The Giants took two out of three in San Diego, and while the finale ended on a partly cloudy note, winning the series is the only goal that matters. The Giants have 50 more series remaining. Win 30 of them, and you’re making the playoffs. It’s a complicated scenario, but a simple result.

But enough of that. Let’s get into the takes:

UP: Keaton Winn, Future Closer
Mike Krukow doesn’t put much sugar in his coffee compared to the other Giants announcers who hop on KNBR in the morning (this isn’t to say that it isn’t sweet), that the closer role — currently held by Ryan Walker — is an “issue” and is “up for grabs,” it grabbed my attention.

Because I think that Keaton Winn is a bad man. The exact kind of pitcher you want in the ninth with a lead.

That sinker he’s throwing is a nasty, heavy medicine ball. Better yet, he has a true closer’s temperament.

Striking out the side and walking off the mound with the kind of swagger that says “told you so”? That plays and we saw it on Tuesday.

Winn has “gamer” written all over him, and it would not shock me if he quickly becomes the ninth-inning guy.

Walker’s leash is essentially non-existent. One more rough outing — just one blown save — and I think Winn should get the chance to finish games.

Plus: the marketing and game-ops scripts would practically write themselves.

DOWN: Casey Schmitt’s Glove at First Base

Catch the bleeping ball.

This grand experiment of trotting Casey Schmitt out as a starting first baseman has to end.

Because there are two entirely different skill sets on the infield: fielding a grounder and fielding a throw. Schmitt is a left-side infielder who can moonlight at second. He can pick it up off the bat. He’s not built for the stretch and the scoop.

And the fact that he has been the team’s everyday first baseman this season shows how flawed the team’s overall roster construction was. There’s not a single true first baseman on the roster.

If only there was one — preferably a tall one with left-handed power (they could really use that) somewhere on the 40-man roster…

UP: Adrian Houser, No. 5 Starter
Five and a third innings, seven hits, one earned run, one walk, and four strikeouts on Wednesday. Sexy? Hardly. But is it exactly the kind of line you want from your fifth starter? Absolutely.

The Giants are now through the rotation once, and the team’s biggest issue on that cycle was their ace, Logan Webb, who gets the benefit of the doubt. Robbie Ray was dealing, Tyler Mahle was just fine, and Landen Roupp looked really good. Houser just needs to be solid, and you have a solid rotation. Who else in baseball can boast this kind of competency 1-5? A handful of teams at most.

DOWN: Pagin Christian Koss

Has anyone actually seen Christian Koss? The man made the major league roster, and the Giants apparently can’t find a single use for him. And what about Jerar Encarnación? He had one pinch-hit at-bat in the seventh inning with two outs. That’s it.

The front office jumped through hoops — cutting Luis Matos, sending down Bryce Eldridge — just to make sure Koss and Encarnación were on this team. They shoehorned Jared Oliva onto the roster.

Yet Koss is completely MIA, Encarnación has one at bat, and Oliva has one pinch-running appearance. Backup catcher Daniel Susac can’t even get an at-bat in a day game after a night game.

I know no one liked Farhan Zaidi’s Platoon Saloon, but this is an overcorrection and another sign of a roster built in a fundamentally flawed way.

UP: Willy Adames Leading Off
I know, Willy Adames went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts Wednesday. It wasn’t pretty. But I actually like the concept of Adames as a leadoff hitter.

Hitting first forces a player to be more conscientious at the plate. It makes him think about setting the table rather than just swinging out of his shoes, and I think the responsibility makes Adames a better hitter with a more buttoned-up approach at the plate. It saves him from his worst tendencies. It’s an experiment worth continuing.

DOWN: José Buttó and the “B” Bullpen
I feel pretty good with the Giants’ A-bullpen — the group tasked with holding leads, thanks to the emergence of Winn.

But the B-bullpen — the group asked to keep games tight when the Giants are losing — is not tenable. In fact, it’s a complete mess, and José Buttó just threw it into further disarray.

We’ll see the severity of Buttó’s arm/elbow injury in the coming days, but in the meantime, forgive my skepticism that they found an injury excuse to pull him from a disastrous, game-losing bottom-of-the-eighth Wednesday.

The Giants are going to be in 50 to 60 close games this season, and a lot of them — if not the majority of them — will be games where they are trailing. That means the B-bullpen gets work, and no one has emerged as a viable option to go full Gandalf and say “you shall not pass.”

It would be a great spot for a young reliever looking to cut his teeth in the big leagues or a veteran looking to prove he still has his stuff. Play the upside game when you trail. [I’ve always said that. (Please don’t actually check.)]

Instead, I imagine the Giants will just call up Spencer Bivens — B-bullpen stalwart — from Triple-A, though.