Optimism: The emergence of Junis

If Yastrzemski is the Giants' offensive X-factor, Jakob Junis might play the same role for their pitching staff.

Junis was maybe not the big splash Giants fans were hoping for, especially after starting the year with an 8.74 ERA in Triple-A, but since joining the big club, he has pitched like it. And with the absences of Anthony DeSclafani and Cobb, Junis has played an increasingly important role.

The Giants reworked his repertoire and are getting the best results of his career — by a wide margin. He's virtually eliminated

an ineffective four-seam fastball and started throwing his slider a majority of the time.

Junis was prone to home runs during his first five MLB seasons with Kansas City and never posted an ERA lower than his 4.30 mark in his rookie season. He has flipped those results on their head this season by using that new sinker-slider-changeup mix to induce the most ground balls of his career while flashing elite control. In 32 innings (four starts) this season, his 2.76 ERA leads the Giants rotation. His 1.10 home runs per nine innings is well below his career average of 1.58, and his 4.80 K/BB ratio is also easily a career-best. His walk rate — 1.38 per nine innings, 4% of batters he's faced — is in the 91st percentile of MLB pitchers this season.

That appears to have earned him a spot in the Giants' rotation for now, though it remains to be seen what the Giants do once DeSclafani is ready to return.

Optimism: Smoother sailing ahead

The Giants' three opponents on their upcoming road trip have combined for fewer wins (51) than the two teams they just hosted (57), starting with three games at MLB-worst Cincinnati.

A brief look at the schedule ahead:

at Cincinnati: 13-30, .303 (30th); -73 run differential (30th); 4-6 in past 10

at Philadelphia: 20-24, .455 (18th), +10 run differential (14th); 3-7 in past 10

at Miami: 18-24, .429 (21st), +12 run differential (t-12th), 4-6 in past 10