5 could be key to a postseason run
From Opening Day through the final game of the first half, the Giants received critical contributions from players up and down their roster.
Stars such as Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey have led the way with career-best numbers at the plate while ace Kevin Gausman pitched his way to his first career All-star selection with one of the most dominant runs by a Giants starter since the club moved to San Francisco in 1958.
Aside from the Giants’ core players, a huge group of role players and lesserknown contributors were key to the success of a team that stormed out of the gates and never slowed down en route to posting a 57-32 record that’s given Gabe Kapler’s squad a twogame edge over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.
Sustaining the Giants’ first-half pace will be a major challenge for a club that plays 35 of its final 73 games against teams that are currently in playoff position, and doing so will require an even bigger list of players to lead the charge toward the postseason.
Here are five under-theradar players who the Giants will count on to play a big part in their secondhalf success.
1. Tommy La Stella
La Stella became the first Giants player to sign a three-year contract with the franchise since Farhan Zaidi became the president of baseball operations, but he’s appeared in 25 games and had 68 at-bats with San Francisco because hamstring and thumb injuries have kept him on the injured list since early May.
With second baseman Donovan Solano struggling to regain the Silver Slugger form he showed in 2020 and third baseman Evan Longoria providing most of his production against left-handed pitchers, La Stella figures to be a fixture in lineups against righties when he returns from the injured list.
It’s possible La Stella will be ready to go as soon as the Giants open the second half in St. Louis. Though he never found a rhythm at the plate in April, he owns a career .763 OPS against righthanders and is expected to hit at or near the top of the Giants lineup when he’s back.
2. Logan Webb
It’s hard to describe Webb as “under the radar”
because he was a prominent prospect in the organization for several years before establishing himself as a full-time member of the pitching staff in 2020, but after missing more than a month with a shoulder injury, Webb’s return is exciting for a club that lost multiple starters to IL stints during the first half.
Webb tossed three innings of one-hit ball with four strikeouts against the Nationals on Friday and after being sent to TripleA Sacramento for the AllStar break, he’ll likely be an option to start a game at Dodger Stadium when the Giants travel to Los Angeles next week.
Over his last 20 innings at the major league level, Webb owns a 25:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 0.90 ERA. As long as he’s healthy, expect him to be a key member of the rotation down the stretch.
3. Dominic Leone
Kapler has repeatedly praised Leone in postgame press conferences over the last several weeks as the journeyman reliever has worked his way into a
trusted leverage role.
With Tyler Rogers and Jake Mcgee providing stability at the back end of the Giants’ bullpen, Leone has emerged as team’s seventhinning setup man thanks to a four-pitch mix that’s rare for a reliever. In 18 1/3 innings, Leone has only allowed nine hits and two earned runs while racking up 20 strikeouts.
After escaping a basesloaded, no-out jam while only allowing one inherited runner to score in Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Nationals, Leone elicited a roar from a loud Oracle Park crowd that’s quickly learning what a valuable pitcher he’s been and what an important asset he can be moving forward.
4. Alex Dickerson
Like Webb, it’s hard to consider Dickerson “under the radar” when he’s been struggling in the cleanup spot in the order for the last few weeks.
The left-handed-hitting outfielder makes this list because so far this year, he’s practically been off the radar altogether. Dickerson can carry an offense at his
best, but he has been far from that for much of this season.
The Giants have insisted on keeping Dickerson in the mix despite an unusually long cold spell because they’ve seen how much of a force he can be when he’s making consistent contact. After posting a .694 OPS in his first 30 games last season, Dickerson raised that number by more than 250 points by batting .400 with six homers and an .815 slugging percentage in the month of September.
If he has a similar stretch at any point during the second half of the 2021 season, an already deep Giants offense should give top pitching staffs such as the Brewers, Mets and Dodgers more trouble.
5. Jay Jackson
Now we’re going way under the radar.
Forty-eight players have worn a Giants uniform this season, but Jackson isn’t one of them as the righthanded reliever missed a significant portion of the first half with an injury before reporting to Triple-a Sacramento. Like Leone, Jackson joined the Giants on a minor league deal this offseason despite having major league experience and since he began facing hitters, the former Cubs prospect has been the best reliever at the TripleA level.
In eight games this year with Sacramento, Jackson has thrown 11 scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and one walk. With 18 strikeouts and the highest groundball rate of his career, albeit in a small sample size, Jackson could be a major midsummer addition to a bullpen that’s improved as the season has gone along.