If you asked Giants fans back in Spring Training if they would have taken a 31-23 record through the first ⅓ of the season, most would have gladly taken that. So why, as the G-men hit that exact mark at 54 games in, do many carry a less than enthused outlook regarding the ceiling of this year’s Giants? The factors are many.
Let’s start with the good. And there IS a lot of it! You don’t get to 31-23 without doing a whole lot right. The vast majority of the good for these giants has come on the mound. A very good starting staff has been complimented by a downright elite bullpen. Somehow, even with a pair of shuffles in the rotation, and a closer controversy, the Giants remain one of baseball’s best on the bump.
Here’s how some of the best contributors have fared out of Bob Melvin’s bullpen thus far in 2025.
Excellence from perennial ace Logan Webb is expected at this point. He has been great for the most part. Where the Giants have been magnificent outside of their ace is what has set them apart from other solid rotations around the game. That’s thanks to Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp. Ray has looked like his former Cy Young self, posting a 7-0 record with a 2.56 ERA. In just ⅓ of a season, he’s stacked up just under 2 WAR.
Roupp hasn’t been as consistently dominant, but he’s had a very nice May and is red hot on the mound as the Giants make the turn to June. He’s put together back to back scoreless outings, starting both of the Giants’ shutout victories in that stretch. Roupp has lowered his ERA to 3.63 in the process. Hayden Birdsong started the year in the pen, and flourished. But he’s always profiled as a starter, and as soon as Jordan Hicks faltered in a starting role, Birdsong was ready to take over. He’s struck out 35 in just 32 innings of work. His ERA, aided by that sweet spike change up, has plummeted to 2.48.
We started with the good news. There are plenty of reasons why you should still be excited about this Giants team, and if you had your pick as to whether crippling issues were occurring on the mound or at the plate, you’d take the plate every time. That’s where the Giants have been bad of late. Downright ugly. On Monday afternoon, San Francisco trotted out a lineup featuring three hitters under .200. And another, Willy Adames just above at .206. Matt Chapman is a couple more bad days away from the Mendoza line as well. The Adames situation has gotten more than uncomfortable. In the first year of a seven year $182 Million contract. That figure of years and big time dollar figures has been a frequently uttered phrase lately as the Giants’ highest paid player of all time continues to struggle mightily at the plate.
That’s just lately. Overall, he sits at that aforementioned ugly .206 batting average. He’s hit just five home runs, driven in a modest 25 runs, and has compiled a brutal .617 OPS. Adames has been worse through ⅓ of his first Giants’ season than most people’s worst case scenario could have predicted. His defense has also been bad. He’s at -6 defensive runs saved, and has made eight errors at short. Adames just has to be better in order for this Giants team to reach its full potential. Giants hitting coach Pat Burrell joined Murph & Markus on Tuesday morning. He of course defended Adames, preaching patience with the Giants’ new shortstop and elaborating on the coaching staff’s role in his progression during his inaugural season.
Glass half full for Adames, but nearly empty for the Giants, Willy has been far from the Giants’ worst hitter. Patrick Bailey and Lamonte Wade Jr. have been dreadful in consistent starting roles, while platoon man Luis Matos has been just as bad. Bailey is elite on defense, but it’s not clear how much of his offensive stink that justifies. He’s hitting a gross .172, he’s hit just one home run. 15 RBIs. The OPS is probably the most shocking number. Bailey sports a grotesque .489 OPS. You don’t need All-Star level offensive production from the catcher position. And when a backstop is as good defensively as Bailey is, you don’t even need league average. What you can’t have is what Bailey has given them. Next to absolutely nothing.
Lamonte Wade Jr. hasn’t been much better, and he plays a position that generally calls for high powered numbers at the plate. His average is worse, an unbelievable .161 heading into Tuesday. At least Wade’s OPS is above .500, at .533. But he’s only homered once. With Jerar Encarnacion’s return looming, Wade’s days as a Giant are almost certainly numbered.
