Weekend BP: Giants fans optimistic about playoff chances

Gabe Kapler with a towel around his neck — Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Just days away from the trade deadline, Giants fans are optimistic about the team’s chances to make it into the playoffs. Well, at least as a Wild Card.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in San Francisco Giants fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Earlier this week, we asked you all to weigh in on how you were feeling about how the Giants would fare in terms of making the playoffs. The results are in, and it looks like the majority of you were optimistic, with 72% predicting that the Giants would get in as a Wild Card team.

A graphic with Austin Slater, asking the question “How will the regular season end for the Giants” with a 72% bar for “Make the Wild Card,” a 17% bar for “Miss the playoffs” and an 11% bar for “Win the division”

This feels like the right amount of optimism for a fanbase that has seen the other two options in the last two years. After winning the division in 2021’s electrifying race to the finish with the Los Angeles Dodgers (a feat that 11% of you predicted they would repeat this season), the Giants missed the playoffs entirely in 2022 (which 17% of you predicted would happen again this season.)

So a bit of cautious optimism feels warranted. We’ve seen highs and lows with this team. Winning streaks that seemed impossible, and losing streaks that have been maddening.

They currently sit at the top of the heap of other Wild Card contenders, but also just three games behind the Dodgers for the division. So 72% of you seem to prefer the safe bet here. Which is perfectly reasonable.

But also, I am biased, as one of the 72%. Nothing wrong with aiming for a Wild Card spot. It’s not unlikely that the final stretch of the 2021 NL West race took its toll on both teams and helped lead to their early exits. Also, we know that a Wild Card team can go all the way. The Giants were the first team to ride one to a World Series back in 2014, after all.

What time do the Giants play this weekend?

The Giants have two more games in this series against the Boston Red Sox at Oracle Park this weekend. Saturday’s game starts at 4:15 p.m. PT and is a national broadcast; Sunday’s game starts at 1:05 p.m. PT.