As Deadline nears, Giants 'capable of better'

SAN FRANCISCO -- One month ago, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi was feeling fairly optimistic about the state of the Giants. With a win over Pittsburgh on June 18, San Francisco had climbed a season-high 10 games over .500, even while feeling like it hadn’t yet played its best baseball.

But instead of taking off, the Giants began to spiral. Before getting back on track with a 13-0 rout of Arizona on Tuesday night at Oracle Park, San Francisco had lost 15 of its previous 21 games. The Giants are now 44-42 and two games behind the Cardinals for the final National League Wild Card spot.

“Obviously, it’s been disappointing,” Zaidi said. “Now looking back, that’s basically our high-water mark of the season so far. We felt like we had another gear in us. Obviously, it’s gone the other way.

“It’s like the Bill Parcells quote: ‘You are what your record says you are.’ Right now, we’re basically a .500 team. We’re not a playoff team as things sit right now. But we’re two games out, and we know we’re capable of better.”

The Giants have struggled to recapture the form that made them a 107-win behemoth last year, but they channeled those 2021 vibes with their trouncing of the D-backs on Tuesday. The offense pounded out 14 hits and four homers, including two from Thairo Estrada. Yermín Mercedes and Joey Bart also went deep to help San Francisco jump out to an 8-0 lead in the third inning and knock left-hander Dallas Keuchel out of the game early.

Logan Webb did his part on the mound, striking out eight over six dominant innings to improve to 8-3 with a 2.82 ERA over 18 starts.

“I thought it was a real group effort,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “I thought we had good at-bats from start to finish, even staying composed when [D-backs catcher] Carson Kelly was out there on the mound. Every at-bat matters for these guys.”

The goal for the Giants will be to find a way to build off that momentum, especially as they approach a critical juncture of their 2022 campaign. How they play over the final weeks of July will determine whether the front office decides to buy or sell at the Aug. 2 Trade Deadline, setting the stage for a potential season-defining stretch for the club.

“There’s a lot of baseball to be played between now and then,” Zaidi said. “If we’re in and around the same position -- either in or just outside the playoff picture -- we’re definitely going to look to improve. ... Any time you’re in a position -- and I consider us to be in a position to make the playoffs this year -- you’re going to want to push some chips in.”

Despite the club’s recent slide, Zaidi said he still believes the Giants are capable of improving internally, particularly on defense, which has been a glaring issue for the club this year.

“We are very confident that we’re capable of playing better defense than we have,” Zaidi said. “We’ve been one of the worst two or three defensive teams in baseball. I don’t think that’s how we view ourselves. Obviously, we’re not the rangiest team, but we have a very fundamentally sound group of position players that have a history of making the plays that they need to. I think that’s really all we need.”

The Giants have begun to make some roster changes recently, most notably designating erstwhile closer Jake McGee for assignment over the weekend. They’re also starting to give more looks to newcomers like Mercedes and David Villar, who combined to go 5-for-8 with six RBIs on Tuesday. Despite losing Anthony DeSclafani to season-ending right ankle surgery, San Francisco is feeling better about its starting-pitching depth now that Jakob Junis is likely to rejoin the rotation following the All-Star break.

Still, with one of the oldest rosters in the Majors, the Giants could benefit from getting younger and more athletic, and they have several impending free agents who could help them achieve that aim this summer. All-Stars Joc Pederson and Carlos Rodón, infielder Wilmer Flores and reliever Dominic Leone would be among San Francisco's biggest trade chips if it decides to sell, though Zaidi said he hasn’t even begun to entertain such a scenario.

“We just haven’t even had those conversations yet,” Zaidi said. “We really haven’t had that many conversations with other teams. I’m starting to field some calls, and I think we’re willing to listen. But I think until we get into the last week of July, it’s a little bit of wheel spinning because so much of it is the context and the situation at that point.”

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