Splash Considerations Ep. 18: This is a Designated Checkpoint (feat. Shayna Rubin)

In Episode 18 of Splash Considerations, Justice and Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle discuss how the Giants have performed up to Memorial Day, one of the first major checkpoints in the baseball calendar. They discuss their biggest surprises, biggest disappointments and what they're most curious to see going forward. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Welcome to another episode of Last Considerations. My name is Justice Delastan. Samuel guys be a reporter for the Bay Area News Group, Saturday, Mercury News, East Bay Times, whatever you want to call this, as long as you read, as long as you subscribe. And speaking of subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel. Follow us on Apple, follow us on Spotify. A lot of things in this world cost a lot of money. Subscribing and following, it's free ninety nine worth just a moment of your time. And today is Memorial Day. Memorial Day is generally considered one of the first major checkpoints in the baseball season. The Giants are 53 games in to the first season under new manager Tony Vitello and here to talk all about it again. Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle. Shayna, how are we doing?

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Great. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Sleepy. Sleepy because I forgot that today was a day game until somebody told me yesterday, and that had made me had to restructure the entirety of my Sunday evening. Quick shout out though. You're wearing Warriors World. I'm wearing Warriors World. Shout out to Warriors World. Are consistently killing it. So, Shane, we're 53 games into the season. Giants are 22 and 31. We were both, we were the only two in Phoenix when they got swept. Uh, we were there for them taking two out of three from the White Sox. Um over the last 14 games, they've been 500 on the season. They're nine games below 500. There's a lot of places we can start, and this this Memorial Day check-in, we're just gonna kind of uh check off some categories. We're gonna go what's surprised us the most, what's disappointed us the most, but just overall, 53 games into the season, overall thoughts on this team.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Oh you want overall thought right now. Okay. Uh um, it's pretty disappointing that the, you know, they're they're so far under 500, you know, that I don't think that anyone expected them to be this um out of sorts so consistently uh at this juncture, just because um, you know, they're they're not they're built to avoid this kind of record. They're built to avoid this type of start, they're built to avoid inconsistency, I guess. Like the it's a team that is but it looks like, okay, you know where you're getting your runs from, you know where you're getting your your pitching from, you know where you're getting you know where the consistent pillars are, and none of that has translated into the product on the field. So I think that's what's been the most surprising part of everything.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Yeah, it's been a weird season in in the regard that it's just not one thing in particular that's kind of gone wrong for them. It's kind of a compilation of everything. Like they're well, they're actually not last in runs right now. As of right now, they're not last in runs. They are 29th, but if they're last in runs per game. They're not last in homers anymore. I think it's like 27th, but they're still bottom third. They're last in walks, which maybe we'll get to that in a second. The starting rotation is has allowed the most earned runs in baseball. Uh the bullpen has been solid at times, but on the whole has been like they're just clearly lacking that ninth inning closer presence. The defense defense has actually been pretty solid. I think that's probably been the most encouraging thing of the season. And then Vitello has had his share of missteps. I think the coaching staff as well has had has had some some low spots on the whole. So it's not really one thing. Even the injury bug, like Logan Webb's on the I. L right now, probably comes back this week. Jung who's on the I. L. Elliot Ramos is on the I. L. So it's weird because like there's not one thing that you can point to, and maybe that would make it easier. But no, overall, it's just been like a lot of things. It's kind of been a little bit of Murphy's Law in that regard. And I don't know if you get this feeling, but it feels like every time things kind of break containment here in the Bay Area, like things get to the national level, it's never for a good reason. I think the most lukewarm thing is probably the uh thrusting celebrations. That's just kind of that's just kind of like right split down the middle. But like Bryce Eldridge, for example, his usage, or you know, some of the the comments that Tony Vitello was making like a couple weeks in, like it's kind of calmed down, but like it feels like every time something broke containment from the Bay Area, it was never good. It was never positive.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Yeah, well, I don't know what good or positive would break containment, right? Like, there's no one, no one's missing anything. You guys aren't missing anything, you know, uh national newsworthy that's uh worth discussing with this team that's a positive, right? I can't think of one thing. It's been extremely uh like if you look at this team, you're looking for answers as to why things are going south. And I don't know if uh it's funny because it's just it's it there's no there's no secret. It's kind of all out there exactly what's going wrong. And uh things that have broken containment are more um little uh I mean uh peaks under the hood, I guess, but also the the thrusting is different. But the elder's thing is a little bit of a peak under the hood about roster construction and and the flaws there.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

