The Giants offense is struggling. Despite making three notable free agent signings — Austin Jackson, Evan Longoria, Andrew McCutchen — this offseason to help mitigate their 29th ranked scoring offense from last year, the results have been disturbingly similar.
Through 16 games, the Giants’ 46 runs are tied for dead last in major league baseball. In those games, San Francisco has been held to one run or fewer, including Tuesday night, when they were a Brandon Belt infield single away from being no-hit by the Diamondbacks’ Patrick Corbin.
Most frustratingly perhaps is the fact that the Giants depleted rotation — that has been without Jeff Samardzija and Madison Bumgarner all season — has held up surprisingly well. Using a number of pitchers with little or no major league experience, San Francisco’s starters have accumulated a 3.56 ERA, good for 11th best in the majors.
Still, without any offense of which to speak, the Giants have stumbled out of the gate to a 6-10 record, and currently sit a half game out of last place in the NL West. After Tuesday’s listless effort, manager Bruce Bochy and executive VP Brian Sabean began discussing possible solutions to get the team back on track. According to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, these discussions did not involve personnel changes.
The Giants were held to one run or fewer for the ninth time in 16 games, and afterward, Bochy said he and Brian Sabean had already begun to discuss what could be done. They spoke of altering pregame routines, not personnel.
“We’re talking about it now, ways we can help give them a break,” Bochy said. “I don’t know what we could’ve done different today.”
It’s unclear at this point exactly what this means. It’s also unclear how long the Giants will wait to call up outfielder Mac Williamson, who is currently hitting .516, yes .516, at AAA Sacramento.
Whatever Bochy and Sabean end up deciding to tweak, there is no question that something needs to be done, and fast, before this season gets away from them.