Hypothetical: 2018 Red Sox vs 2014 SF Giants

[The Rocket #21]

I was talking to my Giants fan friend a few days ago about the Red Sox World Series and I was wondering what would have happened if this Red Sox team could have played the 2014 San Francisco Giants in the World Series. Of course the Giants have also won 3 championships within the last 10 years so they are right up there with the Red Sox in championships won recently and they beat the Rangers/Tigers/Royals respectively. The Royals series was the most competitive going 7 games.

- Perhaps it would make more sense for the 2013 Red Sox to play the 2014 Giants since they were only a year apart but we essentially tore down our team and went in full rebuild mode? Also, I think the 2013 Red Sox team was not as dominant as 2018.

- Our success against the Giants would have come down to can we eventually hit Madison Bumgarner since I think they used him quite a bit similar to how we used Eovaldi?

- Not enough of an indicator but I thought during the regular season, the Red Sox have been pretty successful playing the Giants even in the years when we were not as good.

What do you all think? Let's say both teams are completely healthy.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Sox roll and it's about as close as this year's series was (so, not that close).

The Giants had a solid but not all that potent lineup. Their top two hitters were Posey (143 OPS+) and Morse (130 OPS+) but to their credit, all their "starters" (defined by b-ref) had OPS+ of 100 or better. Beyond Bumgarner, their rotation wasn't anything intimidating (this year's Dodgers were better). Their pen was very good but not unhittable. The Royals, who they needed seven games and a heroic effort by Bumgarner to beat, pale in comparison to the 2018 Yankees and Astros, let alone the Red Sox.

A better series would probably be the 2012 Giants against this year's Sox, as that was the best squad of the three Giants titles. Much stronger rotation with a healthy Matt Cain paired with Bumgarner. Posey was a much better hitter that year (171 OPS+). Still think the Sox take the series, but it probably goes seven.

 

[Seels]

Sox win in four. Play 100 and the Sox win 70-75. Those giants teams are some of the worst World Series winners ever.

 

[Sam Ray Not]

You mean, the noodle-bat, 88-74, +66 run differential wildcard Giants who eked past the Nats and Cards with a bunch of coin-flip wins and won the WS in seven games (3-2 in Game 7) against an even more flawed and noodle-batted +27 Royals team?

Going up against one of the dozen (or so) most dominant MLB teams ever?

With the caveat that in baseball anything can happen in a seven-game series (and that it's nice to have a starter like MadBum in a seven-game series) I'm not sure how this is even a conversation.

 

[The Rocket #21]

For further consideration, the last time both the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants played each other in the regular season was 2016. Both teams made the playoffs and were eliminated in the division series so they were both good..

In the four games we played, we won 3-1.

Won - 5-3, 4-0 and 11-7

Lost - 2-1

The game we lost was Price vs Bumgarner and obviously a close one.

I agree we would probably handle the Giants in a World Series matchup but I do think they would put up a better fight than the Dodgers.

 

[Sam Ray Not]

A two-year-old, four-game sample between two teams whose main similarities to the 2018 Red Sox / 2014 Giants are their team nicknames is not particularly meaningful.

Neither is one person's guess about how much of a "fight" one team or the other might put up in this fantasy matchup.

By stuff we can measure, over ±180-game samples, the 2018 Sox were one of the more dominant WS winners in MLB history, whereas the 2014 Giants were one of the least dominant.

Whether that equates to 4-0 or 4-1 or 4-2 Sox in this fantasy matchup seems like a pointless thing to quibble about. Just make your friend buy you a beer and find a better conversation topic.

 

[jon abbey]

Lurkers really shouldn't be allowed to start main board threads, yet another example here.