MLB players had just three weeks to prepare for opening day, but there was no shortage of impressive performances on the first weekend.
Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs threw a 103-pitch shutout. Minnesota's Nelson Cruz already has three homers and 10 RBI. New Padres outfielder Tommy Pham has stolen four bases, and underrated Indians right-hander Shane Bieber struck out 14 in his first start.
There will be some wild stat lines over 60 games, and thanks to FanGraphs, we have a good idea of the kind of history that players will be chasing. None of the traditional records will go down, but we still will see some pretty impressive stretches, and the Giants know that better than anyone. FanGraphs put together a tool that lets you look at the best and worst 60-game stretches since 1974, and two of the best six 60-game stretches of all-time belong to Giants.
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Sorted by Wins Above Replacement, the second-best 60-game stretch belongs to Barry Bonds in 2001. Buster Posey ranks sixth for what he did from July 13 to Sep. 20 in 2012, his first full big league season and the year he won the MVP.
The best 60-game stretch is perhaps someone you wouldn't expect. In the summer of 1980, George Brett hit .469 over 60 games and was worth 6.5 WAR. Brett ended up batting .390 that year for the Royals en route to MVP honors.
Bonds was also the MVP at the end of that 60-game stretch, and that, of course, was the season he hit 73 homers. Over his best stretch, he batted .391 with 31 homers, a .579 on-base percentage and a preposterous OPS of 1.585.
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Posey's numbers weren't that insane, but they helped get the Giants to the postseason after Melky Cabrera was suspended, where they won their second title in three years. Over 60 games, Posey batted .392 with 13 homers and a 1.125 OPS. He was worth 5.6 WAR for that stretch alone.
The tool does 12-start stretches for pitchers and, not surprisingly, Pedro Martinez's 1999 is the leader. He was worth 5.4 WAR over his best 60 games. The best Giants stretch since 1974 is Tim Lincecum in 2009, when he had 1.77 ERA over 12 starts and struck out 110 batters in 93 1/3 innings. Lincecum was worth 4 WAR over those 12 starts, ranking 25th all-time. He won the Cy Young Award that season.