SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Giants are the reigning National League West champions. Yet they aren’t favored to defend their title, not even after winning a franchise-record 107 games in 2021. 

It’s an odd position to be in, but that’s life in arguably the toughest division in baseball, which features a pair of talented rivals in the Dodgers and the Padres. The Giants have heard the whispers that they’re due to regress, but they’re ready to embrace their underdog status and prove the skeptics wrong all over again. 

“We won 107 games, and there hasn’t been a ton of talk,” left-hander Alex Wood said. “We don’t mind that. I think the spiel has been, ‘Can they do it again?’ Or, ‘Can they back it up?’ Like last year was a fluke or whatever. Let me be clear: 107 wins, that ain’t no fluke. … It’s an insanely hard thing to do, much less an insanely hard thing to fake. You can’t fake it until you make it and win 107 games.”

The Giants lost two key bats in Buster Posey and Kris Bryant and a top starter in All-Star right-hander Kevin Gausman, but they’re returning the bulk of their roster and will aim to recreate the unselfish, team-first culture that led to their stunning success in 2021.

“We’re not necessarily picked by anybody to win the division again this year, so that’s our mindset,” shortstop Brandon Crawford said. “Our goal is to do it again with a lot of the same guys that we had last year.”

What needs to go right?
Health is paramount for any club. But it will be especially key for the Giants, who have a roster full of veterans they’ll be counting on to stay productive and durable in 2022.

They have already been dealt a pair of blows, as third baseman Evan Longoria (right index finger surgery) and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. (left knee inflammation) are expected to open the season on the injured list. Tommy La Stella (left Achilles surgery) and Brandon Belt (right knee inflammation) have also been slowed by injuries this spring, making their status for Opening Day a bit questionable.

While the starting rotation has the potential to be among the best in baseball, there’s some injury risk there, too. Carlos Rodón is coming off an All-Star season with the White Sox, but he dealt with left shoulder fatigue down the stretch and barely pitched the previous two years due to arm trouble. Fellow newcomer Alex Cobb hasn’t logged more than 100 innings since 2018.

Still, the Giants are known for their depth-based approach. They have already prepared several contingency plans, most notably signing swingman Jakob Junis and left-hander Matthew Boyd, who is recovering from flexor tendon surgery and likely won’t be a rotation option until June.

“I feel like that’s kind of our thing,” Crawford said. “With the depth that we have, we’re able to kind of roll with it, even missing a guy like Longo for six weeks or so.”

Great unknown
How will the Giants divide playing time behind the plate now that Posey has retired? Joey Bart has long been viewed as Posey’s heir apparent, but the rookie catcher scuffled in his first taste of the big leagues in 2020 and will face a steep learning curve as he learns to manage a veteran pitching staff in his first full season in San Francisco. Still, Bart has looked more confident this spring, earning praise for his framing skills and flashing his right-handed power by slugging three home runs in Cactus League action.

While the Giants see “everyday catcher upside” in Bart, they don’t plan to hand over the reins to him straight away. The 25-year-old is expected to begin the season in a timeshare with veteran Curt Casali, who has a sterling defensive reputation and reported to camp in excellent shape.

Team MVP will be ...
A resurgent Crawford placed fourth in National League Most Valuable Player Award voting in 2021, when he batted a career-high .298 with an .895 OPS and 24 home runs over 138 games while providing Gold Glove-caliber defense at shortstop. He turned 35 in January, but he hasn’t slowed down with the glove, and he is confident he can build on last year’s success after working with the Giants’ hitting coaches to make swing changes in recent years.

Team Cy Young will be …
Logan Webb was one of the best pitchers in baseball in the second half, going 10-0 with a 2.42 ERA over his final 20 regular-season starts and thriving in the playoffs, where he delivered a pair of dominant starts against the Dodgers in the NL Division Series. At 25, Webb is the youngest member of the Giants’ rotation, but he was the easy choice to start on Opening Day, a nod to his status as the club’s homegrown ace.

“Webby’s probably got some of the best stuff I’ve ever seen in person,” Cobb said. “I watch his bullpens, and I watch what he does on the Trackman, and it blows me away. Not only that, but the way he carries himself, he’s ready to be a No. 1. He checks off every box, and he wants it.”

Bold prediction: Thairo Estrada breaks out
Acquired from the Yankees in exchange for cash considerations last year, Estrada impressed in limited time with the Giants in 2021, batting .273 with an .812 OPS and seven home runs over 52 games. He didn’t end up cracking the playoff roster, but he figures to play a more prominent role in the infield this year following the injury to Longoria and the departure of Donovan Solano. Estrada, who is out of options, certainly looks ready to seize the opportunity, as he entered Sunday 7-for-19 with one home run and four stolen bases over seven Cactus League games.