Top Giants storylines to watch in May: Division race heats up

The baseball season is only entering its second month, but the Giants and Dodgers are off to the races again, setting up a sequel to the storied rivals’ sprint to the NL West crown last season.

The pennant race will go down as one of the best in baseball history. The Giants won a franchiserecord 107 games, yet needed all 162 to clinch the division crown, then the drama continued for five thrilling NLDS games. And with one checked-swing, it all came to an end.

“The fan of baseball in me thought that was the coolest thing,” manager Gabe Kapler said this week, reflecting on the pennant race and the Giants’ first-ever postseason showdown with their rivals from Los Angeles. “Taking a step back, looking at it from a 30,000-foot view, it was phenomenal; it was a lot of fun. I think it was probably fun for all the fans that got to witness that.”

As the calendar turns to May — and the Giants’ first chance at the Dodgers looms this week — it’s so far looking only like a continuation of last year. Ready for round two? It begins Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Here are a few storylines to watch this month.

NL West race heats up — The Giants hold a record of 121-63 since the start of last season, the best winning percentage in the majors — by a halfgame on the Dodgers. It looks like the NL West rivals are right back at it this year.

Take a look at where their MLB rank in three key categories after the first month of the season:

ERA: LAD 1st (2.33); SF 6th (3.06)

Runs per game: LAD 2nd (4.86); SF 1st (4.95)

Run differential: LAD 1st (+47); SF 4th (+34)

One difference this year: they could have company in the division race.

New manager Bob Melvin appears to have smoothed the tensions that sank San Diego’s season last year, and it’s not Kris Bryant carrying the Rockies, but Colorado is also off to a torrid start.

Arizona’s offense is as putrid as expected, batting .181 as a team, but has somehow managed 10 wins, making the NL West the only division in baseball with all of its teams reaching double-digit win totals by May 1.

The Giants only played one series against an NL West foe during the first month, taking two of three from the Padres. That’s about to change, thanks to a backloaded divisional schedule. Their two-game set with the Dodgers kicks off 11 NL West games in May, followed by six in June, then 17 each in July and August, and 22 between September and October.

The Giants beat up on bottom feeders last year, going 17-2 against lastplace Arizona and 15-4 against fourth-place Colorado. As important as their series are with the Dodgers and Padres, it’s crucial for San Francisco to rack up wins against outmatched teams. As they learned last year, even winning 107 games, every one counts.

Roster on the mend — It’s not just their record, it’s how the Giants are winning that seems so similar to last season. Once again, they’ve been carried to one of the best records in the National League by seemingly a new group of players every week.

With guys like Brandon Belt, Mike Yastrzemski, Joc Pederson and others out last week, the teamleader in OPS over the past seven days was Jason Vosler (1.181). Since he was called up, onetime waiver-wire pickup Luis Gonzalez has batted .276/.324/.414, including a clutch home run. Mike Ford, a burly first baseman who wasn’t in the organization this time last week, drove in two runs in Sunday’s loss.

Granted, the Giants’ winning percentage has shrunk as their COVID list has grown. (Although, no fault of the fill-in starting nine, which is still averaging an MLB-leading 4.95 runs per game … second place: the Dodgers, at 4.86).

The Giants are set to get back eight players over the next few weeks. Soon, they’ll have their choice of Tommy La Stella, Pederson, Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Belt as puzzle pieces to fit together in three outfield spots, first base and DH in an all-left-handed hitting arrangement to roll out against right-handers. Add Evan Longoria, who should assume everyday duties at third, too.

That’s a net gain of approximately 50 OPS points per player, averaging out career stats against their replacements.

Pitching and defense — The Giants’ homestand ended in unfamiliar fashion.

The normally slickfielding group — coached primarily by Kai Correa in the infield and Antoan Richardson in the outfield — had committed only one error over a 12-game stretch entering last weekend’s series finale in Washington. But Vosler’s crucial error in the first inning of Sunday’s loss marked the Giants’ eighth straight game with a defensive miscue.

That didn’t help a pitching staff that allowed 45 hits and 28 runs over three games to the relatively lowly Nationals lineup.

“We just have to play better baseball,” Kapler said. “Make more pitches on the mound, make more plays on defense and drive the baseball a little bit more than we are.”

Logan Webb was brilliant in his first two outings (14 innings, 1.29 ERA) but had a 4.96 ERA in his final three starts of the month, representative of a larger regression by a hobbled Giants rotation.

Over the past week, their 5.20 ERA is sandwiched between the Orioles (28th) and the Reds (30th) as the second-worst in the majors, somewhat different company than they were keeping at the beginning of the homestand, when the Dodgers were one of only two teams in the majors to allow fewer runs through their first 17 games this season.

Pitching ranks through April 25 (entering most recent homestand) Bullpen ERA – 1st (1.65) Starters ERA – 6th (3.10)

Pitching ranks through May 1 (after most recent homestand) Bullpen ERA – 3rd (2.59) Starters ERA – 10th (3.51)