ESPN analyst believes SF Giants are a sleeper in the National League
Most MLB experts are paying little attention to the SF Giants heading into the 2023 MLB season. Coming off an 81-81 campaign and an offseason where they missed out on all the top free agents in the class, the Giants are expected to be a middling team by most. However, ESPN analyst Jessica Mendoza told Christopher Russo on ESPN's First Take that she believes the Giants are her sleeper pick in the National League.
SF Giants catcher Blake Sabol rounds the bases after blasting a homer. (2023)
Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
"I'm going Giants, and the reason is Farhan Zaidi and what he does over there to be able to build and find guys," Mendoza said. "We saw this two years ago when everyone came into the year like 'Giants: One of the worst teams in baseball.' They ended up taking the division from the Dodgers by one game... No one's looking in San Francisco, and I do believe, maybe not today, but when you look at the end of July and the moves that they're making, as long as they're within shooting distance of that wild card, the Giants are that sleeper team for me."
Mendoza is a two-time Olympian, having won a bronze and gold medal as a softball player with Team USA in 2004 and 2008. A record-setting outfielder at Stanford, Mendoza starred in the National Pro Fastpitch league from 2005-2012, winning ther NPF Player of the Year Award in 2011. She was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Since retiring as a player, Mendoza has worked as a broadcaster with ESPN in several roles, including as an analyst on Baseball Tonight and as a member of the network's Sunday Night Baseball crew, and is an analyst for Los Angeles Dodgers games on Spectrum Sports LA. Beyond broadcasting, Mendoza also worked as a senior advisor for the New York Mets from 2019-2020. Needless to say, her background suggests she's very familiar with the Giants and their competition in the National League.
You can watch Jessica Mendoza's full comments on the SF Giants below:
