From the Giants’ dugout at Oracle Park, Farhan Zaidi invoked Bill Parcells.
You are what your record says you are.
Zaidi, meeting with reporters on Tuesday — three weeks before the Aug. 2 trade deadline — made the comment as his club is underperforming at 43-42. The Giants are two games out of the third wild card spot. They’ve lost nine of their last 12 games.
The last three weeks have been “disappointing,” Zaidi said. But nothing has changed the president of baseball operations’ confidence that the roster can perform better. And if that confidence is justified in the next three weeks of baseball, the front office will act accordingly.
“Any time you’re in a position — and I consider us to be in a position to make the playoffs this year — you’re going to want to push some chips in,” Zaidi said.
If the Giants are in a similar or better position in the standings by the last week of July, “we’re definitely going to look to improve,” Zaidi said. That doesn’t sound like a team prepared to let go of Joc Pederson or Carlos Rodón, San Francisco’s two All-Stars who will likely be free agents this winter (Rodón can opt-out).
Right now, the Giants are focused on improving internally, Zaidi said. The team’s biggest weakness has been defense; SF ranks last in Fangraphs’ defensive runs above average metric.
Zaidi is optimistic the fielding will come around. Many of the same players from last year’s above average defense are manning the same positions in 2022. San Francisco doesn’t have tremendous athleticism, but coaching and fundamentals should be enough to at least perform better than 30th out of 30.
In whatever direction the Giants decide to go, health will be a major determining factor. Jakob Junis is expected to return from the injured list around the All-Star break; if he’s healthy and as effective as he was in the first half, the Giants won’t be in the starting pitching market.
Injuries happen, though, and they change a team’s needs. San Francisco has dealt with injuries to Junis, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, LaMonte Wade Jr., Tommy La Stella, Evan Longoria and others already. Anthony DeSclafani, too, is out for the season after undergoing ankle surgery.
“We haven’t been as healthy or productive, but there’s a lot of season left,” Zaidi said. “That’s where I think a lot of our improvement, whether it’s health or production, hopefully comes from within. If we get that kind of momentum we’ll definitely see how we can help supplement the roster.”
On the internal development front: Zaidi didn’t rule out another promotion for top pitching prospect Kyle Harrison. The 20-year-old phenom graduated from High-A Eugene after striking out 59 of the 118 batters he faced. In eight Double-A starts, his strikeout rate is nearly as impressive, although the walks have increased.
If Harrison, SF’s 2020 first-round pick, does in fact reach Triple-A, the Madison Bumgarner comparisons will only grow louder.
The main focus remains reaching the postseason, though. Zaidi sees his players included in speculative “potential trade candidate” stories. Based on his tone, they’re premature.
“I take that personally,” Zaidi said. “You don’t want to be viewed as a seller when you’re trying to compete. That’s our perspective. We know that’s going to be out there, but our focus is going to be to get to July 31, Aug. 1 in a playoff position where we’re looking to see if we can make our team better.”