I will say there is one thing that has broken containment that has been pretty positive. And this let's start on the positive side. How about that? Because there's been we haven't had as much, there's been far more negatives than positives this season. But let's start on the positive. Like I said, we're gonna knock out a couple different categories, and the one that we could start with is for us individually, biggest surprises of the 2026 season. Let's go pot like with a positive connotation to it. Uh, I will allow you to go first, and pretty much whatever your answer is is gonna dictate whatever my answer is. Because I think there's probably two there's like two general things that you can outline as like biggest surprises from a positive connotation. Okay. Who is yours?

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Um probably oh gosh, which one do I pick? Um, I'll pick Casey Schmidt because he's uh top of mind after yesterday. Um I think Casey Schmidt's been somewhat of a surprise. Um, not that he it's out of nowhere because uh and to summarize, Casey Schmidt is leading the team in home runs. He's playing every single position basically, basically. He's been he's playing all of them.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Um not catcher, but pretty much all of them.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Not catcher, not the pitcher, but I bet he could do it. Um He was a closer in San Diego State.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

I think if you actually needed him to pitch, he probably could.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Yeah. Um and he's just uh he's he's been their their most consistent, their best offensive player since day one, basically. I can't uh uh it's maybe, yeah, since day one. Uh he is, and it looks pretty sustainable the way that he's swinging, the way that he's sort of it doesn't feel sort of like um fluky or anything like that because last year he was before he hurt his hand, he was swinging this way as well. So it does feel like, oh, there's Casey Schmidt picking up exactly where he left off midway through last season when everything was sort of spiraling and he was kind of in the tornado of all that because he was injured after such a such a hot stretch last uh what was it, July or June or whatever it was. Um so he's um he's definitely been sort of the one hand holding things up offensively, and everything's kind of been revolving around how to keep him in the lineup despite him not having a regular position. And uh it it's it's it's been it's been fun watching him come into his own in a sort of non-defined way, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Yeah, yesterday was a a sneakily very hilarious post-game because Maria asked him, Do you remember the last time the Giants had grand slams and back-to-back days? Because they hit a grand slam on Sunday, that was Rafi Devers. They hit a grand slam on Saturday, that was Harrison Bader, and then Harrison Bader also had a grand slam in Sacramento. But Maria asked, Do you remember the last time the Giants had grand slams and back-to-back days? And you could see the wheels in his head kind of turning. And he said, He replied today, which is like technically not wrong. But then Maria's like, No, it was you, but it was the series in LA. He hit the first one off Yoshinobu Yamamoto, hit the second one off Kike Hernandez. I kind of said, I did say to him, hey, the the latter one was off of position player. He's like, hey, they all count the same. But to the point that you make, he's homered at first, second, third, left field, and DH. And I'm very curious to see like if there's anyone in Giants history that's ever done that in a single season. But leading the team in homers, leading the team in OPS, and I think if he he kind of gets I we kind of talked about this yesterday in the press box, but I think he likes sneakily has like a very good all-star argument, but the fact that he doesn't have a defined position, like the war doesn't look as good as he actually is just because a lot of his time's a DH, but I think there's like sneakily like an early case there.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Yeah, I think so. It's it's hard to chart the pathway in which he's um getting the all-star nod, but he sh he or Luis spoiler alert, other surprise, he and Lucerai should be one or or both of their their all-stars. It's pretty clear as day that uh he's he's been their best player. So uh how that happens without a defined position to be determined, Dave Roberts, but uh interesting. We'll see.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

I mean Dave Roberts has seen him twice now, so it's weird because I don't even know what his position would be. I don't I can't remember if like all-star teams have a utility position. I know like gold gloves do. So I don't even know like where would he go on the voting? Like he's primarily been a DH, but he's not a DH. Like that's not Yeah, and he's not gonna like at heart. That's not who he is.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

No, maybe they should just vote him in for who he is at heart.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

