Disappointment. Frustration. Anger. These are all great words to describe how the Giants have played so far this year. Twenty five games ago, I still felt optimistic and thought that players could pick it up, and that really hasn’t happened. As of writing, the Giants sit at 21-31, placing them 4th in the NL West and eight games back of a wildcard spot. So let’s talk about what on earth has happened. 

Hitting

It would be only right to begin with the lackluster hitting. I have a gut feeling that our bat boys might be paid off by the LA Dodgers and are filling our bats with lead. The Giants have scored the fewest runs in the league, have the third-worst OPS, the worst OBP, the fewest walks (by a significant margin), the fewest stolen bases, and generally remind me of a player swinging the bat with their eyes closed. There is no excuse for this sort of performance. While some might say that we play in a pitcher’s ballpark, that doesn’t explain the fact that our offense is even worse on the road.

Rafael Devers, our supposed star hitter who gets paid over $30 million a year, is currently in the 8th percentile of all hitters. Willie Adames, being paid $26 million a year, is in the 26th percentile. Alarmingly, we have the worst wOBA (weighted on base average, a measure of hitting value) in the league.

It looks like the Giants have decided to use pool noodles instead of bats. The two bright spots are Casey Schmidt, who seems to have finally found his footing in the majors (84th percentile batting), and free agent signing Luiz Arreaz (76th percentile). Both rookie catchers who have taken the reins from Patrick Bailey have stepped up and reassured fans that the trade wasn’t horrible. I think that the lackluster hitting is a combination of a variety of problems—bad coaching, bad mentality, and just bad baseball. I believe that the team can swing the bats better than they have, and both Devers and Adames have improved throughout May.

But the longer this dry streak goes on, the less hope I have. When a team is this bad at hitting the baseball, drastic changes are needed. 

Pitching

While starting pitching hasn’t been too atrocious, it certainly hasn’t helped. The Giants sit around the 30th percentile as a unit, but with Logan Webb out, the team lacks any sort of firepower. Robbie Ray and Landon Roup have put in solid outings, but the rest of the staff has lagged.

In the offseason, the Giants took a swing with both Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser, and both sit in the 5th percentile of all pitchers. Oof. However, the most glaring issue the Giants face when it comes to pitching is their lack of a closer. Ryan Walker consistently blew saves to the point where he was sent down to the minors, and nobody has been able to consistently step in during the 9th and get three outs. It looks like the bullpen will eagerly await the return of phenom Randy Rodriguez in 2027. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, I don’t think the Giants are necessarily a bad ball club. I think we have lots of problems that need fixing, but I still believe that we can turn the season around.

Tony Vitello, the first-year manager, looks to be getting closer to finding his groove, and as we enter the midseason, things should settle down. I will leave you with one last note: the 2019 Washington Nationals started 19-31. They won the World Series.