The Giants start their final homestand this week.
See ya out there, sports fans!
Hello? Is this Jock Blog on? (tapping keyboard …)
OK. So here’s the deal. We’ve all gone through the requisite emotions, from Mat Beaty Rage on Opening Day to the sizzling hot 18-8 June (one might have even caught playoff fever) to the almost-inevitable collapse of the pitching opener/platoon system in this 7-15 September.
We won’t even discuss the road situation. Shhhh. Some things are better left unsaid.
77-79 is 77-79, as I was just saying to my good pal Manny Machado.
What’s left is a Jock Blog plea for somewhat rational thought.
I mean, it’s easy to shout ‘OFF WITH THEIR HEADS’ and then you have no baseball operations guy and no manager and you’re left with two heads and you don’t know where to dispose of the heads. Plus, violence is never the answer, kids.
That’s not to entirely dismiss the notion of dismissing Farhan Zaidi and Gabe Kapler. Two consecutive uninspiring seasons has left the fan base . . . uninspired. Plenty of good seats available.
And there is some damning evidence that the whole Farhan/Gabe approach to playing ball is failing, right before our eyes. While we know that baseball has moved towards to the ‘whiff or tater’ approach at the plate, it’s still discouraging to see that the 2023 Giants are on pace to strike out more than any other team in franchise history.
To give you a taste of how the analytic-driven ‘whiff or tater’ approach has plagued the game, the 2023 Giants are on pace to strike out 1,500 times. Just plucking one year out of the archives — let’s take the 2004 team, for fun — and that team struck out 874 times. Wait . . . I though the banning of the shift was going to put the ball back in play?
And while all of baseball is treating the batting average like a well-oiled Edsel, it’s still instructive to note that the Giants’ team batting average in 2023 is .238, which only eclipses last year’s .234 and the 100-loss 1985 team (.233) as the worst in franchise history. I’m talking back to 1883, when Ulysses S. Grant was shelling peanuts at the Polo Grounds.
Again, I know these are industry trends. But the Braves are hitting .275 as a team and the Rangers are hitting .266 and the Astros will strike out 300 times fewer than the Giants this year. So it’s not impossible to not be terrible in these categories.
Out of respect and gentility, we won’t even mention the macabre number — an MLB-low 54 stolen bases, so comically bad that I said I wouldn’t mention it, and I did. I’d make the same rule for the MLB-leading 113 errors. By contrast, Arizona has made 54 errors. Again, I shouldn’t be mentioning these stats in front of the children.
So what we’re saying is, Farhan has assembled a roster that is slow, fields poorly, can’t hit for average, strikes out way too much and, even if you’re going to go “whiff or tater”, is still 19th in MLB in dingers.
Oof.
I may want to reconsider my plea for rational thought.
Here’s the counter: The Kids.
If there’s anything that buoyed us dismayed Giants fans, it was Patrick Bailey’s pre-fatigue brilliance, Kyle Harrison’s 11-strikeout home debut, Casey Schmitt’s sizzling debut, Marco Lucano’s exit velocity, Keaton Winn’s very respectable September, and Luis Matos’ birth certificate and .297 July.
When Farhan made no move at the trade deadline, I took it to mean they were essentially punting to 2024, built around the kids. Surely, a wise man like Zaidi did not believe that the roster as constructed would be worthy of October. Perhaps he was betting on two factors, both arguable: 1) the Cubs, Marlins and Reds were deeply flawed, also; 2) 85 wins was not an outrageous ask.
I refer you to the 77-79 mark above.
So what to do now?
If the definition of Giants insanity is running the same platoon-heavy lineup out over and over and expecting a different result, that dog won’t hunt. Chairman Greg Johnson is going to need to address the fan base and explain why he is keeping Farhan and Gabe after these dreary last 18 months. We can’t talk 2021 anymore. That was Buster and peak Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford and Kevin Gausman.
Andy Baggarly’s piece in The Athletic is correct: an organization-shaking trade is what is going to have to happen. Think Matt Williams-to-Cleveland in 1996. A reset with an influx of everyday players is the call. A blend of the kids (some of whom will have to be traded) and new blood will have to be the way forward.
If that means Farhan is the guy to lead that direction, so be it. He gets his chance. If he blows it, you move on. These are the times that try Giants fans’ souls.