Despite loss, expanded playoffs provide hope
As the ESPN broadcast started moments late from Dodger Stadium, Jon Miller noted on the radio that it was a “beautiful night from Oracle Park.”
The weird 2020 season couldn’t have begun weirder. If it seemed odd that the ESPN crew called the Giants’ opener with zero fans in attendance, imagine the KNBR crew calling the game not only without fans but without players, nearly 400 miles away from the action.
The Giants were back in business Thursday night, wearing masks, distancing when possible and kneeling in peaceful protest. They played in an empty house except for thousands of cutouts of fans who were shown constantly smiling even when Mookie Betts struck out in his first atbat as a Dodger.
Through a month of spring training, three weeks of Spring Training 2.0 and just two exhibitions, it has become clear the Giants are a team that needs a lot of breaks if they’re to enjoy any success in 2020, and they caught two big ones even before suiting up for the opener.
First came reports that Major League Baseball would increase the playoff field from 10 to 16 teams, and then the Dodgers announced lefthander Clayton Kershaw was scratched from his Thursday
assignment. The latter break was squandered in an 81 loss.
In a year of constant adjustments because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Giants had to reconsider a shortterm strategy by redoing their lineup (righthander Dustin May replaced Kershaw) and longterm strategy by examining the 60game schedule in a new light (three extra playoff teams in each league).
The first adjustment was no big deal. Manager Gabe Kapler has a lineup for every occasion, although this one didn’t work out. The second undoubtedly is something that’ll change conversations on how to approach the next couple of months.
With most teams in the league making the playoffs, eight of 15, suddenly contending becomes more realistic for a team that hadn’t been expected to make much noise after three straight losing seasons and the departures of Madison Bumgarner (signed with Diamondbacks), Buster Posey (opted out) and Bruce Bochy (boy, did he step away at the right time).
“I think any time you add teams to a playoff pool, it serves as an exciting component of a majorleague season,” Kapler said. “This change in particular, given all the uncertainty we faced so far, is an element that makes the season a little different, a little fresher and a little more exciting.”
President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi is all for it, too. Of course.
“I think in a year like this that’s already out of the norm in many ways,” Zaidi said, “I like the idea of kind of having fun with the playoff format and having a selection show and some things we might not have in a traditional season, but it also creates the opportunity to try new things and have everybody go, ‘Hey, that was awesome.’
“That may be something we might keep.”
While Kapler shuffled his lineup because of the pitching change, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts drew up a potent lineup against Johnny Cueto that featured reigning NL MVP Cody Bellinger and Betts, the 2018 AL MVP who was dealt from Boston in the offseason.
The fear in the Southland was that Betts would never suit up in Dodger blue because the season would be canceled and he’d sign elsewhere as a free agent. False alarm. Not only is the season here, but the fivetool outfielder has received a handsome extension of 12 years and $365 million.
That’s a bummer for the Giants for two reasons. He’s a Dodger into the 2030s, and San Francisco won’t get a chance to bid on him.
Zaidi, a former Dodger general manager, reacted in a way that might not fully satisfy Giants fans.
“I think it’s great for baseball,” he said. “It doesn’t really change how we go about building our next playoffcaliber team and championshipcaliber team. It’s a good thing in terms of the health of the sport, a great thing for baseball to have a great player playing in a big market like that.”
Back in the Oracle Park press box, Miller and Dave Flemming expertly called the game as if they were overlooking Chavez Ravine, but there were rough moments because the broadcasters were at the mercy of a foreign camera crew.
“It’s unnerving,” Miller said at one point, “because when the ball is hit, they don’t show where it’s hit.” Flemming, having fun with the conversation, said, “It’s a problem.”
One time the cameras failed to follow the action, Miller said, “I guess he hit a groundball to somebody.” The technologically savvy Flemming quickly noted, “The app says he hit it to Justin Turner at third base.”
And on a pickoff play that left the announcers guessing, Flemming kidded, “I assume he got back safely.”
ESPN was showing a commercial when Mike Yastrzemski opened the game by reaching on a fielding error and also missed the first pitch in the second inning. There were plenty of timing miscues, as expected, but the Giants believe they’re as prepared as they’re going to be.
“Our goal is to stay in the playoff hunt,” Zaidi said, “whatever being in the playoff hunt means.”
“I add pool, exciting a majorleague think teams it serves any component to time a as playoff season. an you of This particular, the uncertainty change given in we all faced element so that far, is makes an the season a little different, a little fresher and a little more exciting.”
— Gabe Kapler