Is This San Francisco Giants Team Talented Enough to Go on Another Surprise Run?

The San Francisco Giants are used to the path of most resistance. When the Giants won it all in 2010 and 2012, they weren't considered favorites but underdogs, even though they entered October as the National League West champions both times.

This year, though, they're facing a path of even more resistance, having had to sneak in as if through the back door via the second wild card, the last of five playoff spots in the Senior Circuit.

Let's face it: Even with their recent history of proving critics and doubters wrong, when the postseason field of 10 was set at the end of September, the Giants were even more overlooked and underdogged than they had been the past two times they made it this far.

But as Richard Justice writes for Sports on Earth:

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And so, the Giants, the team that won the World Series in 2010 and again in '12, appear poised for another run. This hasn't been a great season, but with first baseman Brandon Belt back in the lineup and with third baseman Pablo Sandoval and catcher Buster Posey hitting, the Giants are a team to be reckoned with.

Beyond the things that can be measured, the Giants have an inner confidence, not an arrogance, but a confidence.

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That's all well and good, but are these Giants, flawed and fighting through injuries to key players like right-hander Matt Cain and center fielder/leadoff man Angel Pagan, talented enough to keep with their #EvenYear policy and get back to the World Series for the third time in five years?

The lineup actually looks to be in good shape, even sans Pagan (out for the year with back surgery) and possibly Michael Morse, whose strained left oblique may keep him off the NLDS roster, according to Chris Haft of MLB.com.

The middle-of-the-order trio of Hunter Pence, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval has plenty of playoff experience and all kinds of big moments on their resumes.

It's the pitching that's more worrisome at the moment. Especially since top starter Madison Bumgarner, who hurled a complete-game shutout to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 in Wednesday night's Wild Card Game, now can make only one start against the Washington Nationals, as manager Bruce Bochy said via MLB.com.

That leaves the Giants to go with aging veterans Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson in Games 1 and 2, respectively, with Bumgarner getting only one start in Game 3.

That's a significant departure from previous postseasons. In 2010 and 2012, San Francisco was able to rely on three ace-caliber arms in Bumgarner, Cain and Tim Lincecum, who was still a stud starter back in '10 but was used primarily as a dynamite long man in '12 (13.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 17/2 K/BB).

This time around, though, the club has to hope that Peavy, who has an ace-like 2.17 ERA and 1.04 WHIP since coming over from the Boston Red Sox in a midseason swap, can pitch better than he ever has in the playoffs (9.27 ERA, 1.93 WHIP in five October outings).

Don Boomer/Associated Press/Associated Press

Meanwhile, Hudson's awful second half (4.73 ERA, 1.45 WHIP) cannot spill over into the postseason.

As good as the bullpen is with its fifth-best reliever ERA of 3.01 for the year, it won't be able to make up for things if the rotation falls apart.

As if that weren't enough, the Giants still have to go through the Nationals and then either the Los Angeles Dodgers or St. Louis Cardinals—last year's NL champions—to return to the World Series.

With the NLDS set to begin Friday afternoon, the odds are stacked against the Giants because of how strong this Nationals club is, as Anthony DiComo of MLB.com points out:

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In terms of sheer statistical acumen, the Nationals head into this series as prohibitive favorites. Having wrapped up the NL East title weeks ago, the Nats had plenty of time to line up their fearsome rotation -- arguably the game's best -- as they saw fit. That means right-hander Stephen Strasburg will make his postseason debut in Game 1, putting his 3.14 regular-season ERA and league-leading 242 strikeouts on the line.

[...]

The Nats, however, are not just about starting pitching. Their bullpen, led by setup-man-turned-closer Drew Storen, ranked fourth in baseball in the regular season. Their offense, thanks to NL MVP Award candidates Anthony Rendon and Jayson Werth, produced the third-most runs in the Senior Circuit.

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Then again, the Giants can counter with the fact that they know something the Nationals don't yet—what it takes.

After all, San Francisco has won eight straight postseason games. Its last October loss? That came in Game 4 of the 2012 NLCS, a series in which the Giants stormed back from a three-games-to-one deficit against the reigning champion St. Louis Cardinals.

They outscored the Cardinals 20-1 over the final three contests to advance to the World Series, where they swept the Detroit Tigers.

And there's this: With Wednesday's wild-card win on the road over the Pirates—owners of the best record in baseball from Aug. 20 on—the Giants tied the record for most consecutive elimination games won with seven, per ESPN Stats & Info. And that's in the history of Major League Baseball.

Regarding the team's knack for coming through when it's win-or-go-home, Bochy, who is 31-25 all time in October—and 23-9 with the Giants—said in his workout day interview, via MLB.com:

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We have a lot of experience to draw on. I do, and watching these guys, how they perform in pressure games, you know, they just we kid around, you know, it is in their DNA, as many times as they have done it, they find a way to play their best ball when their backs are to the wall. In the do or die situation, these guys have been there so many times.

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So will the Giants finish 2014 like they did in 2012 or 2010 before that? Do they have the talent to get it done—again? Maybe, maybe not.

But can they? It's silly not to at least consider the possibility, even if the mind says no, but the heart is shouting "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

These Giants can't be counted out until they play a win-or-go-home game and actually go home.

Statistics are accurate through Oct. 2 and are courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted.

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