SF Giants continue to slip in NL Wild Card standings

Aug 17, 2023, 7:52 AM

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 14: Osleivis Basabe #37 of the Tampa Bay Rays runs home to score...

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Sacramento Kings Beat Writer

Things haven’t been clicking for the San Francisco Giants since the start of August.

Following Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Giants have lost eight of their past 11 games as they now hold a 6-8 record in August.

A once comfortable four-game lead in the National League Wild Card standings has been reduced to 1.5 games entering play on Thursday, with San Francisco (64-57) holding a slim lead over three teams behind them in the chase for a postseason spot:

The surging Chicago Cubs, the surprising Miami Marlins, and the hot-hitting Cincinnati Reds–and that’s not all.

Is pressure mounting for the Giants?@PavlovicNBCS describes the state of the clubhouse as the team heads into a challenging stretch pic.twitter.com/uvmJG7D6if

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 16, 2023

The Cubs, Marlins, and Reds are all currently tied for the third and final NL Wild Card spot, sitting 1.5 games behind the second-spot-holder, the Giants.

Behind those three teams are two teams that San Francisco is familiar with: the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres.

Arizona sits 1.5 games behind the third spot and three games behind the Giants in the standings, while San Diego has its work cut out for them as they trail a postseason spot by 4.5 games.

A critical aspect of the final stretch of play is the head-to-head ramifications, and teams below San Francisco will have their chance at chipping away at the deficit in the standings.

Here’s the breakdown of how many games the Giants have against teams beneath them in the NL Wild Card race:

7 vs. San Diego (4 at home, 3 on road)
3 vs. Cincinnati
3 @ Chicago
3 @ Philadelphia (SF trails by 2 games in standings)
2 @ Arizona

What is the current state of the NL Wild Card standings?

Seven teams will be vying for three spots over the final six weeks of the regular season.

San Francisco’s buzzsaw of a schedule continues this weekend with a three-game set against the World Series favorites, the Atlanta Braves, but the important thing here is that the Giants still control their own destiny.

Instead of having to look around the league and hope for help, the case for San Francisco making the playoffs is simple:

Win, and you’re in.

Although the Giants hold MLB’s fifth-hardest remaining schedule per Tankathon, they are still in the driver’s seat of determining the outcome of their 2023 season.

A tough schedule awaits, with the six games against Atlanta and three in Philadelphia on the docket for San Francisco’s next week of action.

Is this Giants team destined for the playoffs? The playoff picture gets clearer by the day, and San Francisco will have its work cut out for them in the coming weeks.