San Francisco Giants haven’t been this bad since 1896 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The San Francisco Giants were considered a disappointment last season, but the hope was that they’d bounce back this season. There’s a lot of talent on the roster, and while the NL West Division is challenging, it seemed like there was hope in the Bay Area for 2026.

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So far, there hasn’t been a lot of reason for hope, or for any other positive emotion.

The Giants are off to their worse start to the season, by one measure, in 130 years.

They’ve been outscored by 25 runs through their first 10 games.

The last time they had a worse mark through 10 games was 1896, according to the Associated Press’ Josh Dubow. That season does provide an example of how it could be worse, though — through 10 games that season, the Giants’ run differential was a negative-49.

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Of course, that 1896 team played in the Polo Grounds and was the New York Giants. They had two managers that season, clearly not particularly pleased with the first one.

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They actually went on to finish 64-67-2, which when you figure they got outscored by that much through 10 games, isn’t actually all that horrific. They actually managed to end 1896 scoring more runs than their opponents.

These Giants would certainly appreciate a turnaround like that or even better.

It’s certainly a different game. These Giants don’t have the likes of George Van Haltren coming out of nowhere to hit .351 and lead the league with 21 triples.

Or how about pitcher Jouett Meekin, who threw 334.1 innings and went 26-14 on the mound. He didn’t even lead the Giants in innings — Dad Clarke threw 351.0.

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For these Giants to turn things around, they really need their batting order to get going. While their pitching hasn’t been ideal, almost no bats in San Francisco are working right now.

There’s a lot of season left, for sure. There’s also a lot of work to be done.

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