The regular season is just over three weeks away, and there are some burning questions surrounding the San Francisco Giants. The first question is all about the corners. In the outfield, can Michael Conforto and/or Mitch Haniger return to All-Star form? For the SF Giants to have a successful season, one or both of these players probably has to get back to being a really good major league player. In the infield, can the Giants' David Villar and LaMonte Wade Jr. handle the job? Villar is still relatively unproven, and Wade regressed heavily in 2022 after a terrific 2021.

Next question: Is the Giants' defense improved enough to avoid sinking their season? Defense was such a huge problem last year, but when you look at the players who hurt the San Francisco Giants the most, it's a lot of guys who are no longer on the team. Either that or they don't figure to play as much, or they are moving to less important positions. Joc Pederson comes out of the outfield. Darin Ruf is gone. Luis González is depth as opposed to a starter. No more Tommy La Stella or Brandon Belt, who wasn't moving well at all last year.

Will this be the year that young SF Giants finally start to demonstrate that the team has a good pipeline? Kyle Harrison and Casey Schmitt have big seasons ahead of them. Can Villar and/or Joey Bart make the leap? How about Vaun Brown and Marco Luciano? And finally, is the SF Giants' rotation, which lost the huge upside of Carlos Rodón, be able to perform well with depth being its greatest strength?

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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.

Follow Ben Kaspick on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the San Francisco Giants and talking with fans.

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenKaspick

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