“I don’t know.”
That was manager Bruce Bochy’s response Wednesday when asked what more he could have done to help the San Francisco Giants avoid another sweep at the hands of a below-average San Diego Padres team.
“I don’t know” is also how starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner responded when asked to explain what exactly is going with the Giants, a team that currently boasts little to no resemblance of the talent-rich force they appeared to be at the season’s half-way point.
The post All-Star Break free fall finally seems to be taking a mental toll on the San Francisco Giants.
“So far, this second half has been something like I’ve never seen before,” Bumgarner said.
Nobody has ever seen this before. The Giants are currently 20-35 since the All-Star Break. That’s a winning percentage of .363. If the Giants were to finish the season with that percentage, it would stand as the worst ever mark for a team that entered the break with the league’s best record.
What the Giants are going through right now is unprecedented. When you realize that, it makes sense that they are searching for answers.
Regardless, the Giants need to get things figured out quickly, as they begin a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday at AT&T Park. The Cardinals are currently the odd team out in the battle for the NL’s two wild card spots, sitting a half game behind the Mets and a game behind the Giants, who somehow remain in first place.
The Cardinals’ 43-28 record on the road this season is the best in the Major Leagues. They are the last team you’d want to host when mired in a slump like the one San Francisco is in. If the Giants continue to falter this weekend against St. Louis, they would not only likely fall out of both wild card spots, but also take themselves out of reasonable striking distance of the Dodgers, who the Giants will take on for three games in L.A. starting Monday. San Francisco currently sits five games back of their rivals in the division with six head-to-head matchups remaining.
Perhaps the only silver lining for the Giants right now is that they still control their own postseason fate. Considering everything that has happened over the past two months, that’s a good spot to be in. If they can play decent baseball for these last 16 games, they’ll be right back in the mix on October 3rd, even if that seems hard to imagine right now.
With Johnny Cueto (2.90 ERA) on the hill Thursday against an inconsistent Adam Wainwright (4.45 ERA), the first game of this series against St. Louis becomes close to a must win. With the consistent unpredictability at the back end of the rotation, the Giants have to take care of business with their aces on hill, especially after squandering another decent start from Bumgarner yesterday. Whether or not they can do that will likely be up to the offense, who after experiencing a brief resurgence in Arizona, hit an abysmal .216 against the Padres.
Perhaps the most encouraging news heading into the weekend series is a possible solution to San Francisco’s disastrous situation at closer. Rookie right-hander Derek Law returned to action Wednesday, and looked excellent while pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning after being out 15 days with a right elbow strain. Law has been the Giants’ most impressive reliever all season in limited action and holds a team-best 1.93 ERA. Manager Bruce Bochy said before Wednesday’s game that he didn’t want to throw Law into a high stress situation in his first appearance, but his performance in the loss to the Padres is probably enough to make him the next man up in the Giants’ closer carousel, especially after Hunter Strickland and Steven Okert combined to blow yet another save Tuesday evening.
The Giants’ issues in save situations this season have been their most consistent problem, even before the post-All-Star break collapse. The Giants have converted just 58% of their save opportunities this season and have blown 28 saves total. In their three most recent World Series campaigns, that figure was 70% or above. That’s an estimated 6 to 8 more wins the Giants would have at this point if they were able to finish games with reasonable consistency in 2016.
If this problem continues, the Giants have no shot against St. Louis, or anybody else. With the offense faltering, the ability to hold leads in close games will probably be the deciding factor in whether or not the Giants make the postseason. If Law can be that guy, it would be huge.
It may seem like a small glimmer of hope, but for a downtrodden Giants team about to enter the season’s most pivotal stretch, they’ll take anything they can get.
