The Giants, in and outside the clubhouse, publicly and privately, are realistic about the 2022 season. With about a month left, only a miracle could propel them into the playoff hunt.
Even after Saturday’s win, their second straight victory, the Giants are nine games out of a playoff spot. Fangraphs gives San Francisco less than 1% odds at reaching the playoffs.
But there’s no need to be fatalistic. Saturday’s win also showed that although everyone will head home early this year, there’s value in simultaneously competing for the rest of the season and seeing what’s in store for the future.
The Giants beat the Phillies, 5-4, by using every player on their bench and 23 players overall. Austin Slater, who dislocated his pinky finger earlier this week, made a tumbling catch as a ninth-inning defensive replacement. SF scratched across the go-ahead run in the sixth inning when they inserted four pinch-hitters in a row and made six changes overall.
Gabe Kapler managed the Sept. 3 game — a meaningless contest in the standings — like it was a playoff game.
“We’ll take every game until the season ends very seriously,” Kapler said. “Give everything we have to try to win them.”
There’s pressure, Kapler said, to provide the “best possible product” for the fans every night. A sell-out crowd of 40,010 fans in Oracle Park saw a game with five changes, several head-scratching plays, chess board-strategizing, a homer into McCovey Cove and other exciting moments.
“I think our staff is cognizant of how important it is for every fan in this ballpark,” Kapler said. “There was quite a bit of energy, as you saw. Middle of the summer, right in the thick of the race kind of vibe to it.”
Perhaps just as important is using this September as a tryout for young prospects and players with otherwise uncertain futures with the organization.
David Villar, Bryce Johnson and Lewis Brinson each factored into Saturday’s victory, as did new catcher Andrew Knapp.
“Balancing the now and the future,” Kapler said. “So guys like David Villar and Bryce Johnson — giving them some looks and seeing what we have in them, but also giving them some time to develop while also trying to win every baseball game. With a deeper bullpen and a deeper bench, we can take some liberties and try to create some matchups.”
Jakob Junis, Saturday’s starter, was excellent in the first half of the season but has struggled overall since a hamstring injury sidelined him in June.
Against the Phillies, Junis said he felt he executed his pitches well except for a changeup over the plate to Bryson Stott. Two walks, poor defense and several soft hits limited him to 4.1 innings.
“We remember what he was like when he started pitching for us,” Kapler said. “He was lights out. As good as anybody that we have in the rotation…this is not exclusive to Jakob by any stretch, but we’re learning about all players this time of year.”
Junis left in a 3-3 game. From there, San Francisco mixed-and-matched both in the order and in the bullpen. They sought a matchup advantage whenever they could.
SF used six relievers, including Camilo Doval for a four-out save. Doval hadn’t pitched since Aug. 27 and was going to factor into Saturday’s game regardless, but inserting him with a runner on third in the eighth inning was aggressive nonetheless.
It represented San Francisco’s commitment to competitiveness, and a commitment to make the Dog Days feel significant.
“It was a complete team win,” Junis said. “Top to bottom. Offensively, defensively, pitching. Those ones feel extra good, when every guy’s contributing and you come out on top.”