It Just Keeps Getting Worse

May 23, 2026 | Latest Post, Out of Left Field

Photo credit: MLB.com

by DrLefty

Giants fans are known for refusing to do the trendy ballpark things, like the Wave or tossing beachballs around. Indeed, if you try to do something like that at Oracle Park, you will get booed and others won’t cooperate. This is why it was notable that last night in the late innings, as the Giants were in the dreary process of losing 9-4 to the Chicago White Sox after allowing nine (9!) runs in the fourth inning, the fans still left in the park decided to join the “Tarps off” trend that has been sweeping MLB. For the uninformed, that’s when men yank off their shirts and wave them around like rally towels. We are also told, by someone who is in the ballpark last night (12u) that it was very cold out. So it tells you something about fans’ mood these days.

 

It’s also worth mentioning that the fans were booing (again) at the end of the nine-run rally, an ignominious display that included three (3!) hit batters, two errors, a bases-loaded walk, and a lefty specialist (Ryan Borucki) who couldn’t get the lefties out, cashed in Trevor McDonald’s inherited runners, and added two of his own (one unearned because of the second error, on a wild throw by Willy Adames).

It’s been a pretty awful week. When I posted Out of Left Field last week, the Giants had lost three in a row, including a Friday night loss to the A’s in Sacramento. Then they briefly raised our spirits by winning the last two games in West Sac and taking the series. But it’s been like that all year. They’ll have a stretch of abysmal play where you just can’t quite believe it could be this bad. Then they put some better games together, win a series or two in a row, go 4-3 this season so far against the Dodgers, and you think, “Hmmm. Maybe they’ve finally righted the ship. Maybe it was the tough early schedule. Maybe…”

Well. Nope. The brief flashes of hope, every time, are immediately followed by putrid, feculent baseball. (“Desultory” is too gentle and kind to describe the play of the 2026 Giants.) As I write today, the Giants have lost four in a row, getting swept in Arizona by the middling Diamondbacks and then the aforementioned thrashing at home by the better-than-before-but-still-middling White Sox. We are not talking the Yankees, Rays, or Dodgers here. We are talking about teams that the Giants should be able to at least hang with. Alas.

The four losses since they left Sacramento on Sunday have featured implosions by three of the starters (Robbie Ray, in the worst start of his career, Tyler Mahle, who currently has the worst ERA in MLB among qualified starters, and McDonald, who had by far the roughest outing of his brief major league career). The one game that featured a quality start by Landen Roupp (nice to see after three straight losses) ended with a horrible gut punch walk-off homer off of Matt Gage by Ketel Marte. The offense hasn’t set the world on fire, either–while they didn’t get shut out again this week, they’ve scored 2-3-3-4 runs respectively in the four straight losses–certainly not enough to take the pressure off a beleaguered pitching staff (more about that in a minute). And bear in mind that three of those four games were in Arizona, usually thought to be a good hitters’ park, and the Diamondbacks, who are 16th in MLB in team ERA, do not have the toughest pitching staff to face.

This week, the Giants fell to ten and then 11 games under .500, their lowest point since the 2019 season (Farhan Zaidi’s first year at the helm as President of Baseball Operations and Bruce Bochy’s last as manager). Nor does it really feel like they’ve hit bottom. I keep thinking about the 98-loss 2017 season, the first full year of TWG. That team was a shock because the 2016 team actually made the playoffs, and they still had most of their stars from the three-in-five championship years. I wouldn’t say the poor performance of this year’s team is as disorienting as that was, but I don’t think any of us expected them to be this awful.

Let’s briefly look at a couple of key issues that the Giants are dealing with right now, followed by a brief discussion of where they might go from here.

 

The Injured List

Over the past week or so, the Giants have lost two of their three starting outfielders, Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee, to injuries, having just gotten the third (Harrison Bader) back after a month’s absence. Now, neither Ramos (.267, OPS .731) nor Lee (.268, .696) was setting the world on fire at the plate, but they were at least serviceable pieces of the lineup, and Lee was playing a strong right field defensively. Without them, LF is being manned by catchers and infielders (Casey Schmitt, Eric Haase, Jesus Rodriguez), while RF is being covered by River Cats (Drew Gilbert, Will Brennan, and the recently arrived Victor Bericoto). Again, while Ramos and Lee were not exactly all that, it’s pretty much a downgrade offensively and/or defensively across the board. This leads us to a discussion of…

 

The Chaotic Roster

The Giants’ roster has, in one way or another, been a mess all season. Remember how the Opening Day roster featured no lefty hitters on the bench? Well, now they have lefty bench players, but they also have three catchers (two of whom, as mentioned, are doubling as outfielders, and none of whom were the Opening Day catcher, who was traded away two weeks ago), a successful hitter with no real position (Schmitt) a top prospect who isn’t getting to play regularly (see “no real position”), and four lefties in the bullpen, none of whom have been all that good (the two best of them, Erik Miller and Gage, walk way too many guys, and why wasn’t Borucki gone weeks ago?).