There we go. So you mentioned the other one, the other surprise, and that this is the other one that has broken containment in a positive way, and it's Louisa Rise. And the fact that he has been, you know, one of the best defenders, you know, not just he hasn't just been an average defender, he hasn't just been an above average defender, he's like quite literally been one of the best defenders this season in the game of baseball up there with like Pete Crow Armstrong, Bobby Witt Jr. Uh, I'm gonna shamelessly plug the fact that I did a story with Ron Washington where I did the drills with him to understand exactly what Luis was doing uh to get in this position. But you know, he's supplying his like typical brand of offense. I don't know what his numbers are off top, but like the batting average is in the low 300s, OPS is in the high seven hundreds. You combine that with what is legitimately gold love caliber defense, and he's been like a two-war player, which to sign on a one-year $12 million deal is nothing short of a steal. Now, considering where they are, that also makes him like the most viable trade piece at the deadline. We can get into that later. But for what like for what the Giants signed on for, to let him play second base after he had not been a great second baseman and for him to be as good as he is. And it I don't know if you feel this way, it matches the eye test too. Like there's nothing fluky about the numbers I'm seeing, like it it all matches the eye test.

SPEAKER_00 11:31

No, yeah, I think the eye test is is there's always a moment where it's like, oh, Luis is really, you know, moving out there. The range is very apparent, the arm is very good, like he's just on the ball with everything that comes towards him. Uh he's it sometimes it feels like not to, you know, make put down the other guys out there, but sometimes it looks like he's holding the entire infield together with just sort of like the whippiness and the quickness with which he's playing and turning double plays and getting to to difficult balls. So it the eye test is very much very much matches the the numbers where it's like the a lot of a lot of games, he's looking just incredibly sharp. Um and same with Raphael Devers, that's another conversation. But uh lately he's been really sharp at first. But the the Luis Rice has been very consistent.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

I mean, Rafi Devers, I think it was like the fifth inning of the Tuesday game in Arizona where like he was responsible for all three put outs, and there was like a sliding one to his right. There was that weird like in-betweener that was like a dribbler to his right that he had to like grab and dive, and then he was like a line out. And I was like, oh Rafi, Rafi's getting after, and like the last pretty much since the calendar turned to May, like he's just looked like Rafael Divers. But on the whole, still hasn't been great. He's his OPS is only 700, but last couple weeks, um, he's looked like Raphael Divers. But this is a uh this is not on the whole uh discussion.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

So yeah, he's got a 930-something OPS in May. That's uh that'll help it get over 700 at some point if it keeps up like that. So he's looked very much more like himself and like a first baseman.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

I think I mentioned this yesterday that this was the with him homering and hitting a double yesterday, this is the first time his OPS at the end of a day has ended with a seven since April 2nd. So it it's it's been a very slow, a long climb back to just getting. I don't know where his OPS plus is at this point, but it's it's gotta be somewhere close. It's even alright. That's enough, that's enough positivity. We've talked a lot. I think that's probably the extent of the positivity either. I don't think we're missing. That was so much positivity. Um now let's veer into the the uh disappointments, if you want to call it that. I think that's fair. Uh the biggest disappointments for you over the first 53 games of this season. And there are again, we're talking about the season as a whole. We're not talking about this White Sox series in particular, we're not talking about the last 14 games. We're talking about on a whole. So for you, through 53 games, biggest disappointment.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Uh probably offense. I I would say that's been the biggest most uh glaring disappointment just because I mean it's hard to say this on the back of what they did against the White Sox in the last two games, which was very much I mean, it's it's it's it's proof of the contrast of what was expected, the potential, what's on paper, what they're capable of, and then what's actually happened for a majority of the season, which is, you know, Saturday and Sunday, it was like, oh, Raphael Denvers is hitting a grand slam, Harrison Bader's hitting home runs. Um Casey Schmidt, the the power has been on. And the um the timeliness, the timely hitting has been on. There's been some just way better at mats. Bryce Eldridge not to uh uh Vintello had a lot of him, but um Casey Schmidt had a really long key at mat before Denvers' Grand Slam yesterday. Bryce Eldridge had an 11 pitch at mat and then this like 110 mile number singled to conclude it the day before. So you just see the quality of that bat and improve. Okay, I'm I'm going positive again. Sorry. Um you're seeing you're seeing it improving.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

