SAN DIEGO -- The Giants continued to scuffle as they reached the official halfway point of their 2022 campaign, recording two hits in a 2-1 walk-off loss to the Padres on Thursday night at Petco Park.
Logan Webb surrendered only a solo home run to Manny Machado over eight strong innings, but he was outdueled by San Diego ace Joe Musgrove, who allowed one hit over seven shutout innings.
The Giants showed late life after Brandon Crawford delivered a game-tying single off Padres closer Taylor Rogers with two outs in the ninth inning, but they couldn’t score their automatic runner in the 10th, setting the stage for Jorge Alfaro’s walk-off single against Jarlín García. San Francisco has now lost 13 of its last 17 games.
At 41-40, the middling Giants find themselves entrenched in third place in the National League West and fighting to stay above .500 -- a far cry from 2021, when they cruised to a franchise-record 107 wins and claimed their first division title since 2012.
“Frustrating, for sure,” Webb said. “That’s why we have 81 more games to play. I think we were kind of spoiled last year. Everything went our way, and we all had great years. Maybe something like this is something that we might need, to be honest. A little kick in the [butt], maybe. I think these last two games were a lot better than what we’ve seen the last couple of weeks.”
Here’s where the Giants stand through 81 games this year:
The good
Two of the Giants’ offseason additions -- outfielder Joc Pederson and left-hander Carlos Rodón -- have delivered All-Star caliber campaigns in their first seasons in San Francisco. Pederson, a Palo Alto native who joined his hometown team on a one-year, $6 million deal, has emerged as the club’s best hitter, batting .264 with a team-high 17 home runs, an .882 OPS and 41 RBIs over 72 games.
Rodón, who signed a two-year, $44 million deal to replace Kevin Gausman atop the rotation, has also been elite, logging a 2.87 ERA with 112 strikeouts over 91 innings in 16 starts this year. Rodón has helped anchor the pitching staff along with the 25-year-old Webb, who picked up where he left off from his breakout 2021 season by going 7-3 with a 2.98 ERA over 17 starts this year.
The Giants have also gotten key contributions from two unheralded pickups in Luis González and Jakob Junis, who had begun to establish themselves as major pieces before landing on the injured list. González, who was acquired from the White Sox and stashed on the 60-day IL after undergoing shoulder surgery last summer, was a breath of fresh air before going down with a back strain, capturing National League Rookie of the Month honors in May and batting a team-high .302 with an .808 OPS over 49 games.
Junis, meanwhile, logged a 2.63 ERA over nine appearances and helped the Giants weather injuries to starters Alex Cobb and Anthony DeSclafani. He hit a setback after suffering a left hamstring strain, but he is expected to rejoin the rotation soon and help fill the void left by DeSclafani, who will undergo season-ending ankle surgery next week.
The bad
San Francisco’s defense has been unwatchable at times and ranks 30th in the Majors with -32 outs above average this year. The Giants haven’t hit enough to overcome those defensive mistakes, as many of their key veterans, including Brandon Belt (.666 OPS), Brandon Crawford (.670 OPS), Darin Ruf (.697 OPS) and Tommy La Stella (.656 OPS), haven’t been carrying the offense as expected. The bullpen hasn’t been as reliable, either, posting a 4.29 ERA in 2022, up from 2.99 -- the lowest in the Majors -- last year.
With one of the oldest rosters in the Majors, the Giants have also struggled to stay healthy. In the past week alone, they’ve placed five players -- DeSclafani, Thairo Estrada (COVID symptoms), Curt Casali (oblique), Evan Longoria (oblique) and José Álvarez (elbow) -- on the IL, significantly thinning their depth. Casali’s injury opened the door for Joey Bart to return to the Majors, but the 25-year-old rookie struggled mightily at the outset of the season, hitting just .156 with 49 strikeouts over 109 plate appearances before being demoted to Triple-A Sacramento.
Kapler has called out the Giants for their lack of energy in recent weeks, though Webb said he felt the demeanor of the team had shifted following Wednesday’s 7-5 comeback win over the D-backs, which snapped the club’s six-game losing streak. While they couldn’t keep the momentum going by rallying for another win on Thursday, Webb said he thought the Giants showed more fight than they had in recent weeks.
“Today there was a different feel the whole game,” Webb said. “Musgrove is an unbelievable pitcher, and it showed. He gave up one hit. I think the vibe in the dugout was we’re still going to win that game. Unfortunately we didn’t, but I think if you look back at a week ago, or two weeks ago, I don’t think we come back in that game. I think that’s a step in the right direction.”