Ray makes his case

SF 4  SD 1

The Giants beat another good team with another strong pitching performance. Robbie Ray is the most obvious trade candidate (other than Luis Arraez) and he has pitched well of late. Last night he whiffed six over six frames with only one run allowed. He has a 1.67 ERA over his last nine appearances. It seems he's been putting on a showcase for potential suitors these last several weeks.

The bullpen, this year's glaring weak spot, was solid once again with three scoreless innings (Caleb Killian, Dylan Smith, Erik Miller). Andrew Susac had another homer.

The Giants have indicated they would pay to offset some of Ray's salary in a potential trade.

Carson Whisenhunt gets the start tonight (6:45 Pacific). Go Giants!

--M.C.

6th inning: 8-10

The Giants win today was Game 108 and that's the two-thirds mark of the season. We've seen six seasonal innings of baseball so far:

1st inning: 6-12

2nd inning: 8-10

3rd inning: 8-10

4th inning: 7-11 

5th inning: 9-9 

6th inning: 8-10 

That's good for a 46-62 record (.426) and fourth place in the NL West (21-1/2 GB).

If you go 8-10 nine times you'll finish 72-90 (.444) which would require improvement. In San Francisco this afternoon the Giants put on a fine show for the fans, once again forcing us to ask "why can't they keep this going?".

 

SF 16  MIL 3

The Brewers are one of the best teams in baseball and the Giants took two of the three games. They took two of three in the last series with the woeful Angels, and were swept in KC by the lowly Royals just before that.

This team is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. But we knew that. Four-hit days for both Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos and a three-run homer from Daniel Susac to start the scoring were highlights. Logan Webb delivered a competent six and the bullpen allowed only one run in the final three frames.

The lousy news from today is that Casey Schmitt will likely miss the rest of the season. He sort of embodies the 2026 team. He can hit for power (.483 SLG) but makes too many outs (.301 OBP)! His defensive versatility is a real asset and the injury is a real bummer.

The team travels to San Diego for three and the first one is tomorrow evening at 6:40 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Giants blank Brewers

SF 3  MIL 0

The Giants completed their eighth team shutout last night. Tyler Mahle went the first six and allowed only three hits and two walks. The bullpen, amazingly, held the line and nailed down the win. Dominic Smith, Sam Hentges, and Erik Miller faced the minimum nine batters and struck out four of them.

Young Grant McCray was the hitting star with a two-run homer off Milwaukee starter Brandon Sproat.

No news (yet) on the trade front. 

Two more at home against the Brewers and then they go on the road to San Diego and Texas.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

2023 draft paying off

Bryce Eldridge was the #13 pick of the 2023 draft. He's looking like a polished MLB hitter in his first season and he will not turn 22 until October. He's the only one from that Giants draft class with positive WAR. No one else has made the majors.

Except for Drew Cavanaugh! He was the 510th pick in the 17th round. The 24-year old lefty-swinging catcher has nine hits (all singles) and seven walks in his 42 PA across 13 games. He slashed .273/.406/.439 in 209 minor league games (882 PA).

Last night's star, Landen Roupp, was also a late pick (the 12th round, #356) but from the 2021 class. Carson Whisenhunt and Hayden Birdsong were picked in the 2022 group. We'll see if they can develop into consistent major league hurlers.

Logan Webb starts today and the game is on Fox at 5:00 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

The looming deadline

The MLB trade deadline is Monday, August 3rd, at 6:00 p.m. ET. This deadline matters to teams that have a good chance to make the post-season as they can improve their rosters before the stretch run. This deadline matters to bad teams because they have a chance to "salvage" their shitty seasons by picking up some fresh talent for future seasons. As a bonus, some crappy teams will dump some salary and thus be better positioned to make more lousy payroll decisions at a later date. Teams in the middle—the ones that can't decide if they are legit contenders or not—generally make no one happy as they try to play it both ways.

In short, like most things in sports, the hype exceeds the reality by orders of magnitude.

We've all seen good teams get better by taking advantage of a poor team's "fire sale" and we've seen teams (like the 2025 Giants) make big moves and get nothing out of them. I like to use the phrase "it's a crapshoot" a little too often but in this case the MLB trade deadline truly is a crapshoot.

So what dice should the Giants roll this summer? The season is lost, obviously. The big contracts (Devers, Adames, Chapman) aren't going anywhere. That is unless the Yankees or Dodgers suddenly need a 1B/DH, SS, or 3B right now. A season-ending injury to Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, or their NYY equivalents (Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisolm, Ryan McMahon) would move the needle a little. Other than that, don't expect big changes to the SFG 40-man.

