Nobody -- and I mean nobody -- outside of the confines of Oracle Park believed the Giants could achieve this level of success during the 2021 MLB season.
First place in the NL West and the best record in baseball through Aug. 5? Who could have seen that coming?
Now a season-best 29 games over .500, the Giants extended their lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers within the division to four games with a stunning comeback win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
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Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi joined KNBR's "Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks Show" after the teams thrilling extra-innings win.
Currently, the Giants are tied for first in all of baseball with 164 homers, third in OPS (.764) and third in team ERA (3.37). Zaidi was asked which of these three impressive stats surprised him the most.
“I would say ERA if I’m being totally honest," Zaidi said.
"Our offense was sneaky good last year and we added some pieces that we thought would make it even better. I did think we were going to have a good offense and I did think we were going to hit home runs, but I didn't think we would be number one in baseball. I don't think any of us would have predicted that."
San Francisco Giants
The Giants' offense was indeed "sneaky good" in last year's shortened 60-game season, ranking eighth in runs scored (299), fifth in hits (532) and sixth in OPS (.785).
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Coming into this season, it was the pitching that was more of a question mark. The Giants knew (to an extent) that they were going to get quality innings out of Kevin Gausman and Johnny Cueto, but it was the combination of Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood, Logan Webb and Aaron Sanchez that left everyone with more questions than answers.
"Obviously, we came into the year with some uncertainty with the pitching staff, we had some guys coming off injuries," Zaidi said. "We liked the ability of the group to come together, but they’ve just exceeded expectations, both the rotation and the bullpen. They’ve been phenomenal.”
Phenomenal is an accurate term to describe the Giants rotation, but an understatement in regards to the team as a whole.
Flying high throughout most of the season, the Giants now will prepare to battle some of baseball's best teams down the stretch.