With the best record and run differential in the Cactus League for the second Spring Training in a row, it makes a lot of sense that the San Francisco Giants fans are feeling pretty good about the team heading into the regular season. For the moment, let’s ignore what actually happened after last Spring Training’s triumph and stay on that positivity to examine the latest results of SB Nation Reacts poll. The question was straightforward: Where will the Giants finish in the NL West?
That’s a really strong poll, with just 40% of respondents believing the team won’t be vying for the division title or a Wild Card spot (thanks to those fans who took the time to cast a troll vote predicting they’d be worse than the Colorado Rockies). Yes, I’m perhaps prognosticating too negatively suggest that a third place finish won’t push the Giants into the postseason for the first time since 2021, but that seems pretty reasonable given a non-NL West field that will almost certainly include the Mets, Atlanta, Phillies, Brewers, Cubs, and possibly the Reds. There might be room for just one other team in the NL West to make the postseason or realistically scrap it out.
That’s if you believe San Diego and Arizona are too weak to be serious competitors (and, if you’re thinking about another division, the Reds) both within the division and that field. That might wind up being the case, but it’s still a massive prognostication that, to me, outweighs projecting a Wild Card field that might only include one NL West team. Yes, absolutely, the Giants could wind up being the second-best team in the division, but San Diego’s range of projections is so wide that while they could wind up in the 80 to 82 win range, they could also get to 88 or 90. The conventional wisdom all offseason has been that the Giants will be chasing the Padres in 2026. The consensus with the Diamondbacks is that they’ll almost certainly trail the Giants, suggesting a third place team at best (unless those trolls who cast the fifth place finish votes wind up being correct).
But that’s enough about the playoffs. That’s a six months from now problem. Today, it’s about basking in the positivity. If I were to have predicted the results of this prediction poll, I would’ve come pretty close to getting it right. The Giants are playing great and they’ve got just enough “new” in the mix to make the last three months of last season not only a distant memory, but in no way predictive for 2026. It certainly feels like there has been positive developments with the development section of the roster and that’s before you start thinking about Logan Webb, Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, Heliot Ramos, and Jung Hoo Lee.
Indeed, this poll demonstrates that Giants fans have looked at the bullpen and concluded, “You know what? Keaton Winn will be 7th inning guy when the team breaks camp. Gregory Santos is the Prodigal Son who will setup Ryan Walker who will be a top tier closer despite how last season went. Buster Posey’s spaghetti-at-the-wall bullpen makes all the sense in the world.” They’ve seen the first six weeks of the schedule — which goes Yankees, Padres, at Mets, Phillies, at Orioles, at Reds (then at Nationals), Dodgers, Marlins, at Rays, Padres, Pirates, and Dodgers again — and have concluded, “Hey, they go 22-22 and they’re in great shape the rest of the way.”
A bad Spring Training record would not have engendered such optimism.
While there are probably fans who place a bet on the Giants winning the World Series every year no matter the odds, the Giants do appear to be a group with a lot more going on for it than wishcasting or “there’s always next year.” This is the second straight Spring Training where this basic roster core and executive group has looked competitive once assembled on a baseball field. Bob Melvin’s ancient staff of been there, done thats didn’t have any answers when that Spring Training success translated to regular season success but then floundered and you can bet that Tony Vitello and his coaching group won’t rest on “letting guys figure things out” if things go as terribly midseason as they did in 2025. The team’s makeup has changed with few changes to the team itself.
This week’s SB Nation Reacts report had two more questions included with the team-specific questions and came about because of the suspensions for Max Kepler and Jurickson Profar, who both tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in their system.
45% of MLB fans who voted in the SB Nation Reacts MLB polls this past week aren’t worried at all about PED usage in the sport. Only about 1/3 of fans see PEDs as, currently, a major problem and it’s a bit concerning that it’s so high. A major problem? I have a big smile on my face for the 20% result for “Only if it hurts my team.” Sometimes, that degree of lizard brained honesty is refreshing.
My lizard brain perceives the 35% thinking it’s a major problem as those who think the Dodgers are cheating and that the root of all evil is either the Dodgers or Yankees, because fans of a teams that usually stink must think that teams that try and win a lot must be the result of sorcery or some devil’s bargain. While it’s true that the Dodgers are The First Evil, the cause of all death and disaster in the universe, the histrionic segment of the US population that believes the key to “fixing” Major League Baseball is by constraining the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets via the annihilation of the players’ collective bargaining power is no friend of mine or genuine fan of the sport. They’re tribalists who are channeling blood lust through team sport. I don’t find relief in inflicting pain on others, but I might be in the minority on that. But there will always be a group of people who want to hurt a stranger as much as they can imagine. And on that note, the second national poll question:
The majority of fans who voted are basically fine with the current punishment system, but a not-insignificant group of 41% wants more. I wonder how many of the “I only care if it affects my team” wanted harsher punishments. If my lived experience as an American is instructive at all, there’s probably a lot of overlap.
Of course, another suspension could be a big story for the labor negotiations, as the owners — and fans — have a list of grievances against the players they think will be compelling enough to impose a dumb stupid salary cap and a pathetic salary floor. We’re not there yet, though, and back to the point of this post: we’re not at the point where we can forget how well the Giants are doing right now.
Yes, zero negative and zero positive outcomes during Spring Training are predictive or matter, but it’s fun when the Giants win. That they’ve so rarely won over the past decade when the games have counted can’t get in the way of how they look today.
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