With a 57-33 record at the All-Star break, and a 61/2 game lead on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West race, the Giants appear to be in good position.
However, appearances can be deceiving. Coming out of the break, the team begins an 8-game road trip, starting Friday night with a 3-game series against the San Diego Padres. That will be followed by two games at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox, and 3 games at Yankee Stadium. Bumgarner will pitch the first game against the Padres (Bruce Bochy indicated his rotation will set up as if it were the season opener).
I recall several recent games where the Giants' bullpen has blown late-inning leads... one was against the Oakland As in San Francisco where the pen blew a sizeable lead in the late innings... another also at home against the Colorado Rockies where Bumgarner turned a 2-1 lead over to the pen, and the Rockies scored 5 eighth inning runs to win 7-3... another was against the Atlanta Braves where the pen blew a ninth inning lead and lost in extra innings. The Giants bullpen has blown more late-inning leads than any other team in baseball. The fact that they still have a 61/2 game lead in the division where the Dodgers are 11 games over .500, and with Pence, Panik, Duffy, and Cain all spending time on the DL (Pence and Cain significant time, and Duffy looks like he will be on the DL for quite a while) makes it even more remarkable.
But it is still obvious the team needs bullpen help. is this team going to trade minor league prospects for a solid reliever, either setup or possible closer?
[ Edited by semicolin on Jul 13, 2016 at 10:17 AM ]