The word all season has been that Luis Arraez is the obvious trade candidate as he's on a one-year deal and he's hitting like a batting champion again (and playing well in the field). What's he worth? An AA pitcher, perhaps? The Giants could use an ML-ready starter but that would take more than just one player. So they'll trade Arraez for a kid who might help the club in two years. Or they could get a decent relief pitcher, something they could use, but that's not much. Bye Luis, hope you enjoyed your time in SF.

There's Robbie Ray as well. He's a free agent at the end of the season. A pennant-chasing team can always use another starter. What can you get for Ray? Again, not a whole lot.

This year's trade deadline will pass for the Giants without a bang. It'll be a whimper. Maybe we'll see a couple of guys go and a couple of fresh faces emerge. In the very best case, one of those new faces will actually make a positive contribution to the club in 2027.

The Giants travel to Seattle for three on the weekend and then to KC for three until an off-day on the 23rd.

It looks like Roupp-Webb-Ray to face the Mariners.

Go Giants!

--M.C. 

Jackson Flora, RHP

The Giants took the best pitcher available in the draft with their #4 pick. It's a smart choice. And he's a local boy: born in Walnut Creek, went to Foothill HS in Pleasanton, pitched for UC Santa Barbara. There's a lot to like here. He's a big guy (6-5, 205) in a well-established NCAA pitching program. He went 12-0 in 16 starts for the Gauchos with a ridiculous 1.06 ERA (only 55 hits in 102 IP with 133 K). He's the real deal.

There are no sure things, of course. But this is the best the Giants could have done. He's the consensus #1 amateur pitcher in the nation. No one knows how it will all play out but it is certainly exciting to get a young, live arm who is also a polished pitcher. He apparently can hit 100 mph.

In the meantime the Giants lost a stinker on Friday but pulled out a nice win today.

The Giants picked a HS southpaw from South Carolina named Carson Bolemon with the #29 pick. With the #55 pick they took another HS pitcher, Florida righty Kaden Waechter. And with the #90 pick they nabbed Rutgers OF Peyton Bonds, nephew of you-know-who. His dad is Bobby Lee Bonds, Jr. (brother of Barry), who played pro ball for eleven years but never made the majors.

I have to say I'm happy. There was a lot of talk about the Giants getting Flora because three players (UCLA SS Roch Cholowsky, Texas Christian HS SS Grady Emerson, and Georgia Tech C Vahn Lackey) were considered the best prospects overall and were expected to go right away. The Rangers took a HS lefty with the #16 pick and the Guardians took a college righty at #19. They were the only other pitchers in the top 20.

Trevor McDonald gets the final start (1:05 PT) before the Break.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

5th inning: 9-9

 1st inning: 6-12

2nd inning: 8-10

3rd inning: 8-10

4th inning: 7-11 

5th inning: 9-9 

The 10-1 win to open the Toronto series was the 90th game of the season. I'm a little tardy once again on my "innings" post. We've had five 18-game stretches, five seasonal innings, and we've four more to go. As you can see, things are just piddling along like before. Well OK, they at least had a .500 spell. 

They lost the next two to the Jays. Logan Webb gave up his first-ever grand slam. There are four more games (with the Rockies at home) before the blessed relief of the All-Star Break. The 38-54 (.413) Giants are only the fourth-worst team. The Royals, Rockies, and Angels are worse but just barely—the whole bunch is separated by a mere two games. Colorado is 38-56 (.404) so I expect a free-wheeling brawl-a-thon for the NL West table scraps.

There's talk of the Giants drafting UC Santa Barbara righty Jackson Flora with the #4 pick. A high school shortstop (Jacob Lombard) is also supposedly on the radar.

Webb and Luis Arraez will represent San Francisco at the 96th ASG in Philly next week.

--M.C.

Giants hang on for win

SF 6  AZ 4

The Giants finally beat the Diamondbacks. They had a 6-0 lead but almost blew it. I couldn't watch the 9th. Thankfully Caleb Killian got it done.

The hitting stars were Heliot Ramos and rookie Victor Bericoto. Both had two hits (one a homer) and two RBI. Luis Arraez went 0-for-5 which is not something you see often.

It took another good start to subdue Arizona, this time it was Trevor McDonald who threw six scoreless and allowed only one hit. Ryan Walker was a disaster in relief (4 batters, 4 H, 4 R). This team really needs to improve the pitching staff!

