The first half of the regular season officially is in the books and the Giants' 2023 MLB campaign has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride thus far.
Between an underwhelming 6-13 start to the season, a historic 10-game winning streak, breakout performances, exciting rookie promotions and a slew of costly injuries, there has been no shortage of storylines.
However, for the sake of time, here are the three most surprising Giants storylines from the first half of the regular season.
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A missing caboose
The Giants began the season with an impressive amount of depth in the starting rotation. If you were to ask anyone within the organization during the spring what the team's strength was, the pitching staff would have topped that list.
Anchored by young ace Logan Webb and veteran Alex Cobb, San Francisco was six-to-seven arms deep in the rotation with Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood, Sean Manaea, Ross Stripling and even Jakob Junis as potential starting options. Not to mention top pitching prospect Kyle Harrison was knocking on the door.
However, injuries and poor early-season performances have the Giants' rotation looking like the biggest question mark at the season's midway point and the area that might be the biggest focus before the Aug. 1 trade deadline.
San Francisco Giants
How the back end of the rotation will shape up in the second half is anybody's guess. The Giants have been vocal about their desire to deploy a more traditional five-man rotation out of the All-Star break, but DeSclafani and Wood's inconsistencies and inability to stay healthy plus the overwhelming early-season struggles from Stripling (6.37 ERA) and Manaea (5.49 ERA) leaves little to be desired from the back end of the rotation.
Stripling has pitched better since he was activated off the injured list on June 25 and appears to have earned a spot in the rotation in the second half. Manaea also has found more success as a long-reliever but doesn't appear likely to rejoin the rotation quite yet. After a rough start on July 1, DeSclafani admitted he was feeling fatigued and was placed on the injured list two days later. Wood looks to be healthy as a long reliever and has expressed his desire to return to the rotation, but how well he is able to string together quality outings will dictate that.
A savior at third base
The Giants were not shy in expressing how excited they were about David Villar this season. After a strong finish to the 2022 season, he earned the starting third base job out of spring training and was going to be given an opportunity to play every day at the major league level.
Villar struggled so mightily out of the gate, he was demoted to Triple-A at the end of May after hitting well under .200 for the first two months of the season.
Fortunately for the Giants, they already had an answer at third base. After acquiring J.D. Davis in the Darin Ruf trade with the New York Mets last season, the veteran infielder provided a spark with the bat while presenting manager Gabe Kapler with a versatile option on the corners.
Davis not only maintained that same level of offensive success but made major strides defensively, grabbing hold of the starting third base job and even generating some early All-Star consideration before tailing off slightly in recent weeks.
Initially, the Giants appeared to be putting all (or most) of their eggs in one basket with Villar as the everyday third baseman, but lo and behold, the 30-year-old Davis prevented the hot corner from becoming a major issue for the Giants.
The seasoned veteran
Arguably the Giants' biggest storyline from the first half of the season has been Patrick Bailey. The rookie catcher not only earned two quick promotions after starting the season in Double-A but firmly has planted his flag as a cornerstone player and the franchise's catcher of the future.
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All while demonstrating stoic poise, veteran leadership and the ability to impact the game at a high level both offensively and defensively. The 2020 first-round draft pick has consistently hit above .300 -- only to dip slightly under (.293) in recent games -- while throwing out base runners at an impressive rate.
What's most impressive about Bailey, is that he claims he somehow improved as a hitter once he got to the major leagues. A career .250 minor league hitter, Bailey has not stopped hitting since his promotion on May 19 and has garnered national attention after continuing to deliver in big moments.
The rookie mistakes are few and far between and the 24-year-old continues to perform well beyond his years.