San Francisco Giants: An analysis of the season so far

The San Francisco Giants are having a rough season and while it’s unlikely to get much better, there are still some positives to take note of.

We are now roughly a third of the way through the 2019 season. Many games still remain to be played, but there is enough of a sample size where it is possible to have an idea of what a team is good and bad at.

As for the San Francisco Giants — a team with an aging core and not much in the way of reinforcements — no one expected them to be a postseason-caliber team and so far, the Giants have met those expectations.

Overall, Bruce Bochy‘s squad is last in the National League West and own the second-worst record — just ahead of the Miami Marlins — in the NL as a whole with 22 wins and 33 losses at the time of writing. The question is, what has gone wrong over these first two months?

For starters, the Giants have been one of the worst offensive teams in the league — ranking in the bottom two in home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, and runs scored.

A big reason for said offensive struggles are players like Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, and Joe Panik, who are all having well-below average seasons to this point. Additionally, Evan Longoria, who was supposed to be a potential rebound candidate, has continued to decline further at the plate.

The bats, however, can’t take all the blame, as the Giants starting rotation has been just as bad posting the fewest innings and second-worst ERA among NL clubs.

To get a feel as to how bad Giants starters have been, the Pirates — who rank just ahead in ERA — are more than a half run better. And the worst team in terms of ERA is the Rockies, who of course play in the hitters-haven that is Coors Field.

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Additionally, and while admittedly it is more difficult to quantify fielding, it is worth mentioning that the Giants have the worst fielding percentage in the National League.

But, among all the negatives, there are still some things that have gone right for the Giants.

The Giants bullpen has been one of the league’s best sporting the third lowest BAA (batting average against) and fourth best ERA in the NL. Will Smith, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson, and the resurgent Mark Melancon, all have been solid, to say the least, each possessing ERA’s under three at the time of writing.

And to round out the good — more on individual notes — Pablo Sandoval and Jeff Samardzija are each enjoying career revivals to some degree.

Currently, the outlook for the remainder of the Giants season doesn’t look too promising. However, there may be a silver lining as the lack of success may drive the front office to finally embark on a rebuild the organization desperately needs.