San Francisco Giants Should Still Compete Despite Their Slow Start

The San Francisco Giants haven't been off to a perfect start in 2024, but things should work themselves out.

Apr 5, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jordan Hicks (12) / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants are off to a 5-8 start in one of the toughest divisions in the league, but it might not be time to freak out just yet.

While evaluating the "panic levels" of different teams across the league, MLB writer Will Leitch had an interesting take on the Giants' season so far.

Their season so far was given just a "4 out of 10" panic level, meaning that things haven't gotten too far out of hand yet, but could potentially be if they don't get things fixed.

San Francisco sits in fourth place in their division and four games behind the leading Los Angeles Dodgers. They have also already lost a combined six games to the Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

The biggest issue facing the Giants right now is the dissapointment of their pitching staff.

The announcement that Jordan Hicks would be a starter for them after spending the first six years of his career as a reliever was met with some major pushback, but he has actually been the best pitcher on the staff so far, and one of the best in baseball.

Hicks has a 1.00 ERA through three outings and 13 strikeouts to just three walks surrendered.

Despite that great start, San Francisco is 26th in the MLB with a team ERA of 5.06. The only team in their division they are ahead of are the Colorado Rockies.

Blake Snell had a poor debut, but fans should not be freaked out yet after he's coming off of a Cy Young-winning season. The rotation should be able to figure itself out and be able to compete.

On offense, Michael Conforto is playing at an extremely high level and newcomer Jung Hoo Lee looks promising.

There is a lot of talent on this team, and it would be surprising if things don't start to shift to where they are at least competing for a playoff spot in the wild card throughout the season.