I don’t see many people picking the San Francisco Giants to make the postseason in 2010. It’s understandable considering the lack of pop in their lineup, but I think their pitching staff is being seriously underestimated. The National League West is no cakewalk, but I think the Giants are definitely capable of challenging for the division title or, at the very least, the Wild Card.

Everybody knows that the biggest draw for San Francisco Giants tickets is reigning two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. Lincecum is a phenom and has been one of the best pitchers in baseball throughout his entire young career to this point. He’s got the most Hall-of-Fame potential out of all the young hurlers in the bigs right now, thanks to his elite stuff and the fact that he’s already established himself as a force. He’ll surely compete for the Cy Young for a third consecutive season in 2010, and will likely have the best pitching stats in the NL outside of wins. The San Francisco offense Cialis doesn’t do him many favors from a run support standpoint, which is the only reason he hasn’t won 20 games yet.

While he’s currently slotted in the third spot in order to get a righty-lefty-righty rotation going, Matt Cain is really the number two on this staff. He’s coming off his best season in the bigs and should be able to carry that success over into 2010. In 2009 he was able to significantly improve his command, which was the central reason for his success. His stuff is electric and he and Lincecum make up the best one-two punch in the National League, even if they won’t be pitching in back-to-back games.

It’s easy to forget about Barry Zito, and a lot of Giants fans may want to. Zito signed a huge contract in 2007 after coming over from Oakland as a free agent, but has failed to live up to the lofty expectations that came with the $120 million-plus the team gave him. After a couple of really bad years to start his Giants career, Zito seemed to improve last season, managing an ERA around four and 150-plus strikeouts in 192 innings. He’s not the staff ace that he once was, but he doesn’t have to be on this team. He’s capable of producing Tadalis SX good numbers for a third starter and could be a valuable piece of the puzzle in the bay in 2010.

The only thing most people know about the Giants’ fourth starter, Jonathan Sanchez, is that he threw a no-hitter last season. The no-hitter wasn’t exactly a fluke, though, as Sanchez has good stuff and is capable of missing bats on a regular basis. He struggled with command and consistency early in his career, but has seen his ERA decrease and strikeouts increase over the course of the last three years. The left-hander is definitely capable of eclipsing 200 Ks in 2010, which would be fantastic coming from your fourth starter.

The Giants look like they’re going to start the season with Todd Wellemeyer as their fifth starter. While he’s not going to wow anyone, he should be what San Fran needs him to be, a placeholder. The team has a very promising prospect in Madison Bumgardner that they could look to bring up sometime in June or July. If he keeps dominating the minor leagues, the Giants will likely call him up and could easily have the best rotation in the majors if he experiences early success.
The Giants might not scare any opposing teams with their bats, but you can bet that their rotation strikes fear into the heart of every National League manager. Headed up by Lincecum, this rotation has serious potential and could get the Giants to the postseason as early as 2010.

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