San Francisco who? Giants lost in NL West shuffle
Somewhere along the line, the Giants got kicked out of their own rivalry.
The three titles a few years back? Yeah, they were nice. The GiantsDodgers history dating to New York? Yeah, that’s cool. Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax? Yeah, they were pretty good.
Based on headlines across the internet and talking points across the network shows, this PadresDodgers thing is all there is. All there was. And all there will be.
And we’re not even one week into the season.
The Giants opened a threegame series in San Diego on Monday with a 32 ??? victory and in a position that was unthinkable most of the Bruce Bochy era: extreme underdogs.
The Padres won a busy offseason and are expected to take the Dodgers to the wire in the NL West and meet them in the NLCS to decide the pennant.
The Giants? While engaging in a prolonged transition and looking to eventually regain relevance, they’re playing in the shadows of what might be the majors’ two best teams.
The trick is to remain in the conversation as April turns to May and beyond, and this threegamer at Petco Park is an indication of whether the Giants can hang with the big boys.
“The discussions are more related to their personnel,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “You’re gameplanning for a really good baseball team. We’re thinking more specifically about things like how to get their hitters out and how to survive against their very good pitching staff.
“Probably a little bit less big picture. In these conversations, we get a little bit more specific and granular.”
So far, so good. Darin Ruf, Evan Longoria and Mike Yastrzemski hit solo homers, Anthony DeSclafani was dandy in his Giants debut, surrendering one run on five hits.
The play on the field will do most of the talking and provide most of the answers. Especially in the next couple of games when the Padres start Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, premier pitchers acquired in the offseason.
In the opener, DeSclafani outpitched Adrian Morejon, walking three but pitching himself out of chaos during his 86pitch evening and benefited from
The Giants have a recent history of bringing in pitchers coming off down years, tweaking their repertoires and watching them enjoy bounceback seasons, and DeSclafani put himself on an early track for exactly that.
The Padres’ other preseason headline involved shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who was handed a 10year, $341 million contract, a clear sign the Padres are “small market” no more.
Unfortunately for the Padres and baseball overall, Tatis fell to the ground in pain after mightily swinging through a DeSclafani curve in the third inning. Tatis was diagnosed with a partially dislocated left shoulder and will be reevaluated tomorrow.
Traditionally, the Padres are a team the Giants play when they clinch playoff spots, not a team that expects to clinch its own playoff spots. Times are changing.
“Yeah, I’m excited for the fan base,” said Giants left fielder Alex Dickerson, an exPadre who grew up in San Diego County and rooted for Tony Gwynn, Ken Caminiti and the entire 1998 World Series team. “They’ve been waiting a really long time for ownership to really go for it.”
Dickerson recalled signs of the Padres upping the stakes when he was in the organization, but nothing like this.
“I think it’s great for the game that they’re going out there and throwing big money at big guys,” Dickerson said. “It’s exciting for everybody involved, even us competing against them.”
Let’s be clear about the Rword. PadresDodgers is not GiantsDodgers and never will be. Just because the Rays have had some amazing seasons in the East, Red SoxYankees remains king of the hill and top of the heap.
Too much history. Too many celebrated players. Too many championships. The Padres might join the Dodgers atop the power rankings, but the best rivalries are built over decades, not over an offseason.