Heading into the 2021 MLB season, the NL West was supposed to be a showdown between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. But for the first half of the year, the San Francisco Giants stole the show. Today, we’re joined by The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly to look at how this team of veterans (including Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Evan Longoria) has managed to exceed basically all expectations, and whether they are built to keep it going. Follow Andrew Baggarly’s coverage of the Giants: <a href="https://theathletic.com/author/andrew-baggarly/?source=theleadpodcast" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://theathletic.com/author/andrew-baggarly/?source=theleadpodcast</a> See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

The Kids Broke The Spelling Bee. Now Scripps Is Doubling Down

The award-winning sports show from Wondery, known for delivering the best storytelling in sports. Every Wednesday and Friday, co-hosts Tiffany Oshinsky and Anders Kelto dive into the biggest and most fascinating sports stories of the day, as told by the reporters who cover them up close. The Lead cuts through the chatter and brings you in-depth reporting and emotional stories, to help make sense of the complicated sports landscape.Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of The Lead ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.