After posting a 34-56 record through their first 90 games, the San Francisco Giants aren’t going to define success in the second half of the season in wins and losses.
Except when it comes to how they stack up against the San Diego Padres.
At this point in the year, perhaps a major collapse from the Arizona Diamondbacks or the Colorado Rockies will allow the Giants to claw their way up to third place in the National League West. But in both cases, it would take monumental failures on the part of another ballclub to allow San Francisco to finish the season in a more dignified part of the standings.
The Padres, however, are a different story.
Manager Andy Green’s team came into the season picked to finish fifth by nearly every respectable outlet. It’s an organization that’s in the throes of a major rebuild, with some of their games being picked up by MLB Network and others by HGTV. Though that last part isn’t exactly true, their renovation is overwhelming.
That’s why the Giants can’t afford to finish behind the Padres in the National League West. Regardless of how the rest of the season unfolds, San Francisco needs to assure its fan base and management that its roster doesn’t belong on the next season of Fixer Upper, and that starts by beating San Diego.
Friday evening’s contest marks the first of 13 games the Giants have against the Padres over the season’s final two and a half months, and the first of the seven games the teams will play over the next 10 days.
Over the next two weeks, the Giants hitters will face four starting pitchers with earned run averages above 4.30 a total of six times, while San Francisco’s pitchers will face a lineup that’s scored at least 20 fewer runs than every other team in the Major Leagues this year.
If general manager Bobby Evans and the rest of San Francisco’s front office wants to remain convinced that the Giants don’t need to undergo a major overhaul if they hope to compete in the near future, the Giants will need to look a team that’s been stripped down to its foundation square in the face, and beat them regularly over the next few months.
This weekend, Johnny Cueto, Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija will toe the rubber at Petco Park in San Diego for a Giants team that entered the year hoping those three pitchers would pitch on consecutive days in a playoff series. Now, it’s up to that trio to help San Francisco start to overcome the five games separating the Giants and Padres in the standings, or else the Giants are headed for even more embarrassment.
Pregame Notes
- After starting Sunday’s first half finale against the Miami Marlins, Cueto will begin the second half of the season atop the Giants’ rotation. Cueto’s first half ERA of 4.51 led all Giants’ starters, but was two full points lower than the ERA he carried into the All-Star break at the end of last season. By starting on Friday, Cueto will make three appearances prior to Major League Baseball’s trade deadline, and even though it’s unlikely the Giants will be able to find a favorable deal, San Francisco will certainly field calls regarding Cueto’s availability.
- Gorkys Hernandez will start for the Giants in left field on Friday evening after outfielder Mac Williamson was sent back to AAA following the Giants’ sweep at the hands of the Marlins. On Saturday, Bochy indicated he planned on giving Williamson an extended look during the second half of July, but those plans apparently changed. With rookie Austin Slater sidelined until at least September due to a hip injury, Hernandez and infielder Kelby Tomlinson are expected to compete for starts in left field in the immediate future.
- The Giants activated third baseman Eduardo Nunez off the disabled list on Friday and Nunez will start at third base. Nunez suffered a hamstring strain in the middle of June, and re-aggravated the injury during a rehab assignment at the beginning of July. Nunez started a new rehab stint with A San Jose on Wednesday, and re-joined the Giants on Friday afternoon. Like Cueto, Nunez is a potential trade chip for Evans and Co., and the Giants will use the next few weeks to showcase his talents for contending ballclubs.
