Giants ‘have a special group’,
A different answer to the ‘How are the SF Giants doing this?’ question
Every time a national columnist or MLB Network analyst asks the question, “How are the Giants doing this?”, the answer almost always looks the same.
At age 34, Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford are enjoying some of the best seasons of their major league careers and leading an unlikely resurgence. Kevin Gausman is the ace of a rotation that's exceeded expectations, while Jake Mcgee has been the anchor in a bullpen that ranks among the best in the majors.
All of that is accurate. Anyone who writes or says some variation of the above explanation isn't technically wrong.
The Giants' front office, coaching staff and most importantly, their players, tend to have a slightly different way of describing their success. Following a 5-2 win on Sunday, left-hander Alex Wood offered it up.
“We have a special group, there's no other way to put it,” Wood said. “The brand of baseball that we play, with the amount of pinch-hit at-bats we get day to day, the amount of guys that we have that aren't starting every day, they're coming off the bench to pinch hit or be a defensive replacement or pinch hit or play the last three innings, it takes some mental fortitude.”
The stars of the club deserve plenty of credit, but it's the Giants' role players who have kept the team's engine running all summer. Navigating the challenge of asking players deserving of full-time jobs to accept part-time roles has been one of the toughest aspects of manager Gabe Kapler's job this season, but he's received buy-in from nearly every player on the Giants' roster.
Veteran players with championship experience such as Wood know how rare that can be.
“We've got a lot of guys who are ready to strap it on every day,” Wood said. “And if they don't start, coming off the bench, we're as good as any team with guys being ready for whatever their assignment is and whatever their job is that day. We've got great depth, we've got a lot of good players,
we don't give at-bats away ever. Whoever we're facing, starter, reliever, closer, they're going to have to work.”
Take outfielder Austin Slater, who posted a .914 OPS in 31 games last season and likely could have made the case he deserved an extended opportunity as an everyday starter. In the prime of his career, Slater has accepted and embraced the notion the Giants want him to be a platoon player who starts only against left-handed pitchers and often enters as a late-game defensive replacement.
Slater has drawn praise from teammates for always being prepared to come off the bench in the late innings against a tough left-handed reliever and has turned into a much better defensive center fielder than the Giants anticipated when spring training began.
“With limited playing time, it always feels nice when you get a start to get hot out of the gates,” said Slater, who went 3-for-3 against Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber on
Friday. “You set the tone for the whole lineup. That's a big key for us, being aggressive out of the gate.”
Take catcher Curt Casali, who entered the season knowing he'd play about once every three days as Buster Posey's backup. Casali signed in San Francisco understanding that he could be out of a job if top prospect Joey Bart emerged as the best complement to Posey.
After hitting .104 with a .369 OPS in the first two months of the season, Casali went on the 10-day injured list to heal a wrist injury. Since his return, he's hitting .329 with a 1.049 OPS. With a win on Sunday, the Giants are now 33-8 with a 2.70 team ERA in his 41 starts.
“Curt's just a pro,” Wood said. “The way he goes about his business, he takes pride at the plate with his bat and takes pride in his preparation before and he's been doing it for a while. All our guys trust him emphatically.”
The number of offensive players who have accepted lesser roles is significant for a
Giants club that prides itself on its depth. The group of players sacrificing their roles includes some of the team's most productive players in Lamonte Wade Jr. and Darin Ruf as well as infielders with strong track records such as Tommy La Stella, Wilmer Flores and Donovan Solano.
The Giants believe that by resting players more often and optimizing their matchups when they do start, the team will ultimately be more successful. It's difficult to argue with their recent results.
The team-wide buy-in requires selflessness, and nowhere is that more evident than in the bullpen where certain pitchers are occasionally asked to go down to Triple-a so the club can add a fresh arm to the staff. That happened with right-hander Zack Littell, who was optioned on July 27 despite having a 3.44 ERA.
Instead of letting the Giants' decision sour his outlook, Littell went down to Triple-a, improved his fastball command, and has now picked
up a win and two saves in five hitless appearances since returning to the club.
“He's been heroic,” Kapler said Saturday. “Just excellent across the board. I was talking to Buster in the dugout and asking him what he's seeing with (Littell's) fastball that's creating all of these swings and misses. That's not an easy thing to do.”
The list of contributors is seemingly endless and it's most evident when the Giants wrap up a win. While one or two players sometimes carry the offensive load, the team most often receives help from players up and down the lineup, pinch-hitters off the bench and a lengthy list of relievers who have been pushed hard during the second half.
It's true that the Giants wouldn't be in first place without Posey, Crawford and Gausman. But to stay in front of the Dodgers for this long, they've needed help from the Slaters, Casalis and Littells of the world who have kept the deepest team in baseball playing at a high level all season.