On Wednesday, Netflix made their first foray into the world of baseball broadcasting with exclusive rights to MLB’s Opening Day matchup between the Yankees and Giants.
Matt Vasgersian was on play-by-play, joined by new Yankees Hall of Famer CC Sabathia and longtime Giants outfielder Hunter Pence. Pence did a small press tour ahead of Opening Day (Netflix, baby! It’s the big time) and stopped by the Baseball Insiders podcast.
FanSided’s Adam Weinrib asked for Pence’s thoughts on the current state of the NL West, which has been ruled by the Dodgers for better part of a decade and a half (outside of that out-of-nowhere 2021 the Giants had), “Do you ever feel bad for Giants fans that they’re stuck in the same division as Shohei Ohtani and whatever is going on in LA? And how do you feel that the rivalry has evolved?”
Pence’s response was immediate.
“Oh, absolutely not. We love that. I think to say that the Dodgers just threw talent out there and won the World Series … it’s just so unfair to how well they’ve run their organization, to Dave Roberts and the Dodgers’ front office. […] They brought together the right pieces at once. It’s not just their talent, they execute and they don’t mistakes, and it still took lightning in a bottle for them to win last year.
“But [the Giants] want that challenge. We welcome that. We don’t think they’re better than us. That’s the Giants’ mentality.”
Even longtime Dodgers rival Hunter Pence couldn’t find a bad thing to say about LA
The Dodgers-Giants rivalry isn’t what it used to be. The Padres and Diamondbacks have generally gotten better, and the Giants have generally gotten worse. But this year, with no one in the NL West having done much to show that they’re ready to compete with the Dodgers over the offseason, places two through five in the division will get tighter. PECOTA even has the Giants coming in second in their preseason projections.
And to their credit, no one near or within the Giants organization has complained about what the Dodgers are doing. Even though Logan Webb said it’s “not fun” to watch the Dodgers keep adding while his own team mostly stands pat, that’s more a reflection on the Giants. Even owner Larry Baer admitted, “Having a dragon to slay isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the sport.”
Of course, old rivalries don’t just die, even if they’re no longer at the same fever pitch. We can still expect all inter-divison matchups to be heated, and for everyone involved to play like they have something to prove (though the Giants might have more to do on that front than the Dodgers).