So many positives.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

So many positives. I'm just a bomb of positivity today. Um, but okay, it's been a negative because what we saw the last two days has not happened consistently or much at all throughout the entire year. And for a majority of the year, it's just felt like they are the offense, the guys that are paid to deliver, the guys that are paid to hit for power, the guys that are paid to anchor the offense have just looked like they've needed a breather. They just look like they are feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders. And it's started from day one, and at no point has it looked like they've been able to uh you know coalesce into a group and uh and be the the offense that that they they're supposed to be. You have you have power potential uh in Chapman and Adam's endeavors, um, and you have some dynamic hitting in Jung Hoolie and Luisa Rise, and that they're supposed to compliment each other, and that's just it hasn't happened in any way. And it's been, I would say, the main reason why they haven't been able to string any sort of winning stretch together at all. And they looked overwhelmed by a lot of pitching.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Yeah, and the the weird thing is to what you mentioned is you know, these last two games against the White Sox, obviously you're not going to hit a grand slam every game, but it's still the fact that there was multiple homers in both of these games. They hit three on Saturday, they hit two on Sunday, and like you see these like glimpses of them looking like a really good offense. But that's all it's been. It's been glimpses, and then they'll have a stretch where they score maybe like five runs over three games, and then they lose a series. And so you know, I think the formula is there, it's just a matter of executing it, and you know, again to kind of lean on what we've seen more recently, like Chapman's been swinging the bat a little better recently, Rafi's been getting hot. Adamas is kind of, you know, he kind of teeters back and forth in a way where it's like it seems like he's getting hot and then kind of falls back a little bit. Bryce Eldridge has been having good at bats, as you mentioned, Casey Schmidt, Louisa Ryas. So the formula is there for them to be like j at the minimum, at the minimum, like a league average offense. But we're sitting here about a third of the way into the season and they're last in the game in the game in runs per game. The one thing I want to highlight, because my disappointment too is the offense generally, but the one thing I want to highlight specifically is like just how historically bad they have been at drawing walks. And I think if you had to pick like a specific thing, like which is probably like the like what has gone worst, I feel like it's their inability to draw walks. Because like it's not just the walk rate, like they're draw their walk rate's like 5.8%. I think the league average is like 9.4. When you account for like league adjusted walk rate, which I didn't know how to search on fangraphs until yesterday, shout out to our friend of the program, you know, Seris. It's like legitimately the worst team since like 1879. Like they just like it's like 63 where yes. So it's it's kind of like WRC plus where 100 is average and they're at 63. So they're 37% worse at than a league average team. And because of that, like pitchers are just attacking the zone. Like, no team has seen more pitches in the strike zone than the Giants. So I I don't want to say like the catch-all is to draw more walks, and that's a lot easier said than done, but if they get the walk rate up, it's it's the money ball thing. Give it on base, it can't hurt.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

I mean, it feels like the walk rate is a uh product of what we're looking at overall, which is pitchers aren't really afraid to attack the zone against them. And it's kind of been a carryover from last couple years where they take a lot of first pitch strikes and they kind of get attacked a little bit early, and now it feels like a full-on, you know, we'll we're not gonna we're not gonna bite the edges against you guys. I think I think we're we're pretty comfortable attacking, which is um offensive considering this is, you know, we have Devers in the lineup and this is supposed to be a team that you're afraid to attack. So I think it's it's it's there's poke opposing teams are poking a lot of holes in what the Giants are presenting here, and it's they're not failing. Like it's it's working. So it's um and you see some of the the high price guys not being able to catch up to the fastball in some situations, and you know, it's it's they're they're producing a hole through the veil of of what's being presented as as a as a potent offense, and the walk rate is a uh good example of how we're seeing them get attacked, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

I feel like in theory, if the offense continues to, you know, look as it's looked over the last two weeks, which is you know, it's been better, and if Rafi continues hitting and you know Chappie continues to produce in the way he's produced over the last handful of games, if Eldridge continues to look solid, Schmidt at Rise. I I would figure that that might go up a little bit. Like I don't think they're gonna completely get out of the basement of walk rate anytime soon. But I think you can at least avoid historically bad levels of not drawing walks if the offense kind of in turn, like you know, if they continue home running at the rate that they have recently. But I think that's just been the one thing where it's like, ugh, like that is and especially because like last year, like they were one of the best teams at drawing walks, like Rafi drew like 112, and it's like, where is this? Where is it coming from? So it's it's kind of like a chicken to the egg situation. All right, Shana, third category. We still have a lot of baseball left. I don't know if you know this. We have more than a hundred games of baseball left. So for you going forward, what is your biggest curiosity with this Giants team going forward based on what you've seen and based off what you can potentially see? What are you most curious to see unfold?

