You’d think Duane Kuiper has seen just about everything in his 29 years as a broadcaster for the San Francisco Giants, but in an interview with Murph and Mac Thursday morning, Kuiper said he’s never seen anything quite like what’s happening to the club during this nightmarish second half.
“This is the hardest two months as a broadcaster that I’ve ever seen,” Kuiper said. “After a while it wears on us, it wears on our fans, it wears on the team. You can see it wearing on the manager and the coaching staff. This is the hardest two month stretch I have ever seen.”
It’s one of the hardest two month stretches the league has ever seen. After entering the All-Star Break with the best record in the Major Leagues, the Giants have gone 20-35, the worst record in baseball since that point. What’s worse, they are coming off a three-game sweep at home to a San Diego Padres team that is far from playoff caliber, on the heels of an impressive three game series in Arizona where the Giants looked to be turning things around.
“There isn’t anything about the last three games that would make you think this is a playoff team,” Kuiper said. “There isn’t one thing.”
True as that may be, the Giants would be a playoff team if the season were to end today. That could be a different story come Monday, when the Giants will have completed a four game series against a St. Louis Cardinals team, also fighting for one of the two Wild Card spots the Giants are currently clinging to. Kuiper sees this as the silver lining.
“They have a chance with the remaining games on the schedule to play well and still get in the postseason,” Kuiper said. “It’s been hard but they can change it, and they can do it by winning the series against the Cardinals.”
“It’s so hard to be optimistic right now if you’re a Giants fan, but you kind’ve just have to hang in there.”
