Series Preview: SF Giants vs. Mariners - June recap and how to watch
One month ago, a pair of disappointing series punctuated a resurgent May that saw the Giants claw their way back to relevancy. This weekend, history repeated itself, with San Francisco dropping a pair of intriguing series after one of the wildest months of baseball in recent memory. Now, facing another inter-league opponent in the Seattle Mariners, the Giants have a chance to kickstart another fiery streak.
A reason for optimism? The Giants looked pretty mediocre to start last month, too. Go back to the end of May. San Francisco split the first four series of the month, but went 10-3 with the debuts of Casey Schmitt and Patrick Bailey. Things were looking up, and they had a short homestand to test themselves against the promising Pirates and surging Orioles. Those teams came in a combined 14 games over .500, so the Giants knew they'd have to play well. They ended up dropping both series without much of a fight.
So the Giants were just "whatever," right? That seemed to be the consensus, especially when they couldn't surmount the Cubs a week later. But that rocky stretch was just a bump in the road. They'd end up going 18-8 in the month, an unequivocally dominant run of baseball that's revived playoff hopes in the Bay Area. It's undoubtedly frustrating that the Giants turned the page by losing series to an above-average Toronto and a Mets team that's getting pennies on its $300 million roster, but the Giants were rarely more than a few tweaks away from coming out on top of those recent losses.
If there's a reason for pessimism, it lies in the frustrating inconsistency in San Francisco's play lately, even outside of the past week. The starting rotation has eight pitchers. It also has two guys who are guaranteed to start in any given week, and neither of them has been very dominant. Logan Webb's been okay. I'd like to say he's been more, but the Giants' least competitive loss came when he served up five runs in the first inning against Toronto. The less said of Anthony DeSclafani's June, the better. Only Alex Cobb, of the Giants' regular starters, posted an ERA under 4.80 last month.
But if the rotation isn't consistently holding up its end of the bargain, neither is the offense. It's one thing for the late-inning substitutions to be making a consistent impact - the Giants are hitting 17% better than league average in innings 7 through 9, and a whopping 64% better in extras. But that has to make up for the fact that they're hitting 13% worse than league average their first two turns against opposing starters. By the time they even start to threaten (and they are particularly good against starters the third time through the lineup), it's already the fifth or sixth inning and the Giants are often in a hole.
The Giants have the potential to be good, but they'll need to build it on something stronger than late-game comebacks. Last month, they had four qualified players on the entire roster combined. Logan Webb had a 4.88 ERA in 31.1 IP, and only one hitter (Joc Pederson) had an OPS above .750. Camilo Doval, Tristan Beck, and the Rogers brothers had excellent months out of the bullpen, which his huge. Wilmer Flores had a great June, LaMonte Wade Jr. continues to be an OBP beast, and Patrick Bailey is establishing himself as a premier two-way catcher even as a rookie. Outside of that, there's a whole lot of scuffling.
So right now, the Giants are a bit of a Rorschach test. Do you see a team that's been playing over their heads, one that should be bolstered in the second half by trade deadline reinforcements, rotation reorganization, and injury returns from players like Mitch Haniger and Luis Gonzalez? Or do you instead see a team that can look awfully sloppy against struggling teams, one without the stability needed to make a long postseason run? The Giants answered those questions last month with an exceptional run. Let's see if they can top that in July.
Series Details
Who: SF Giants vs. Seattle Mariners
Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California
When: July 3-5, Monday (6:45 PM), Tuesday (1:35 PM), Wednesday (6:05 PM). All times Pacific.
Giants' current streak: L2, 4-6 in last 10. 46-38 overall, 3rd place in NL West (3.5 GB)
Mariners' current streak: W2, 5-5 in last 10. 40-42 overall, 4th place in AL West
Projected starters
Monday: Logan Webb (7-7, 3.43 ERA) vs. Bryan Woo (1-1, 4.37 ERA)
Tuesday: TBD vs. Logan Gilbert (5-5, 4.19 ERA)
Wednesday: Alex Cobb (5-2, 3.13 ERA) vs. Bryce Miller (5-3, 3.97 ERA)
*Indicates LHP
**Indicates opener
How to watch, listen
- SF Giants broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area, KNBR 680/1510 AM
- Mariners broadcast: ROOTNW, KIRO 710 AM
- National broadcasts: none