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Oh, I wasn't prepared for this question. I don't know why. Uh I'm most curious to see if they're gonna uh there is a certain six foot seven for a spaceman you can you can pick. Yeah, I mean there's there's there's there's individual curiosities and big picture curiosities. I guess individual curiosities is what are they gonna do with Bryce Eldridge? I guess everyone's asking that. It's I don't know if it's a controversial question at this point, like it is what it is. Um but the the way that that's happening, I think I rarely am on board with the mob. Um, and I rarely feel on the same level as the angry mob, but when you call up Bryce Eldridge, you talk all spring about you wanna you really want to call him up if you know it's for real and you know he's gonna he he's forcing his it the issue and he's gonna play every day, and then this is it. This is Bryce Eldridge era um about to happen, and then you call him up to unfreeze and the stagnant offense, and then with On top of that, no structure to integrate him into the offense, it's a little bit like, okay, why? And the answers are, they don't really have clear answers for messages when we ask, which makes it doubly more curious, I guess. Um, but when he's gotten the opportunities, um, he's either, you know, look like a hitter that's getting inconsistent at bats against very tough pitching, but also looks like the type of hitter that could settle in if he's given more opportunities and that he's improved or looked very more comfortable um in the last couple games that he's played. Um great at bats, a lot of power, hardest hit of the season. Um so I think, yeah, the I'm I'm curious to see how the Eldridge saga plays out if he plays a part in whatever happens next for this team in the next 53 games. Uh so that's that's and I think a lot of people are curious about that too.

SPEAKER_01 22:59

And I think a lot of this will have to do with what they decide to do with the rise at the end of the day. Like, and that a lot of that is based off how they're performing as a team. And I remember I wrote this when they got swept by the Diamondbacks, they fall, they fell 10 games under 500 for the first time since 2019, which I feel like that's also a very important thing to note in the course of this season. Like, it's been a while since it's gotten this low, and pretty much they have to go on like a hundred-win pace the rest of the way in order to just get a wild card spot because the National League is kind of like a dogfight right now. Like the Phillies, the Padres, the Cubs are all on pace for like 90 plus wins. So I think all of that is gonna factor into you know, because if you trade Luis, you move Casey to second, then there you go, you have your solution to Bryce. But you know it is weird that like after his three best games, he has not been in the lineup, like hits his first homer, not in the lineup the next day. First multi-hit game in Arizona, not in the lineup the next day. Reach his base three times on Saturday, not in the lineup the next day. And yeah, sure, it's it's Sunday, he's facing Noah Schultz, he's a lefty, but he's gotta face lefties at some point. Like, if this is your franchise bad, he's gotta and I guess it worked out in the end, but like he's gotta face lefties at some point. So it's just all weird. It's I still again I there are very few times when I'm like with the with the angry mob because most of the time I'm just like, hey, let's calm down. It's not that, it's not that you don't gotta be angry, but this is one where I'm like, yeah, it is weird that you call this guy up and he's not playing every day. He's only playing in like 67%. He's like, there's no baseball equivalent to like a sixth-man role, but like that's kind of what it is. Like, he's not uh fully a starter, he's not fully a bench guy. Like, we see him more than Will Brennan. We don't see him as much as Rafi Deber's. Like, what is what does that mean? What does that make him say?

SPEAKER_00 24:51

Yeah. Bizarre. And I guess we should uh I mean, we're the reporters on the ground there. We should we should inform the the viewers that uh we're asking pretty consistently what the plan is, why he's not starting to do that. Very consistently very consistently, and the answers uh have to do like it's it's has to do with matchup. And uh we're we want to more pinch hits than which hasn't happened to get to get him active. So their their answers aren't really matching up with uh what we understood to be their priorities with Bryce Eldridge, and it's also not really matching up what we're seeing. So it's it's I I uh the answers that we seek for the masses haven't um been clearly defined. And I think that's the answer. That it's the they're not really giving us clear answers on what the plan is with with Bryce Eldridge.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

