It's no secret that the San Francisco Giants have struggled recently. The team is 4-6 in its last ten games and 75-68 overall, a good record but one that may not be good enough to secure a playoff berth this year.
The Giants sit 6 1/2 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West, who could stretch their lead to 7 games tonight if they beat the Colorado Rockies. This is an issue for a Giants squad that has only 19 games left to play this season.
Is the division out of reach? It's not, and the reason becomes evident once you take a look at the remaining schedule. The Giants play six more series this year: two against the Los Angeles Dodgers, two against the Rockies, one against the San Diego Padres and one against the Diamondbacks.
Of those teams, only the Diamondbacks have a winning record right now. That gives the Giants a huge opportunity: if the team can win, say, 75% of the games against the Dodgers, Rockies and Padres and the Diamondbacks play .500 or slightly-above .500 ball, both teams could be in contention for the division crown heading into their three-game series.
The Giants can still make a run at the division, but they need to start playing better and putting teams away. We'll see how they perform over the next few weeks, but make sure you circle Sept. 23rd on your calendar. That marks the beginning of the (potentially) important Giants-Diamondbacks series.