better teams and the teams just ahead of them. They only won 2 of 7 against Philly and 1 of 6 against St. Louis. They were 3-6 against the three AL division champs and 8-18 against the NL division champs.

[Mick]

A quick note re: why getting to 88 will be a struggle - the NL West is loaded.  It is probably the best overall division in baseball.  Unfortunately for SF, that means playing thirteen games v. LA, SD, AZ (and the Rockies) while their wild card rivals in the other divisions only play them six times.  

I think the playoffs are a bridge too far…..

I wonder about that. The Giants actually did slightly better against their division than the rest of baseball last year. They were 26-26 against the teams you mentioned (.500) and 54-56 against the rest of MLB (.491). They went 23-23 against the AL (.500) and 31-33 against the NL teams not in the West division (.484).

Their real problems are against the better teams and the teams just ahead of them. They only won 2 of 7 against Philly and 1 of 6 against St. Louis. They were 3-6 against the three AL division champs and 8-18 against the NL division champs.