Dodgers' NL West rival clearly has a game plan for how to challenge LA's supremacy

The Los Angeles Dodgers haven't had the best injury luck this season, and their pitching staff, in particular, has been ravaged and has been missing stars Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow for the majority of the season. It hasn't really mattered, though, as the Dodgers' overwhelming depth has them running away with the NL West.

Part of the reason for Los Angeles's dominance has been the missteps their rivals have made in fielding squads to try and contend with the reigning champs. A prime example of this in action is the San Francisco Giants, who are loaded up with bloated contracts for declining and disappointing veterans.

However, with the MLB Draft just wrapping up, the San Francisco Giants seem to be plotting, developing a plan to push the Dodgers off the NL West throne. It will take them a while to get everything in order, but LA should beware.

Giants' focus on pitching in 2026 MLB Draft is callback to their past and a threat to the Dodgers

The Giants were the class of the NL West during the first half of the 2010s. In fact, they were the class of the MLB for a time, winning World Series titles in 2010, 2012, and 2014. What created that winning formula for San Francisco is something their president of baseball operations, Buster Posey, knows well. He was a part of it all, winning the NL Rookie of the Year in 2010 and the NL MVP in 2012.

Posey was on the receiving end of what made those Giants teams so dangerous: their starting rotation. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Madison Bumgarner anchored the unit, which was one of the league's best.

It seems that the Giants are looking to recreate that now. Their first-round pick, UC Santa Barbara right-handed pitcher Jackson Flores, was the consensus top pitcher in the draft class. Armed with a high-90s fastball, a pair of breaking balls that utilize different speeds and shapes, and a plus changeup, he looks like a future monster.

With the No. 29 selection, San Francisco went with Carson Bolemon, a prep left-handed pitcher from Southside Christian High School in South Carolina. Baseball America ranked him as the No. 14 prospect in the class. He sits mid-90s with his fastball as a teenager and has great feel for his secondaries, making him look like a potential steal.

Finally, with the No. 55 pick, the Giants went back to the prep arm well with right-hander Kaden Waechter from Jesuit High School in Florida. Waechter's father, Doug, spent six years pitching in the big leagues, mostly with the Tampa Bay Rays. He's noted for both his ceiling and pitchability, which makes him very intriguing.

Of course, pitching is only one part of the equation. The current version of the Giants has struggled to score runs, ranking 25th in the MLB through the action on July 10 with 388 runs scored. They have some interesting hitting prospects, but they're all so far away that a lot can happen.

The Dodgers have the resources and the motivation to fend off any attempts to knock them off, but they can't take the Giants lightly. They're preparing to make a future run, and if Los Angeles takes them for granted, it will be at their own risk.

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