While on the one hand you can see how all of this has transpired–the ugly starts by their top hitters (Adames, Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman) led to a panic spiral that included calling up Rodriguez and Bryce Eldridge without a clear plan about what to do with them; the fact that Logan Webb has a negative WAR and it’s almost June–on the other, you just wonder why decisions that seem obvious to everyone else seem so confusing to the people who actually have the power to make them. And that leads us to…

 

Buster was a Bust on KNBR

Current POBO Buster Posey appears on the Murph and Markus morning show on KNBR once every four weeks, and unfortunately for him, his turn came up this Thursday after their ugly sweep at the hands of the Diamondbacks. I started out on a walk right before 7:30, so I listened to the whole 24-minute interview in real time. As I was listening, I thought, “Yikes. This is not going well. Not a good look.” And for the last two days, all I’ve heard about in local media is how poorly he acquitted himself. I described what I heard as “sullen and defensive.” I found myself actually feeling bad for Buster and for Tony Vitello, both of whom landed their “dream jobs” that at the moment are more the stuff nightmares are made of (kind of like Bob Melvin the last couple of years).

I linked the interview below, and you can judge for yourself, but a couple of things stood out to me. First, Posey was incredibly uninformative as to the plans for Eldridge: Is he going to play more? Go back to AAA? Stay part-time off the bench with the Giants? “It’s day to day,” is what Buster said repeatedly in response to questions. Other than, I guess, Buster, Tony, and the rest of the front office and coaching staff, there is really no one out there who thinks the Giants are being smart about how they’re deploying Eldridge. That includes Hunter Pence, who never says anything negative about anything or anyone, and Eldridge himself, who perhaps was a tad more candid than he should have been in talking with Bob Nightengale of USA Today about his situation. Mike Krukow, on his KNBR show, opined that Eldridge doesn’t look ready and should go back to AAA, and while one might disagree with that specific take, it seems clear to everyone–except, again, the people who actually get to make the decision–that he either should play everyday for the Giants or should go back to AAA.

Back to Posey’s interview. Another part that got really chippy was when Murph asked him about the construction of the bullpen and if he regretted not going after a closer in the offseason. In response to that, Posey twice brought up the name of Edwin Diaz as if he was the only reliever option out there (he wasn’t)–a point Murphy pushed back on the second time.  Here’s the first quote where he brought up Diaz and then one where he says he has no regrets about going into the season with Ryan Walker (now in AAA) as the presumed closer. Now, it’s fair to say that pretty much everyone covering the Giants raised concerns about the bullpen–and not just the closer piece–before the season started (go back and look up articles by Susan Slusser, Alex Pavlovic, John Shea, etc.). So despite Posey’s assertion that asking about this is “Monday morning quarterbacking,” I’d say it was more like “Saturday night” or “Wednesday afternoon” quarterbacking (or “first-guessing,” not “second-guessing”).

It’s worth remembering that Posey and GM Zack Minasian chose at last year’s trade deadline to dismantle what had been a very good bullpen. There were solid reasons for that at the time, and they got good returns for trading Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval. But then a few weeks later, newly anointed closer Randy Rodriguez needed Tommy John surgery, Walker continued to blow saves for poor Justin Verlander, and Bob Melvin lost his job in part because his bullpen couldn’t hold leads over the last two months of the season. OK, Posey and Minasian made the tough call on July 31 to do what they did, and I would still defend those choices. However, I cannot defend them absolutely refusing to do anything in the offseason–anything!—to improve what had become a weak spot. (I do not count signing three injured free agent relievers as “doing something.”) There were plenty of solid veteran options out there who wouldn’t have cost Edwin Diaz money. They just didn’t want to invest any effort or resources into the bullpen, and Posey et al. deserve to be questioned and criticized for that, even if it makes Buster cranky.

 

So what’s next?

In my opinion, this season is already toast. My main reason for thinking that is that, even in a happier world where all the hitters start hitting like we thought they would/could/might before the season started, their pitching staff is simply not good enough to make any kind of a run. To dig themselves out of an 11 games under .500 hole, they would need a sustained winning streak. It’s hard to put one of those together when you have a bad rotation (currently 25th in ERA) and an unreliable bullpen. As to the latter, Tim Kawakami, in a “state of the Giants” piece a couple of days ago, pointed out that the Giants have converted 60% of their save opportunities, and the MLB average is 62%, so maybe the lack of a designated closer isn’t such a big deal. However, this is where statistics can be misleading. The Giants only have 15 save opportunities this season, which is 28th in MLB. They’ve either been losing in late innings or have won by wide margins that didn’t lead to saves. In contrast, Tampa Bay leads the majors with 31 save opportunities. I think it’s probably safe to speculate that if the Giants actually had more save opportunities, their success rate would be lower than 60%. So this is why it’s hard to see things improving. The rotation is just bad right now. (Murph did not talk to Posey about the additions of Mahle and Adrian Houser, though he did ask about what McDonald’s role might be going forward.) And even if the rotation rights the ship–possible, several of those guys have good track records–it’s more likely than not that the bullpen would continue to blow games late (or, as has also been the case, turn close games into dumpster fires in the middle innings).

