The last time I talked about the San Francisco Giants in this space, they were heading into the All-Star Break. They were leaking oil, seeing a record that was once 12 games over .500, but had been whittle down to six. But the consensus was the nearly week off would give them a chance to catch their breath and continue their playoff push in the second half.
Since then? The Giants have fallen off a cliff and the numbers haven’t been pretty. Giants radio play-by-play man Dave Fleming appeared on the 95.7 The Game “Morning Roast Show” radio show Wednesday morning. I didn’t expect him to rip his employer, he did have some sobering numbers:
• In their last 13 games at Oracle Park, going into Wednesday’s game, the Giants were 1-12 and had scored 23 runs.
• Thirty-three times this year, the Giants have been held to five hits or less.
And this little tidbit from “Morning Roast” co-host, Joe Shasky:
• Since the team acquired Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox on June 15, the Giants have scored 1 run or less 11 times.
And now you can add one more to each one of those columns following a disheartening 11-1 loss to San Diego Wednesday afternoon, to complete the Padres’ sweep.
Those are damning numbers and even the best pitching staff in the world is going to find it hard to win games with so little support. Monday night, a Devers home run snapped a 15-inning scoreless drought and tied the game at 1-all in the series opener against the San Diego Padres.
In the top half of the next inning, Giants starter Logan Webb gave up three runs and I turned the television off. Game over.
And the pitching staff is pretty much in shambles right now. What started the season as a strength has devolved into a weakness.
And the biggest question, whether pitching or offense, is: is there anyone in the minors to help this team? Everyone says to “bring up the young guys.”
They have. We’ve seen them. It doesn’t look promising. Other than Casey Schmitt, who seems to have taken the job at second base, and pitcher Landen Roupp, who is expected to start Friday after recovering from injury, have you seen anyone that is sure-fire starter in the big leagues? Luis Matos? Grant McCray? Drew Gilbert? Tyler Fitzgerald? Sure, these guys (other than Fitzgerald) haven’t gotten a lot of playing time, but they haven’t really lit things up when given the chance.
Is Heliot Ramos’ above-average bat enough to overcome his atrocious defense? Is Jung Hoo Lee a Major League Baseball player?
Now everyone is clamoring for the most current Giants’ savior — 20-year-old Bryce Eldridge. He’s had a good season in the minors, but given the Giants’ track record recently, is everyone sure Eldridge is a can’t-miss guy? I’m certainly not holding my breath.
And those are just the youngsters. The veterans on this team haven’t been carrying their weight, either. The Giants two biggest acquisitions, Willy Adames (free agent) and Rafael Devers (trade) have not exactly set the world on fire.
Then you have defensive whizzes Matt Chapman at third base and catcher Patrick Bailey, who are among the best at their positions. But their bats have been lacking this season. It seems like Chapman hasn’t gotten a hit in weeks, which is unacceptable for a position that values power.
Bailey’s anemic bat is an even bigger problem. It’s true, an elite defensive catcher is hard to find and teams are usually OK with the catcher being all mitt, no bat.
But in the Giants’ offense, that can’t fly because it needs everyone to contribute. If the rest of the lineup was firing, then Bailey’s bat doesn’t necessarily have to play.
But it’s not and the team needs more offense from the catcher’s spot.
And the worst part of it all? It looks like the Giants are defeated, mentally. You can almost see their collective shoulders droop when an opponent scores more than one run in the inning — as the Padres did during a seven-run second inning Wednesday afternoon.
I said entering the All-Star Break that it should be interesting to see what happens the rest of the season. Well, I was wrong, unless you’re interested in dumpster fires.
When does the 49ers season start?
Willy Walsh’s run in the US Amateur golf championship ended Tuesday after the second day of stroke play as he failed to make the cut.
the Pepperdine sophomore finished seven strokes off the cut line, with Preston Stout the top qualifier for the match-play portion of the tournament, finishing two rounds of stroke play at 8-under.
Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.