MLB is scheduled to return with the regular season starting July 23 and 24, but the slate of games will look much different than usual.
The 60-game regular season essentially is a run of regional games. The Giants will play 40 games against the NL West and another 20 vs. AL West teams. Their rivals will stay on the West Coast as well.
But the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers have much different strength of schedules. ZiPS, a FanGraphs player projection system, estimates the Giants as having the fourth-hardest schedule in baseball with a .516 strength of schedule. The Dodgers, however, have the fourth-easiest at .484.
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Why? Simply put, the Giants have to play the Dodgers, and the Dodgers get to face the Giants.
This projection system has the Giants going just 25-35 in the short season. The Dodgers are estimated to lead baseball in wins at 38. In this world, the Giants finish last in the NL West, and 13 games behind Los Angeles.
[RELATED: Winners, losers from MLB's abbreviated 60-game season]
ZiPS gives the Giants only a 9 percent chance of making the playoffs, and the Dodgers a 73 percent chance. The Dodgers also have the best odds to win the World Series at 9.7 percent.
San Francisco Giants
There's no doubt this will be a season of streaks and surprises. While you can't argue the Dodgers have more talent on paper than the Giants, don't count out wild even year magic going down at Oracle Park this season.
The Giants could win four games or 40 games, and it would all make sense. That's just the way this year has gone.
Get ready for a season full of baseball chaos.
[GIANTS INSIDER PODCAST: Listen to the latest episode]