Giants just might be surging at the right time

It's amazing what a difference a few games will make in one's attitude.

Just a couple of weeks ago we looked at the San Francisco Giants and thought "These guys are messed up. They're doomed". Then they finished the regular season winning five out of six, sweeping The Hated Dodgers in the process, then blanking New York in the National League wildcard game. In just seven games Giants fans have gone from wondering what they'd be doing on this date, knowing it wouldn't be baseball related, and daring to hope that even-year magic is going to strike and carry the Giants to a fourth title in seven seasons.

Why is this man smiling?

Madison Bumgarner went into full-on October mode, Connor Gillaspie provided the blast out of nowhere, and suddenly we look up and see the Orange and Black week expected to see. At least in our hearts that's the team we see. Whether that proves to be the case, who knows, but were all #beliEVEN again, aren’t we? Now this could all be a mirage, it could go up in smoke faster than Britney Spears's career. But for the first time in three months we have hope, and damn does it feel good.

If you count wildcard rounds, the Giants have won 11 straight playoff series since Bruce Bochy arrived. They go looking for number 12 starting Friday night in Chicago against the odds-on favorites (if you believe in that sort of thing) the Chicago Cubs. It seems the wise guys in Las Vegas don't think too much of the Giants' chances. Chicago is the team drawing all the money and odds makers give it a 37.5 percent chance of taking the title.

The Giants? Well, they're polling at about the same rate as Gary Johnson on only marginally ahead of the Zika virus. Las Vegas sets the possibility of the Giants winning at 7.5 percent, tied for dead last (with Cleveland) among all the playoff participants.

But really, what do they know? To believe the sports books, MLB should just start printing tickets for a Cubs-Rangers World Series. But the Cubs now have to deal with a team that knows how to win; something the Baby Bears last did in 1908 unless you subscribe to some Marty McFly delusion, while the Rangers are in serious danger of not making it out of this weekend.

Experts. An ex is a has-been and spurt is a drip under pressure.  This is baseball. Over 162 games it's about who can sustain solid play. Once the postseason derby gets started it's all about who gets hot; something the San Francisco faithful know all too well.

The Giants were long shots in 2010, punching their ticket on the last day of the season. In 2012 the Tigers were thought to be invincible. In 2014 San Francisco limped into the postseason and was basically an afterthought. Who walked away with the trophies?

If you want to look that up, we'll wait.

To get the particulars out-of-the-way, Game One features a duel between 18 game-winner Johnny Cueto (2.79 ERA) and 19-game winner Jon Lester (2.44 ERA). What, neither of these stiffs could win 20? What a bunch of shirkers! If you thought Tuesday night's battle in New York was destined to be a pitching duel, well that's exactly what it was. Friday night may well be Round Two.

The time between rounds of a playoff series are always filled with speculation, that's the fun of it. It just give self-professed geniuses like ourselves something to chat about while we try to sound smart -- like we're fooling anyone. Who will make the playoff roster? Who are the surprise additions? Who gets snubbed? Well, the Giants gave us interesting answers to those questions.

Two of the moves were big gambles. The Giants decided to keep Eduardo Nunez around despite team trainers not yet deeming him fit to play. Apparently the hope is that somewhere over the next five games he'll be able to contribute, whether it's off the bench or in the lineup. Ehire Adrianza gets kicked to the curb to make room.

We could stand to watch Sergio dance again.

The other surprise? Santiago Casilla still has a job, and we don't get it. You probably don't get it. The family dog had a confused look. But for some reason Bruce Bochy trusts the guy. There's no one else this side of MLB Network who believes Casilla has a drop of gas left in the tank but he'll take up one of the 25 spots. Sergio Romo has taken over the role of closer, which admittedly has a life expectancy of a Spinal Tap drummer, but there can't be any way Casilla is trusted in a "must" situation.

Barry Zito got a ringside seat in 2010. Jake Peavy and Matt Cain are spectators this year, and should be. But Casilla gets to pitch, or at least pretend he might. Blackmail must certainly be a factor.

For the bulk of the season Bochy carried 13 pitchers on the roster. For the NLDS that number will be 12, or 11 if, like us, you decided not to really count on Captain Gas Can. Add Matt Moore, who wasn't needed for the wildcard round, as the necessary fourth starter and the Giants go in with effectively a seven-man pen.

The Giants have made some changes to that relief core as well. Ty Blach was added to the roster with Steven Okert being omitted. Blach provides some cheap insurance should a starter get knocked around early and he's been impressive in his four Major-League appearances. The flip side of that? San Francisco has just two left-handers able to pitch in relief: Will Smith and Javier Lopez. For a manager who likes to play match ups, this would seem to put Bochy in a bit of a bind. Perhaps we may see the skipper try to get some full frames out of pitchers instead of using multiple arms to get a handful of outs.

Still MIA are Josh Osich, Cory Gearrin and Albert Suarez. To us, any is preferable to Casilla, although Osich would be in the “break glass on in case of emergency” category.

Still the number seems high (even without Casilla). Four starters and six relievers seem to be enough for any situation, especially with the built-in off days. Or maybe we're just overreacting to the memory of JT Snow getting thrown out in Miami cira 2003 because Felipe Alou carried an extra pitcher and had no one to pinch run with the season on the line. 

We're not bitter, but we do send Eric Young a Christmas card every year. Not even Idina Menzel can convince us to let that one go.

The changes do come with a price tag. The Giants will have virtually no power coming off the bench. Jarett Parker, who wore a groove in the I-80 going between San Francisco and Sacramento this year to fill the outfield MASH unit, was on the roster for the one-game playoff at New York but will sit against Chicago.

Don't you just love it? The series has an even bigger gun and there's angst. This guy got shafted. This guy should be on the team. Why in the heck did this guy have a job? Are, the fun of postseason baseball let it last for long enough for the Giants to win 11 more.

After all, everyone loves a parade.