A stained glass window into the future. Remnants of the decorated past. Veterans in their prime and young bucks still getting used to life in the big leagues.
The Giants put on a show for 39,232 fans in Oracle Park on Memorial Day.
Their pair of 24-year-old rookies, Patrick Bailey and Casey Schmitt, continued their ascensions to stardom. In their ninth and 20th game, respectively, the duo drove in six of San Francisco’s 14 runs.
Brandon Crawford and Austin Slater, the two longest-tenured Giants, combined to go 6-for-9 with five RBI and three runs.
San Francisco’s group of hired guns, Anthony DeSclafani (7 IP, 8H, 3ER), J.D. Davis (2-for-4, 2 walks, 2 runs) and Mitch Haniger (3-for-5, 2 doubles, 2 runs, 2 RBI), filled in all the gaps in a 14-4 victory.
The Giants (28-26) have now won 11 of their last 14 games. With a completely rested bullpen, they’re set up to continue surging into June. With Schmitt and Bailey invigorating the clubhouse and lighting it up on the field, they’re energized to keep rolling.
“I thought it was a really good team effort,” manager Gabe Kapler said postgame. “I think we’re coming together as a team. I think that started on the road trip, maybe even a little before. Now we’re getting contributions from everybody on the team. We’re not just waiting on one or two people to come up with a big hit. We’re getting quality starts nearly every time through.”
San Francisco took a commanding lead and never let Pittsburgh threaten it. All nine Giants came up to bat in the second inning. They hung five on Hill behind doubles from Schmitt, Bailey and Brandon Crawford, plus a two-run home run from Austin Slater. The wide-eyed rookies and the two longest-tenured Giants.
Crawford has recorded a hit in each of his past four games, a streak that has improved his average to .202. Slater’s home run — his first of the season — came in his second at-bat back from the injured list.
Schmitt and Bailey, meanwhile, are the Giants’ wunderkinds. Bailey turned 24 the day of the game, and Schmitt turned 24 in March. Both were in elementary school when Pirates starter Rich Hill made his MLB debut in 2005.
Schmitt’s second-inning double nearly left Oracle Park. The 98.6 mph exit velocity ball caromed off the top of the wall and would’ve been a home run in four of 30 ballparks, per Baseball Savant. He finished 3-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI.
Bailey’s double right after Schmitt got slapped into right field. With Joey Bart on the injured list and Blake Sabol a left-handed hitter, Bailey was the obvious option to start against the lefty Hill. Even though Bailey was much more productive as a left-handed hitter in the minors, he has looked impressive from both sides with the Giants.
“It’s unusual,” Kapler said of Schmitt and Bailey’s instant impacts. “It’s unusual to see two rookies come up and have the type of sustained success that these two players are having…You can kind of dream on the possibility of these guys playing together for a really long time. And looking back on this time when they first got called up to the Major Leagues and really propelled our team to win a lot of baseball games.”
The sample is still small, but Bailey has two doubles and a home run as a right-handed batter already. He hit two doubles and a home run as a right-hander in the entirety of last year at High-A Eugene — in 70 plate appearances.
The catcher credited more confidence and simplifying his approach to his MLB success as a righty.
“There’s just not enough to be surprised about,” Kapler said pregame. “He’s had some good at-bats, had a big home run for us here at home. We talked about it a little bit when we called Pat up — he had success from the right side as an amateur in college. The pedigree is excellent. So there’s a possibility he’s a good hitter from the right side and the left side.”
The left side is Bailey’s forte, though. He ignited an eight-run seventh inning with his second home run of the season, this time as a lefty. In that dizzying run — SF’s highest scoring inning since May 20, 2021 — Haniger cracked two doubles as the Giants batted through the order.
Bailey’s switch-hitting ability might make San Francisco’s short-term decision on Bart even easier. The former second overall pick is due to return from the injured list any day now, and a Bart-Bailey combination would get squeezed out unless the Giants carry all three catchers.
For a team, though, having too much young catcher depth is a good problem to have. As is having enough options to scale back on some playing time for their legendary shortstop.
Crawford entered Monday having recorded a hit in each of his last three games. But those three games came on May 22, May 24 and May 28, representing cushions between action for the 36-year-old.
Still, Monday was a tough spot for the veteran. He started the night before in Milwaukee, representing a quick turnaround — plus travel — and an adverse matchup against a southpaw pitcher.
Crawford nonetheless went 3-for-3 with a walk, improving his season batting average to .202.
His encouraging performance, though, might have been overshadowed by the rookies. Schmitt, his protégé, drove in two with a lined single in an 0-2 count. Bailey continued that seventh inning rally a batter later by lofting his second MLB home run over the Levi’s Landing sign. That one, unlike his earlier double, came from the left-handed batter’s box.
They weren’t the only rookies going to work. Bryce Johnson scored twice, including once by wheeling around from first on a double. That came in SF’s eight-run seventh in which it ballooned the lead to a cartoonish 14-3.
The Giants’ all-around effort led to such a blowout, both teams used position players on the mound. Brett Wisely certainly wasn’t offended that fans filed out early to beat the traffic before he recorded the final out in the top of the ninth.