Travel day tomorrow—they go to Colorado for the weekend.

I'm on the road today and will be back next week. Have a Happy Fourth and Go Giants!

--M.C.

Draft history, pt. 4

The dominant name from the 2023 draft was number one pick (from LSU) Paul Skenes. He spent barely any time in the minors and was Rookie of the Year in 2024, Cy Young winner in 2025, and has made 17 starts this year for the Pirates. That's the kind of impact people hope for from a #1 pick!

The #2 pick was LSU OF Dylan Crews who made his debut for the Nationals the very next year. The Tigers took HS OF Max Clark with the #3 pick. The Rangers scored with the #4 pick, Florida OF Wyatt Langford whose 11.5 bWAR is second only to Skenes' 16.

The Giants took Bryce Eldridge with the 16th pick and I think we have to be pleased with that one. Bryce won't be 22 until October and he looks like a major-leaguer already.

In 2024 the #1 pick was 2B Travis Bazzana from Oregon State. He made his debut with the Guardians this year. Wake Forest P Chase Burns was #2 and he made it to the bigs in 2025. This year he's made 16 starts for the Reds. The Rockies took Georgia OF Charlie Condon at #3, he's still in the minors. The #4 pick, Wake Forest 1B Nick Kurtz, jumped to MLB last year and continues to be a stud this year.

The Giants took James Tibbs III with the 13th pick. The Florida State OF was part of the package for Rafael Devers. The Red Sox traded him later to the Dodgers and he's at AAA.

No one from the 2025 first-round draft class has MLB bWAR. The Giants chose Tennessee 2B Gavin Kilen. The 22-year old is at A+ Eugene. The top pick that year was HS SS Eli Willits (Nationals), #2 was Santa Barbara P Tyler Bremner (Angels), #3 was LSU P Kade Anderson (Mariners), and the #4 pick was HS SS Ethan Holliday, son of Matt, grabbed by his dad's team (Rockies).

--M.C.  

Another good start, another win

SF 3  ATL 2

If you get good pitching then good things can happen. The Giants (mostly) dinked their way to a 3-0 lead against Chris Sale and it held up. Robbie Ray had another excellent start, going eight innings and yielding just one (unearned) run. He only struck out two, unusual for him, but he only walked one, also unusual. That's three strong starts in a row for Ray: 6-1/3 in Atlanta (2 H, 0 R), then 8 IP against the A's (2 H, 1 R), and now tonight, also against the Braves. I hate to be cynical and say he's "auditioning" as the trade deadline approaches. Ballplayers have good stretches and not-so-good stretches. I ought to be enjoying a good stretch of pitching.

Caleb Killian made it interesting in the 9th (leadoff double that eventually scored) but he nailed down the save and sent the fans home happy.

The team travels to Arizona for three (all at 6:40 PT), there's a travel day Thursday, and then they play a weekend series in Colorado. They are 0-6 against the Diamondbacks this season.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Undefeated in the second half

SF 5  ATL 0

It was another brilliant start from Logan Webb, this time seven innings of one-hit ball against a tough Braves lineup. Webb's June has been as good as it gets in MLB: five starts, 38 IP, 20 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 29 SO and only one homer allowed. The Giants have gone 3-2 in those five games. Ryan Walker (8th) and Sam Hentges (9th) put up zeroes to secure the win.

The hitting star was Rafael Devers. He led off the 2nd with a homer and then hit another in the 3rd with two guys on. It was Rafi's bobblehead night so he delivered the goods for the fans. It's hard to believe but his 39 extra-base hits are tied for seventh-most in MLB with Ben Rice and Kyle Schwarber. Yordan Alvarez and Byron Buxton lead everyone with 41, and three guys are tied with 40 (Corbin Carroll, Brandon Lowe, Matt Olson).

Friday was Game 81, the halfway mark. Thus tonight was the first game of the second half of the season. 

Sunday's game is at 1:05 Pacific and Robbie Ray will take the hill.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Draft history, pt. 3

The 2022 draft produced one player with 10+ WAR and that's the Angels SS Zach Neto. He was a college pick (Campbell) and was the #13 selection overall. HS SS Cole Young was the 21st pick, he's the Mariners 2B and has 2.7 bWAR. Cubs starter Cade Horton (2.3 WAR) was a college pitcher (Oklahoma) and the #7 pick. Reds IF Sal Stewart was the #32 pick, he was a HS 3B and is listed at 1.6 WAR.

