By Brian Murphy
At the risk of posting a third straight Jock Blog about the Giants . . .
Man, the Giants seem to be rattling some Bay Area sports fan cages.
A 3-8 start will do that. It will cause a pitcher who has only worn the orange and black for three career starts to note that “everyone was s—ting on us” and he didn’t say “sitting”.
A 3-8 start became a 5-8 start after back-to-back shutouts authored by Robbie Ray, Tyler Mahle (the author of the scatological quote), bullpen arms Ryan Walker, Keaton Winn, Matt Gage, Caleb Killian, Blade Tidwell and Erik Miller. The games were caught capably by Daniel Susac and Patrick Bailey.
Wait — did I mention Susac and Bailey? Oh, gosh. That’s another Jock Blog for another day.
Back to the 5-8 start that was a 3-8 start that caused the Bay to fracture. Why did we react that way? And if you were among those who stayed calm, you may excuse yourselves from the discussion and go watch the Masters.
I will confess, I was miffed. The blown 2-1 8th inning lead on Sunday that prevented a split with the Mets … the blown 4-0 lead on Monday against the Phillies that would have helped cope with the Sunday game . . . the unbelievably ice cold starts from catcher Patrick Bailey (.147 batting average, .147 slugging percentage), a frigid outfield of Jung Hoo Lee (.143 batting average) and Harrison Bader (.114) and Heliot Ramos (.191 with an NL-high 20 strikeouts) — it was all worthy of being miffed. It was all miff-able.
And I think a larger force is at work: long-term frustration. Giants fans have spent the last four seasons treading water in a sea of brackish mediocrity, and nobody likes brackish mediocrity. Even people who are brackish and mediocre don’t like brackish mediocrity.
So when the fans see Buster Posey, the franchise’s conquering hero, take over the team; and when the fans see Posey, the franchise’s conquering hero, make a bold trade for Rafael Devers, who by almost any offensive measure has been one of baseball’s most productive 29-year-old hitters; and when the fans see Posey, the franchise’s conquering hero, actually sell at last year’s trade deadline to get some farm system pieces; and when fans see Posey, the franchise’s conquering hero, make a bold move of firing Bob Melvin and going outside the box for Tennessee Volunteer head coach Tony Vitello . . . well, fans are thinking things are going to change.
And then, 3-8. And then, one of the worst offenses in baseball. And then, the realization that Posey did essentially nothing for the bullpen.
Brackish mediocrity + no bats + new manager not winning = Giants fans want to burn Oracle Park to the ground and disband the franchise. Or something like that.
So how do we proceed from here, setting aside the possibility of the fan base taking a few gummies and checking the calendar that says April 9, which is sort of early?
Ignoring red flags is not wise. So, maybe it was good to hear general manager Zack Minasian tell us that he considers the catching situation “fluid” and that Daniel Susac, easily the people’s champ of the first 13 games, could very well move up the depth chart. And for Minasian to remind us that a 26-man roster will see inevitable changes, after we noted spring training hero Victor Bericoto’s hot start in Triple-A Sacramento. Minasian’s answer to figuring out the Giants’ woeful offensive power production was less convincing — “track record”, he said of the players not hitting right now; an age-old fallback for baseball lifers who believe in 162 —but there is likely a degree of truth to it.
Listen, Giants fans want something good to happen. Posey told us he was in the “memory-making business”, and so far all that line has done is set him up for Twitter jokes.
The first 13 games against huge-payroll teams like the Yankees, Mets and Phillies — even the Padres outspend the Giants — was a challenge and I thought a 6-7 start would have been an acceptable way to open the year. They went 5-8. I give them a C+ for the start. A C+ will not get you into October. But perhaps a schedule that theoretically softens a bit will help matters. Anyone up for a 5-4 road trip through Baltimore, Cincinnati and Washington? Get to .500 or one or two games under by the end of April?
I know, I know. You don’t want to hear it. You’re miffed, and I get it. Ballgame Friday night. Let’s see what happens.
