Wayward Giants finding their way
Zaidi’s team fun again, and that’s half the battle
It’s so tempting to look at the standings now. After two months of stumbling down flights of stairs and dipping expensive shoes into mud puddles, the Giants are unmistakably respectable and entertaining. Heading into Friday night’s play, they were just six games behind wildcardleading Washington.
Take another look, though. That’s a 12team race, with only two teams to qualify, and if you believe the Giants have surged into the company of the Nationals, Brewers, Cubs and Phillies in this endeavor, you’re not thinking clearly. For a team plotting major changes and getting a nice head start, it’s unwise to dwell upon a postseason pipe dream.
The better news: In the office of Farhan Zaidi, finally wearing a mastermind ensemble that fits, it’s not about any of that. From the start, his strategy as the Giants’ president of baseball
operations was to build a deep, versatile team based on the future, with hopes that a few highpriced veterans could carry their weight. And that’s exactly where we are now.
We’ll let the second half determine exactly how much primecaliber play we get from Buster Posey and that very experienced infield. Just lately, the list of mustwatch players reads more like Alex Dickerson, Mike Yastrzemski, Tyler Beede, Austin Slater, Shaun Anderson and Tyler Austin, with “hey, don’t trade ’em” moments from Pablo Sandoval, Stephen Vogt and Kevin Pillar.
Zaidi helped build the Dodgers into a 25man roster rich in depth and versatility, to the point where this year’s version has become the best team in baseball. The Giants are far from that caliber, but the mold has been established. The revolvingdoor climate has vanished. The clubhouse mood is light and selfassured. It appears no one on the bench feels buried or disparaged. In a decidedly lowkey manner, this team seems to have hit on something.
How’s this for bucking the odds? As the Giants’ outfield search progressed, they struck out on Bryce Harper. They passed on the classy Adam Jones. Hunter Pence made the American League AllStar team. Gerardo Parra became an instant mainstay with the Nationals. Cameron Maybin found a home with the Yankees (.314 before being sidelined with a calf injury). Steven Duggar, considered the best of the homegrown crop, will be in the minor leagues until further notice. And the outfield
still sets up nicely, downright fun to watch.
For the moment, this is very much a local story. The Giants have turned the corner, as they say, in privacy. In a recent set of ESPN.com rankings, the A’s fell into the category of “Definitely Still In It.” There was no sign of San Francisco among “Not Out of It, But Hopes Are Slim.” They were way down at the bottom, with Seattle and Miami, in “Time to Plan Those Caribbean Vacations for October.”
Perhaps that’s accurate, but a bit unfair. The Giants have created their own category, something along the lines of “Who Knew?” From the rubble of despair, rays of hope emerge.
Classic Pence, upon the realization that his groin injury will keep him out of the AllStar Game: “I am overwhelmed with joy. It’s going to be an amazing experience,” he told the Dallas Morning News, confirming that he’ll be in Cleveland for the festivities. “Everything in life is a choice. You can choose to look at things in any direction you want. It’s all perspective. How amazing is it, and how much can I appreciate the ability to choose whether I want to be disappointed to go to an AllStar Game when, after last year, I didn’t even have a job? ... I’m going to do everything I can to enjoy getting healthy, getting strong and charging into the second half and a playoff run (with Texas) that nobody ever expected. How can I be happier than that? It’s not possible.”
The U.S. women started seven backup players in the second game of the World Cup soccer tournament and didn’t miss a beat. Carli Lloyd, one of the greatest scorers in history, routinely comes off the bench. Megan Rapinoe misses the semifinal against England and the electrifying Christen Press takes her place. There’s no way a team this strong loses Sunday’s final against the Netherlands . ... Let’s just hope the VAR (replay) obsession doesn’t affect either team. Ellen White’s tying goal for England against the U.S. was nullified because she was about a millimeter offside, and that’s sadly contrary to the spirit of the game . ... Have you seen anything quite as ridiculous as qualifying for the 2020 Olympics soccer? Only 12 women’s teams can participate (the men get 16), Europe is allowed just three entries, and it’s totally dependent on World Cup performances. Sweden, the Netherlands and Team Great Britain (including England) made it through, but two of the best and most watchable teams in the world, France and Germany, were eliminated. Unbelievable.
Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci took note that for the first time since 1969, majorleague relief pitchers have a higher collective ERA than starters. This is terrific news, in the realm of warning: You can’t go through a season working your bullpen to death. “If you bring four or five relievers into a game every night ... there’s going to be an attrition factor,” said the Braves’ Freddie Freeman. “As hitters, we’ve gone back to the idea of, ‘Let’s get into their bullpen.’ ” Even more to the point, promising young pitchers can’t be groomed into retreat, knowing they aren’t trusted to face lineups the third time around. They should enter the big leagues ready to go deep in games, save those bullpen arms and build their selfesteem. We should all dread a world in which a budding Madison Bumgarner is told, “Five innings should be about right for you.” ... And by all means, question the notion of young pitchers being told they can’t work more than 50odd innings beyond what they did the previous year. Juan Marichal broke into the Giants’ organization in 1958 and immediately pitched 245 innings in the minors, with 24 complete games. Ten years later, he was cruising at 3252⁄3 innings and 30 complete games. And this was a man with the kind of complicated mechanics — wildly varying speeds, arm slots and repertoire — that can cause arm problems. Stop making up phony absolutes and judge people as individuals. Bruce Jenkins is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: bjenkins @sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1