As of July 16, the San Francisco Giants are in fourth place in the National League West. However, they’re just 3.5 games out of first place in what is shaping up to be the tightest division race in baseball. The San Diego Padres have had Kamagra Gold control of the division for much of the 2010 season, but the Giants, Dodgers and Rockies are all nipping at their heels. San Fran is a respectable 48-41 through 89 games and figures to be in the NL West race for the duration this season, but can they take home the division crown?

The division title is definitely in play for the Giants, the biggest reason being their starting pitching. It’s extremely difficult to consistently win games in the majors without good starting pitching, and the Giants have arguably the best rotation in the bigs. Staff ace Tim Lincecum sells more San Francisco Giants tickets than any other player on the roster and looks poised for a big second half. The two-time Cy Young winner started off his second half brilliantly with a complete game shutout of the Mets on July 15, something that certainly bodes well for the rest of his season.

Lincecum is followed in the rotation by another former Cy Young winner in Barry Zito. After struggling to live up to his huge contract in his first few seasons in San Francisco, Zito has had a resurgent 2010 campaign. At 7-4 with a solid 3.76 ERA, Zito seems to have adjusted his style of pitching to fit his current skill set, and it’s working. Zito is followed by Matt Cain, a hard throwing right-hander with serious strikeout ability. Cain has had his ups and down this season, but his 3.34 ERA speaks to how good he truly is. Following Cain is Jonathan Sanchez, another hurler that has had his fair share of bumps in the road this season. However, his ERA still stands at a tidy 3.47. If Cain and Sanchez can become a bit more consistent, this rotation will do some major damage in the second half.

The wild card of the rotation is clearly rookie Madison Bumgarner. A top pitching prospect, Bumgarner was called up to the bigs in late June and has performed very well thus far. He’s a mediocre 2-2 through four starts, but is sporting an ERA of 2.57 and a WHIP just a touch over 1.00. Bumgarner has the ability to develop into a very good big league pitcher, but a fast start to his MLB career could mean the division title for his team. The Giants are likely to rest him some as the season winds down, but he could be a major factor in the Giants’ playoff chase.

Will the Giants’ starting pitching be good enough to overcome this team’s offensive shortcomings? That’s the million dollar question in the Bay. Looking at the aforementioned pitchers’ records, they don’t match the ERAs. This is because the Giants’ lineup doesn’t provide a ton of run support on a regular basis.

First baseman Aubrey Huff, who is leading the team is virtually every offensive category, has been a steady presence in the San Francisco lineup and rookie catcher Buster Posey has been a great addition to the big league roster, but other guys like Pablo Sandoval and Edgar Renteria have been largely disappointing this season. If the Giants are truly going to make some noise down the stretch and beyond, they’ll need to score some runs. If they can swing a deal for Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder, it could put them over the top, but it could very well cost them Bumgarner to pull that off.

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