After the Giants’ latest version of offensive pyrotechnics on Tuesday — featuring the stylings of a Brandon Belt check-swing infield single to avoid a no-hitter — the team fell to six wins, ten losses.
As I sat in my living room, just like you all, disgruntled and disaffected, wondering if the Giants would ever crest the 1-run margin again in a game this season, it struck me:
Wait. Why does 6-10 sound so familiar?
Ugh.
That was the Giants’ record in 2017 when Madison Bumgarner took his ill-fated joy-ride through the Colorado mountains.
You know how that movie ended.
So I am here to discuss with you: We’re not getting a sequel, are we?
I generally loathe sequels. The only sequels worth their salt are ‘Godfather 2’, ‘Rocky 2’ and . . . . umm . . . ‘Caddyshack 2’? ‘Police Academy 2’? Maybe ‘Black Panther 2’ will be good. Doubt it, though. Sequels generally stink.
And while I know there are a large faction of you howling that a mouth-breathing morning jock is already moaning and whining about a team in April — April!, you say, April! — I am here to do just that: Moan and whine.
The Giants are giving off too many distressing signals early on.
— The hoped-for punch from Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria has yet to materialize. Will it? You’d like to think, but it could be too late in a division the Arizona Diamondbacks are claiming as their own.
— The “bounce-back” seasons from Brandon Belt and Hunter Pence have yet to materialize. Will they? You’d like to think Belt is that 25-30 HR guy waiting to happen, but until it does, you are right to remain skeptical. As for Pence? Memories of Kirk Rueter’s difficult demise in 2005 come to mind. When a beloved Giant runs out of gas, there are no easy goodbyes.
— The starting pitching’s injuries to Bumgarner and Samardzija exposed a depth problem, resulting in starts from Tyler (Not Ready) Beede, Andrew (Closer to Ready, But Still Not) Suarez, and Derek (Couldn’t Get Through Five in San Diego) Holland. The D-Backs are rolling out your Corbins, your Rays, your Greinkes. The Giants are rolling out the Scottsdale crew.
— The bullpen, while sound at the back end with Hunter Strickland and Tony Watson, are still searching for their ‘Core Four’, with job applications out to still-insufficient Cory Gearrin and Josh Osich.
In short, there’s precious little good news.
Johnny Cueto has been fantastic, but even he missed a start. Buster Posey is the team’s best hitter. Joe Panik won a couple of games in Dodger Stadium. McCutchen had the one walk-off against L.A. Mac Williamson has been destroying Triple-A pitching, and could be a boost if and when the team makes the call.
And after that?
I’m getting cold, sweaty flashbacks to 2017, when a Bumgarner-less team flat-lined its way into oblivion.
Mind, I’m not giving up. The McCutchen-Longoria surge could come. Belt could wake up. Williamson is a wild card. And being a fan of baseball means living and dying daily. It’s what we do. We howl, we cry and we tune in to KNBR for the next game. A win streak is always around the corner.
But this is not the Jock Blog I wanted to write after 16 games. Let’s see if I’m writing an even more dire one 16 games from now.