Yeah, I think he's only pinch it like twice, which is I think Tony said something in LA akin to you know, we want to get him on the days where he's not starting a pinch it opportunity. I think like yesterday, it was either yesterday or Saturday, like a couple guys came off the bench and pinch it, and it was like, well, wasn't wouldn't that be a spot for Bryce? So it's just been it's been curious. And like again, when I say break containment, like this is broken like it's like weird how like much this is broken containment. Like Bob Nightingale wrote about it, Tom Verducci wrote about it. Um there's somebody, there's a couple uh Jim Bowden like had a tweet where he talked to Zach Manasseh about it, and I'm like, is it's like I think every like I don't think Heyman or Passen have, but it's it's gotten like a lot of like like the the Foul Territory podcast did, and I'm like, this is getting like a lot of coverage. I'm pretty sure Ken Rosenthal's talking about this. Like, it's a lot of like national folks that have been talking about like it's not just us, like yeah, we've been asking the questions, but like it's not just us being like, hey, this is kind of weird over here. Um my biggest curiosity right now is it's a little more of a deep cut. It's kind of existential. Who is Daniel Susak as a player, not as a person, but who is he as a player? Because he missed some like he got off to a hot start, missed some time, and then just continued hitting well. And I I don't know what the numbers are right off the top of my head, but it's gotta be something close to like a high 300s uh batting average, and that's probably not sustainable. But there's a we're like 53 games in the season, we haven't really seen him cool off. And I'm looking for the like what does the sustainable version of Daniel Susak look like? And also more so, just like does he eventually just become this team's starting catcher? Like, yeah, Eric Haas has been in the mix, Jesus Rodriguez has gotten some burn. But are we going to get to a point where we consistently see him two out of three days of every series get behind the plate and have an opportunity to to start regularly? And it is odd, atypical with a three-catcher mix, and now that I think about it, we haven't seen Eric Has uh in a while. But that's kind of I I think to get less existential, it's just more like how does that develop? How does that dynamic with him and Jesus develop? And you know, how much catching do we actually see Jesus doing versus you know he was in left field yesterday and I don't think he started the two days prior. So it's still an odd dynamic that hasn't really fully settled in, but that's why we got the rest of the season because when you trade Patrick Bailey, you gotta you gotta figure everything else out, and they're still trying to figure everything else out.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

Yeah, when you think about it, they started off this season as uh, I don't know, everyone there's a pretty clearly defined role and expectation, and then uh with it what the team was doing and what was happening and who's gonna do what. And then now by Memorial Day, there's a lot of um I don't know, like we're good having three catchers, we're good, you know, figuring out why Bryce is here and we'll like take it day by day. And it's very much like, okay, so are we witnessing sort of like a shard of uh identity, not identity crisis, but it's not we're not a rebuild, but it's just like there's a there's a little muckiness in in how they're presenting themselves, and also it differs from what was expected uh roster-wise going into the year. So it feels like, and there's no rebuild, there's no, you know, we're giving up the season. So it does, it does, it does feel very much like not reactionary, but there's all of a sudden some, you know, uh positional stuff that's up in the year, and there's that you can see them working through who they have and who they want to stick with, and you know, it's it's it's it's interesting, it's an interesting um turn in the season or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Yeah, it feels like you know, to what you said going into the season, like everybody, like it was just like point blank. Like this is kind of what it was gonna be. I guess not in the bullpen as much. We still we didn't have a closer going into opening day. We still don't have a closer as of now. Like I think Caleb Killian is kind of the closest thing to I I think that could also be like another curiosity. It's like, is there gonna be like a closer at any point? Like, is Tony at any point gonna say, This is our closer? This is the guy.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

Why would he? No one's really proven they can do it, right? Maybe Killian. I don't know. It's there they seem they seem fine with sort of just being like, yeah, everything will sort its way the way it's supposed to. And I don't know. It's it's it's kind of a it's a there's an interesting dynamic in terms of uh who uh who they decide plays and and and uh enters in certain situations and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Yeah, I feel like it's been just killing by default, and I think we should also mention that Ryan Walker got optioned. I think it was two Sunday, he was either last Sunday or two Sundays ago. He's only made like one appearance with AAA, so you can tell like that's an opportunity for him to kind of work out some stuff mechanically. Whether we see him again, I think we should see him again this season at some point, but when that is, it's to be determined. Um but Killian has gotten his opportunities. I think we should see Eric Miller get some opportunities in that role as well. Um but we've we kind of saw it in that Phoenix in not I don't know why I wanted to fault to say Phoenix, they're not the Phoenix Diamondbacks in Arizona. Yeah, I knew that too. When Killian tried to, you know, was called on for a five out save, and Tony went to Matt Gage for Mar Marte, and then Marte hits the game winning Homer. It's it's always one of those things like in spring training, you can say, like, yeah, we want to roll with the matchups, but I I've mentioned this point a couple times. Like for all the flaws that Camillo Duvall had as a closer, I'm pointing to my head. Most of the time he had it up here. Some of the times he didn't, but like most of the time, like he had that dog. Like there just has to be a it's a different beast, it's a different beast entirely. Like it's it's all three outs are not created equal. Yeah, that's just that's just the truth. And you know, people can say that and it's like, yeah, we're just trying to get three outs, but like not all three outs are created equal. So I guess that's my second curiosity, too. Is like, does this team like at one point just be like, hey, bangs the table, this guy's our closer? I don't think they will, unless I mean I don't know, like if Jason Foley just goes crazy down the stretch once he's back, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

