This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Giants were a tough team to peg in the first half.

Despite finishing second to only the Dodgers in free-agent spending over the offseason, the Giants struggled to find their stride and went into the All-Star break three games under .500 at 47-50. They’re only three games out of the final National League Wild Card spot, but they have three teams in front of them, including the division-rival D-backs and Padres, which should heighten the need to play with a greater sense of urgency once the second half opens on Friday at Colorado.

San Francisco managed to stay afloat thanks to the emergence of young players like Heliot Ramos and Brett Wisely and a stout bullpen that helped prop up a decimated rotation, but it’ll need more contributions across the board to finally get off the ground down the stretch.

“There’s some grit, whether it’s the bullpen guys and the innings that they’ve accumulated, whether it’s some guys we’re running out there every day, the younger guys that have come up and been a big part of it,” manager Bob Melvin said. “I don’t know that we have a true identity yet. We’ll see once we get whole, but these guys have been fighters.”

Second-half goal: Get the rotation back to full strength
The Giants’ best chance at making a serious playoff push likely rests on their rotation, which was ravaged by injuries in the first half but should get a major boost from the impending return of veterans Robbie Ray and Alex Cobb. With All-Star Logan Webb and reigning National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell -- who flirted with a perfect game in his final start before the All-Star break -- leading the staff, the Giants could finally begin stringing together some wins and show that they have what it takes to separate themselves from the pack in the crowded NL Wild Card race.

Likely Trade Deadline strategy: Keep trending younger
The Giants already began to shake up their roster by trading Austin Slater to the Reds and releasing veteran shortstop Nick Ahmed, which created more opportunities for younger players like Wisely, Tyler Fitzgerald and Luis Matos. There’s room for the Giants to go even further at the Deadline, especially with farmhands like Marco Luciano, David Villar and Jerar Encarnación playing well at Triple-A Sacramento. The second half of July will go a long way toward determining the Giants’ direction, putting pressure on regulars such as Michael Conforto, Wilmer Flores, Thairo Estrada and Mike Yastrzemski to begin to pick it up after uneven first halves.

Key player: Blake Snell
Snell endured a disappointing start to his Giants tenure after joining the club on a two-year, $62 million deal in March, but he ended the first half on a high note, tossing a combined 12 scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts and three walks in his first two outings since returning from the injured list. The 31-year-old lefty has historically performed better in the second half, so he could be poised to dominate down the stretch and give the Giants a co-ace to pair with Webb at the top of their rotation.

Prospect to watch: Marco Luciano
Luciano hit .375 (9-for-24) with two doubles in his 10-game stint with the Giants in May, but he ended up being sent back down to Triple-A Sacramento after he committed five errors at shortstop. Even after moving on from Ahmed, the Giants decided to turn over the position to Wisely and Fitzgerald instead of promoting Luciano.

President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said the Giants still view Luciano, their No. 3 prospect, as a shortstop, but the 22-year-old Dominican has started to get some looks at second base in the Minors, which could create more avenues for him to force his way back to the big leagues in the second half.

“Nobody’s jumping to conclusions based on a short stretch and a handful of tough plays that didn’t go his way,” Zaidi said. “Some of this is just our philosophy of wanting to find different spots to get guys to the big leagues when we have opportunities. Diversifying things a little bit for him has made some sense. But we’re not giving up on the shortstop role for him.”