A Giant Hill To Climb.

After a year in which their ace forgot how to throw, their catcher forgot he was the powerhouse until the second half, and their star outfielder forgot how to play clean, the San Francisco Giants managed to remember how to dominate the NL West division in a manner reminiscent to the way they did in 2010, when they brought the city its first World Series title, and clinched their second division title in 3 years. But, unlike Matt Cain's masterful perfect game against the Astros a few months ago, it doesn't get easier from here.

Even with Cain, Bumgarner and Vogelsong shutting down opposing lineups, the Giants' rotation hinges on Lincecum.

There are three keys for the Giants if they want to survive this postseason. First, they must figure out Tim Lincecum. I don't mean psychologically or emotionally, they must determine why this 2-time Cy Young winner, the youngest pitcher to 1,000 career strikeouts, a huge part of their previous championship-winning team, has given up more hits and home runs than a pitching machine. It might be easy to say that it's his mechanics finally catching up with him; after all, "The Freak" earned his nickname with his extremely odd, and potentially hazardous, pitching delivery. Or it could be the fact that he's already accomplished more in his career than plenty of his contemporaries, what with the accolades previously mentioned. Whatever it may be that has caused Lincecum to have his first "lost season", Big Time Timmy Jim has to turn it around this October, and become the flamethrowing strikeout machine instead of the Little League tee he's been for batters this season. He's proven that he can turn it on just like that in the postseason: in his only postseason experience in '10, he pitched 37 innings in 6 games, notched a 4-1 record and posted a 2.43 ERA to go along with his 0.93 WHIP. Hopefully the pressure to perform well will get to him in a positive way yet again this postseason.

After a lost 2011, Posey has plenty of reason to grin.

Second, they need to continue nurturing the growth of babyface backstop Buster Posey. After the nasty collision that caused him to sit out two-thirds of the 2011 season, Posey has come to life in 2012, going .332/23/98 with a .946 OPS to this point, which has warranted serious MVP consideration for the burgeoning powerhouse. What's even more crucial to his success, and the success of San Francisco, is that losing most of last year to a painful leg injury as the result of a crash at the plate didn't affect his psyche, as he's playing just as aggressively, blocking players rushing toward the plate like they were Scott Cousins incarnate. One thing he could improve on, though, is his caught stealing percentage: he's only throwing out baserunners at a 30 percent rate, which is good for 10th in baseball (in comparison, the Cardinals' backstop and other potential MVP candidate Yadier Molina has a 47 percent success rate). If batters on base in the postseason know they can safely run on Posey, it'll be hard to contain them on the basepaths. Other than that, as long as he keeps going with this stride he's hit, Buster could find himself leaping into the arms of his closer yet again this October.

Going into the playoffs without Melky was not in the Giants' plans, but they can triumph without him.

Finally, the Giants must continue to get production out of their outfield, even after the loss of All-Star Game MVP and performance-enhancing drug user Melky Cabrera. While the Melkman will be available to make deliveries this postseason, his 50-game suspension wouldn't end until about 6 games into the playoffs (if the Giants make it that far), meaning manager Bruce Bochy would have to keep a roster spot open for him once he returns, a very risky move when every bench player could be the difference between a champagne bath on November's eve and looking at a bare ring finger next April (for the record, Bochy has already stated unequivocally that Cabrera will not play this postseason). Plus, there's no guarantee that Cabrera will come back at 100 percent...or what was 100 percent for him on PEDs, as anyone who's seen him play at all in the previous 3 years when he jumped teams 3 times could tell you that he has never been much more than a fourth outfielder at best, not the offensive force he was this year. Angel Pagan and midseason acquisition Hunter Pence are doing their best in his absence, with Pagan leading the team in runs scored with 93, and Pence notching 100 RBIs for the first time in his career. Their offense needs these two to keep producing, because apart from them, Posey and Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval, their lineup is absolutely dreadful. Aubrey Huff? Anyone remember him? .194 batting average with 1 home run and 6 RBIs this year. Admittedly, he's missed nearly the entire season, but it's players like him that you don't want to see come off the bench in Game 7 of the NLCS with everything on the line.

The Giants could find themselves winning it all in October for the second time in 3 years, but it'll take a lot to get past the dominating Reds and the surging Nats/Braves/Cards, much less whichever team the American League has to offer in the Fall Classic, should the San Fran crew make it that far.