Rounding out the top five is HS SS Jackson Holliday (son of Matt) who has tallied 0.8 WAR as an Orioles infielder. He was the #1 pick that year.

Of interest to Giants fans is the #4 pick: Temarr Johnson (HS SS) went to the Pirates. He's in AAA right now. There's talk the Giants (with the #4 pick) will take HS SS Jacob Lombard.

The Giants took 2-way player Reggie Crawford in 2022 with the #30 pick. He's no longer a pitcher and has battled injuries. He's had fewer games in the minors than he did in college.

However the Giants made out OK with that draft as they've traded for the #19 pick (Daniel Susac) and the #28 pick (Drew Gilbert).

We'll take a look at 2023 and 2024 next.

--M.C.

Boom! Boom!

SF 2  ATH 1

The Giants finally got some good pitching from Tyler Mahle but it looked to be all for naught as the lineup (no surprise) couldn't get anything going. In the 9th however, down 1-0, Rafael Devers tied the game with a solo shot. That gave rookie Victor Bericoto a chance to play the hero. With two outs he hit a booming no-doubter for a walk-off winner. The youngster from Venezuela had already made a nice play to throw out a runner at home earlier in the game. Speaking of nice plays, Jung Hoo Lee made a great grab to end the 8th and preserve the tie. He also had two more hits!

The Giants have not delivered a lot of exciting finishes this season but this game was a nice exception. Day game today—12:45 PT. Landen Roupp gets the start.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Ray shines

SF 3  ATH 1

Robbie Ray walked four guys in the first five innings but they didn't hurt him. He allowed only two hits across eight frames and whiffed eight. The one run he allowed was unearned. It was his best start of 2026.

Jung Hoo Lee made an error on a routine play in RF but also homered and had another hit and a walk. His .331 average is second only to the Marlins Otto Lopez (.337).

Caleb Killian put two on in the 9th but still managed to get the save. The Giants kept the terrific Nick Kurtz from hurting them (he was 0-for-4 with 3 K). I mention him because he was the #4 pick in the 2024 draft (from Wake Forest). The 23-year old lefty slugger spent only 33 games in the minors. He hit 36 HR as a rookie last year in 117 games. It is possible to find an impact player with the #4 pick!!

6:45 tonight and Tyler Mahle returns from the IL to get the start.

Go Giants!

--M.C. 

Draft history, pt. 2

Logan Webb got Cained but we are big boys and girls and we are used to such things. I decided to write about the draft instead of the game.

We looked at 2020 in a previous post so I'll take a look at 2021. If you sort the first round by MLB bWAR the leaders are Jackson Merrill (8.0, #27), Gavin Williams (6.9, #23), Sal Frelick (6.0, #15), Colson Montgomery (5.5, #22) and Colton Cowser (4.1, #5). The #4 pick was Marcelo Mayer who has 0.4 WAR in 111 games. (The Giants have this year's #4 pick).

Padres CF Merrill, White Sox 3B/SS Montgomery, and Red Sox IF Mayer were all high school shortstops. Guardians starter Williams, Brewers RF Frelick, and Orioles OF Cowser were all college picks. 

The Giants drafted P Will Bednar (Mississippi State) with the 14th pick. He's 26 and still in the minors. He has crazy K numbers but also crazy walk numbers. Mason Black was the 85th pick and Landen Roupp the 356th pick.

The Pirates chose college catcher Henry Davis with the #1 overall pick that year. He's in the majors as a C/OF but in 235 games (812 PA) he has a .173 batting average. It's not easy to find a catcher who can hit!

 --M.C.

4th inning: 7-11

1st inning: 6-12

2nd inning: 8-10

3rd inning: 8-10

4th inning: 7-11 

 

Game 72 (Sunday's win in Chicago) flew right past my radar. They've gone 2-2 since. After 4/9 of the season they were 29-43 and they now sit at 31-45, a .408 clip. I note they scored seven runs in both games of the doubleheader in Atlanta and won both. They scored a mere three apiece in the two in Miami and naturally lost both.

--M.C. 

Let's Take Two!

SF 7  ATL 2

SF 7  ATL 5

If you score 14 runs in a day you ought to come away with a win or two and that's just what the Giants pulled off in Atlanta. Thanks to Mother Nature they played two games in one day and thanks to the Baseball Deities (be they evil or good) the Giants won both.

Yesterday the rained interrupted a 3-2 Giants lead in the 2nd. That game resumed today with Robbie Ray on the mound and he was brilliant (6-1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO). Dylan Smith and new closer Caleb Killian finished up. That game featured back-to-back homers by Rafael Devers and Jung Hoo Lee in the 5th.

