Do you ever shake your head in disbelief when you hear the national sports media insinuating that the Giant’s World Series win was merely a fluke? The over-under prediction in Las Vegas for the Giants this year is 88 games and Philadelphia, by the same article, has an over-under prediction 97.5. For those of you who wonder about it, the over-under prediction is made so that a bet can be placed and odds can be given on how many games an individual team would win. In this scenario if the Giants win more than 88 games one would win +120.
As I watch spring training games via my MLB package it seems clear that not many of the other team broadcasters are predicting that San Francisco would repeat. Again, it seems that they think it was a fluke. But personally, I think that the odds are quite high that these people will be forced to eat their words and change their attitudes. I think that the Giants can easily win ninty-eight games this season and maybe more and it will likely be less torturous as well.
I realize that it is early to make a prediction like this but, from all of the signs I see, it is certainly within the realm of reasonable possibilities. What do I base my optimism on you ask? Well, The answer is in the potential bats that the Giants will have this year. This could well be the year when offense will be easier. There are certainly signs of this in the spring training camp so far. They are winning games with the other team scoring four or more runs. This has been due to clutch hitting by several different players.
The hitters that have been stellar so far are Buster Posey, Matt Derosa, Andres Torres, Cody Ross, Mike Fontenot, Miguel Tejada, Pablo Sandoval and, Brandon Belt. The names are listed by batting averages from .643 down to .318. Both Posey and Sandavol have had 7 RBI’s. So far this spring Huff, Burrell and Rowand have been a little disappointing but, did I say it’s early?
As far as pitching goes, here is how the breakdown of prospective wins could work. If Lincecum gets the same as last year 16, Cain does one better 14, Sanchez does one better 14 wins, Bumgarner gets 14 wins and, Zito gets 11 wins then, the relievers would only have to win 29 (less than last year) to achieve the 98 wins.
Add to this thousands of believing fans and it is well within reach… remember what the mind can believe it can achieve… start believing.
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