Let's remind ourselves of some things we already know
It's a group project, but don't worry, I'll do 95% of the work
Remember Monday? Remember how, on Monday, the Giants seemed like a not-terrible team? They were a group who barely made you seethe with annoyance at their sustained incompetence. Sure, they’d had some tough times, and they sure weren’t perfect, but after winning a couple series in a row, you knew that there was a shot that the good would outweigh the bad. And then, if they somehow get into the playoffs, hey, anything can happen! Maybe this season won’t be such a waste after all.
And now, after two games in Boston, fuuuuuuck that. They suck.
Okay, okay, I know that I shouldn’t give up on the team a month into the season. They’re more talented than this! They should be better! It would be unreasonable to expect exactly this level of play from the team going forward, because they are, as a whole, better than this. I know that.
(Repeating it in order to convince myself) I know that they’re better than this.
Because they are, right? We all know that they’re better than this. Obviously, players get worse as they get older, but not all of them, all at once, exactly when it fits into our The Team Is Doomed narrative. That’s simply not the most likely thing to currently be happening. The most likely thing is that the team’s true talent level is very average and they’re going through a bad stretch, and when they pull out of it they’ll be fine. Not great. Not awful. Completely okay.
Did I also think that at the beginning of the 2017 season? No comment, and I really wish you would just let bygones be bygones.
But even though I know this about the 2024 Giants offense — they can’t and won’t be this bad forever — it sure doesn’t feel like it, does it? Watching them in Boston has been like watching molasses, but without the excitement. Now, some of that is the Red Sox: despite having very few names anyone outside of their immediate family would recognize, the Sox are tops in the league in ERA by a massive margin.
But a big part of this is that the Giants aren’t hitting the ball against anyone, much less against the best team in baseball at preventing runs. And again, I know this. I know that the Giants, C-students at best, are being thrown into AP Art History and told to do their best. Like, they could do okay if they got their shit together, but we all know that they’re not going to get their shit together because that’s not who they are. And even if they did, they wouldn’t be at the top of the class. They just don’t have that kind of talent.
The temptation, then, is to look for that talent elsewhere in the organization. They haven’t gotten a ton of production out of second base? Well maybe Thairo Estrada needs a break, and they can call up Casey Schmitt, who’s been crushing the ball in AAA. Could it be that it’s time to give Heliot Ramos a real chance in the majors? Given his recent 2-homer game, is it time to believe in Brett Wisely again?
(The answer to that last one is an unequivocal no. It is never time to believe in Brett Wisely again. We have been burned too many times before.)
I am not bringing up these ideas because I think they are good ideas that will improve the team and that the Giants will or should do them. I am bringing them up because they sound good. They sound really tempting (again, except Wisely). You can talk yourself into any of them and think that yes, this is the solution, it is right here, why are these idiots in the front office not doing what I can see is the obvious solution? Do they hate winning?
We know that they don’t. We know that these ideas won’t work either, that the team is just stuck until they work out of it and no magic bullet will fix them. We know that a couple of players up from Sacramento won’t fix the teamwide approach issues that have led to so many called strikeouts. We know — we all know — that this isn’t a championship team. If everything breaks right, it’s a playoff team. Everything won’t break right, and we all know that too.
Baseball is an exercise in maintaining hope in the face of reality. The reality of the Giants seems extremely bleak right now, but I, for one, have hope that it’s only kinda bleak. I have hope that they’ll turn it around, possibly by dint of facing lesser pitching staffs, and that they will be downright watchable for large portions of the season. There’s plenty of reason to think that won’t happen, of course. But reality can suck it, because I want to keep my hope. And I know that that attitude will make this season a little better.
Nice little rant, Maestro. Perfectly reflecting the frustration of watching this roller-coaster ride.
But TODAY! 3-1, great pitching, clutch hitting, stellar defense!
We're going all the way!!
Front Office: "Howdy Friends! Can I interest you in a 2024 Estrada? We're looking for a rotation arm or a bevy of farm products in the "might be pretty great" range "
League: Ahhhhh..........
Front Office: "Just imagine an Estrada slickly fielding in YOUR teams duds!" (Smacks Thairo on the butt)