Later Carson Whisenhunt got the call-up and the start and he was unscored upon for his first five frames. TonyV went to the well one more time and tried to get through the 6th with his recently promoted southpaw and it didn't work out so well. In the end the youngster got charged with a mere two runs.

Three of The Hateful Four (JTB, SH, RW) covered the next nine outs. With a 7-2 lead Matt Gage was tasked with the 9th. It was nearly a disaster but Tristan Beck got the job done and the Giants squeaked by the best team in baseball. Luis Arraez had two hits and four RBI and both Bryce Eldridge and Willy Adames hit homers.

Like I said the 2026 Giants are a bad trip. There's no sense to be made of it. Oh, I'm sure you've seen a story or two about the Giants being "sellers at the deadline." Well, duh.

Tomorrow's game is at 4:15 Pacific. Go Giants!

--M.C. 

Sunday notes

SF 5  CHC 1

Another fine start from a resurgent Logan Webb led the way this afternoon in San Francisco. The righty allowed an unearned run on a throwing error from Casey Schmitt and that was it. He struck out seven in eight full frames and walked none. The twenty-fourth out was an excellent play in right field from Jung Hoo Lee who also had two hits and scored a run. Matt Chapman, in the leadoff spot, got the biggest hit, a two-run homer in the 5th. Bryce Eldridge kept his on-base streak alive (up to 20 games now) with a hit and a walk. He batted in the second spot. Caleb Killian, just announced as the closer, delivered a 1-2-3 9th with two whiffs. Good stuff!

This season has mostly not been good stuff. But I can roll with it. I can put it down to inexperience and rookie mistakes. Both Buster Posey and Tony Vitello are new to their jobs. Buster is finding out that being a great baseball player and a successful businessman were both easier than being a baseball executive! I can accept there will be a learning curve and an "implementation dip" from this new partnership. Poor performance from the club is not unexpected. It's disappointing, certainly. But I think it will improve.

What I don't like and have a harder time forgiving is a lack of leadership. I learned from a story on McCovey Chronicles (by Brady Klopfer) that four Giants pitchers did not like participating in the team's annual Pride Night on Friday. They decided to either put Old Testament verses on their caps or to not wear the pride cap at all. Big, manly Landen Roupp (6-2, 220), JT Brubaker (6-4, 200), Sam Hentges (6-8, 255!), and Ryan Walker (6-2, 215) all decided to hide behind their "Christian faith" and Roupp even had the gall to tell LGBTQ fans (if there are any left) to "read the Bible." Why are jocks so afraid of gays?

Fuck you. Fuck your prejudice and your narrow-mindedness. Not to mention your goddamn insubordination. You work for the Giants. The Giants have Pride Night. Suck it up, chickenshits! All of you are grown men (Roupp 27, Brubaker 32, Hentges 29, Walker 30) and seasoned professionals. You are not naive kids just out of amateur ball. I'm calling you out, losers!

And shame on you, Tony V, for not making them "toe the line." And yes, we all know Buster is a Bible Study kinda guy but that doesn't justify tacitly supporting bigots.

Otherwise, it was nice to see the team play well on National TV.

--M.C. 

Tip o' the cap

Jung Hoo Lee's 18-game hitting streak ended last night after he went 0-for-3. He hit .500 (36-for-72) during that stretch.

That's a lot of hits. You have to go back to Bill Terry (1932) to find a span of 12 games and 29+ hits by a Giants player.

Otto Lopez of the Marlins has a .342 average to lead MLB. Lee is second with a .333 and his .451 slugging is a career high.

Way to go, Jung Hoo!

--M.C.

Bryce Slams Nats

SF 11  WSN 10

I'm not ashamed to say I quit following this game. I gave up. And I'm not ashamed. This 2026 Giants team has been unwatchable. Literally.

Today they turned everything upside down. Bryce Eldridge hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th to beat the Nationals. The Giants scored five runs in the 8th and five again in the 9th to pull off the miracle comeback. Certainly, in a Baseball Karmic sort of way, the Giants deserved one of these. They've suffered on the other end too many time already this season.

Jung Hoo Lee has been on fire and he got two more hits today. His .338 is second in all of baseball. But it's Bryce that we are hanging our hats on. He's the phenom. He's the 1st-rounder. He's the One We've Been Waiting For. (At least we hope.)

Anyway Bryce is slashing .298/.385/.521 in just over 100 PA.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.