By Morris Phillips
What distinguishes the 2022 Giants from the rest of the pack? Well, that’s a tough one.
Numerically, this version of SFG isn’t the record-breaking group of 2021 in terms of home runs hit or games won, but they’re pretty good. In baseball’s newly expanded postseason, the Giants are in–as of now–and that’s after more than a month of tough results and far too little encouraging news on the injury front. But that doesn’t make the team or its players–now without the iconic Buster Posey who hung up his cleats after 2021–particularly noticeable.
Looking for a Giant in baseball-reference.com‘s myriad of individual, statistical categories like WAR (wins above replacement), home runs or games started for pitchers, keep looking. Broken up into categories of pitching, hitting and fielding only one Giants’ name comes up… Thairo Estrada. Estrada is one of a group of seven base stealers that hasn’t been apprehended with eight steals in eight attempts. In fact, Estrada is perfect for his four-year, big league career with a modest 14 steals without being caught.
In the newly, expanding world of fielding statistics, perfect for a game dominated by defensive shifts and measured by defensive range, Estrada leads MLB as the most efficient second baseman having successfully handled 99.4 percent of his ball handling chances. But let Estrada botch one opportunity and he’ll likely fall back into a large group of defensively-proficient second basemen. That’s all it takes to return to anonymity.
Last season, the Giants set themselves apart by hitting home runs; their 241 in 162 games led the National League. Individually, “Late Night” Lamonte Wade Jr. led major league baseball in slugging percentage from the seventh inning on, a stat that more than anything earned him a bunch of dramatic highlights on ESPN’s SportsCenter. This season, there’s nothing rivaling either of those stats.
First of all, Wade may be the team’s biggest missing piece. Due to a pair of injuries, Wade’s appeared in just 10 games, has six hits and just one home run. With those paltry numbers, no one’s scouring the database to see which of those six hits came before or after the seventh inning. The home run story’s not so bleak: the Giants are still among the best teams in MLB in hitting them (66 in 53 games) and slugging percentage (.410). If anything, the pitching staff deserves credit for being stingy, and allowing just 44 round trippers, which is tied with the Braves for the fewest in the National League.
What’s apparent is anonymity is synonymous with success. The Kapler/Zaidi formula for platooning, and limiting pitcher’s pitch menu works. The Giants put their players in positions to succeed more often that not, by playing the percentages, and having them do what they do best. Nothing better illustrates that then right-handed hitting Donovan Walton’s grand slam off left-handed throwing Brad Garrett as the deciding blow in yesterday’s 5-1 Giants’ win in Miami. A tiring Garrett–pushed in that direction by patient Giants’ hitters elevating his pitch count–throwing his 13th pitch of the fourth inning, offered a less-than blazing 82 mph slider and Walton pounced. The situation needed to be just right, and it was. Walton, hitting ninth and playing shortstop, had never hit a grand slam in his career, pro or amateur.
Want personality? Manager Gabe Kapler fills the bill. Baseball’s new-aged thinker was raised to question authority, and it shows again and again from his disdain for baseball’s unwritten rules to his outspoken views on the state of the country, gun control and racial inclusion. Winning games, and pushing the right buttons, and being forthright when he doesn’t sets Kapler apart as well. Sure, baseball fans want their teams to distinguish themselves on the field, not in the dugout, but through two plus seasons, Kapler’s making a difference.
So what should fans hope for to spice it up? That’s simple: the trade deadline. If the Giants stay in contention, they’ll make some spicy moves in August to keep things moving. They did it last season by dealing for Kris Bryant, and they kept the door open for future moves, by not retaining Bryant. At some point–you can almost count on it–Farhan Zaidi and the front office will make a big move on the trade front and get the Giants a star, someone who fits financially and schematically.
The Giants open a nine-game home stand on Tuesday against the Rockies with Carlos Rodon facing Colorado’s struggling German Marquez at 6:45pm.