If I were in charge, which I’m not but should be, every decision I made from this day forward would be through the lens of “Forget 2026. What can we do to build on the success we’re having in the minor leagues and plan for a brighter future?” So yes, I’m implying the “r” word (rebuild)–which was another testy exchange between Posey and Murph; Posey denies that there’s any rebuild whatsoever, not “quiet,” not loud, not happening. Specifically, here are some things I’d do:

  • Make a decision about Eldridge and see it through. Bruce Jenkins in the Chronicle had an interesting comparison between how the A’s have handled the young career of top prospect Nick Kurtz and what the Giants are doing with Eldridge. If they really think he should be in the major leagues, then he should play pretty much everyday, including against lefties (do you want your top slugger to be a platoon player?) and at first base (Rafi can deal with DHing sometimes, even if he doesn’t prefer it). If they don’t think he’s ready, they should send him back to AAA, even the optics of that aren’t great.
  • Make a trade that opens up playing time for Eldridge, whether now or later.  My preference would be that they find a taker for Matt Chapman, assuming they can get him to waive his no-trade clause, even if they have to eat quite a bit of money. Install Schmitt, who’s having a breakout year, as the everyday 3B, and let Eldridge and Devers job share at 1B/DH. If that is not possible, they should trade Luis Arraez and open up 2B for Schmitt. (And yes, that makes me sad because along with Schmitt, Arraez is the most fun player to watch this season.) If it turns out that Schmitt really isn’t an everyday guy for the long haul, they have plenty of options for the infield coming through the minors, so trading Chapman and/or Arraez isn’t a decision that they’ll regret much in the long run.
  • Stop messing around with Mahle and Houser. They were both mistakes. Trade them, DFA them, demote them to the bullpen–I don’t care what. Give those starts to McDonald and to others in AAA or AA (Carson Whisenhunt, Carson Seymour, Blade Tidwell, and going down to AA, Joe Whitman or Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson). Some of those guys won’t be ready and/or won’t be good. So what? We already know that (a) The Giants aren’t good now and (b) Mahle and Houser aren’t good. At least if you cut bait on those two offseason mistakes, you’re investing time and opportunities in younger players who might be part of the future. Webb, Roupp, and McDonald have been good homegrown draft-and-develop stories. Let’s see if there are a couple more. Couldn’t hurt, might help, at least for the future.
  • Do something about the future bullpen. I’m not just talking about “wait for Randy Rodriguez to come back” or “hope Walker figures it out in AAA.” I’m talking about either trading for arms who could be good bullpen prospects and/or identifying pitchers in the lower minors who could be bullpen core pieces and developing them as such. The Giants’ last three closers (Doval, Walker, Rodriguez) were homegrown, as was long-time set-up man Tyler Rogers (they could use one of those, too)–so it is possible to grow your own. They should do that.
  • Stop coddling veteran egos. Tell Adames, Chapman, and Devers that they’re all taking at least one day a week off, maybe two sometimes, both to keep their legs and minds fresh and to give other players opportunities to develop. None of those guys like taking days off, and that’s to their credit, but–too bad. They’re not “leading” the team anywhere except off a cliff.

Again, these suggestions are based on the thesis that the 2026 season is already a lost cause, mainly because the pitching isn’t good enough to sustain a turnaround. You may disagree with this take, and we know, from the man himself, that Posey and the front office are not ready to say that. I understand that today is only May 23, also, but–I see what I see.

 

Today’s Game

White Sox at Giants, 1:05 p.m. at Oracle Park

Bryan Hudson (2-1, 1.57 ERA) vs Adrian Houser (2-4, 5.25 ERA)

To be slightly more fair to Houser than what I said above, his last two starts (both wins) have been pretty good. I still said what I said. He walks too many and strikes out too few. The stuff is pedestrian. The track record is mediocre. It’s not going to get much better than this.

Hudson is a LHP, so I assume that means no Eldridge, but it probably does mean the major league debut of Bericoto. Oops–just checked the lineup. Eldridge is in, and Bericoto is not–Gilbert is playing RF, and he’s 0-for-lefties this season. Weird. They just can’t get out of their own way, can they? Lefty out.