Yeah, he exists. Yeah, we didn't even get into the pitching staff. I feel like I was hyperfixating on the the other side, but like the pitching staff stuff is a whole other like uh conversation. That's for another time, I guess. But um, yeah, a lot of curiosities, a lot of surprises, and a lot of disappointments on that end too.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

Third curiosity. What does this rotation look like a month from now?

SPEAKER_00 32:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

What does it look like a week from now, honestly? Because we should mention this point before we get out of here. Uh, Tuesday and Wednesday are currently TBA. Uh, Wednesday would make a lot of sense for Logan. He is currently on the I. L still, but he made a rehab start in Sacramento. Uh, Tony said it's a good option for him to pitch on Wednesday. I don't see why they wouldn't have him pitch on Wednesday, because the alternative is for him to pitch in Denver. I think Logan Webb would prefer to not pitch in Denver and pitch in San Francisco. But then Tuesday spot is that's the that's the honestly the one where I'm like very curious about because Tyler Malley has had the worst ERA of any qualified starter at 6'10. Trevor Burrus had a rough one on Friday, but he has looked pretty solid overall. And especially when you consider, you know, they're not really beholden to him. It's a one-year, $10 million deal that you broke. Want that to be known by the people. Um that's curiosity number four, I guess. Like, what does this rotation look like in a week? I don't know. And then what does it look like in a month?

SPEAKER_00 33:32

Hard to say. And we didn't get any definitive answer on if Malie is starting um uh this uh next two days as scheduled. So um yeah, I think that they're mulling their options as well, not to say that that that you know, not to make any declarative statements on Mali's status or anything like that. But clearly they're they're trying to figure out what's best to do before heading to Colorado and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

Yeah, and I think part of this has to do with just making sure like Logan is physically well. But I will say if if they were pretty locked into McDonald, like not remaining up here with the team, then they probably would have just optioned him after that last Friday start. I think at least I think that makes sense uh in my head. I do want to we should probably know we should probably touch on the pitching staff just a little bit. Uh just hasn't been great overall either. I think I mentioned this they've allowed the most earned runs in the sport. You know, Robbie Ray had a rough one yesterday. He walked seven guys after allowing ten. He's he said he wore sleeves yesterday because there might be a thing with his tipping. Uh Logan Webb wasn't solid before he hit the I. L. Landon Roop has like sneakily been like one like really, really good, especially when he's some of the expected stuff. But on the whole, it's not even really a curiosity necessarily. We're kind of just backtracking to bigger disappointments. Like on the whole, it just has not been good.

SPEAKER_00 34:52

Yeah, I think it it's such a far cry from what happened last year, where it felt like the bullpen was sneakily holding them together for that first uh um couple months when they were, you know, in first place vying for to be a contender, et cetera, et cetera. Um the starting staff had a lot to do with that too, because Logan Webb was at the beginning of putting together one of his best seasons, and Robbie Ray was an all-star. And now we're not seeing that. And then there's just more questions, and then the the you know, Adrian Hazard and Mallie haven't really been the the flyer. They haven't really lived up to the not lived yet, but they the you you expect that you pick up some veterans like that, that there's going to be a little bit of an exceeding the the expectation approve a deal type of type of season. We haven't seen that from either of them yet. And Landon Group's really been their most consistent guy with uh some of the best ground ball numbers and expected numbers in in baseball. If you look at the qualified starters. So as a whole, the starting group, bullpen, I think we expected some shakiness because of there's no defined rules, but the bull, the the rotation where you expect consistency, there hasn't been much at all uh due to injury, due to you know, the wear and tear, due to baseball. And I think that's probably one of the biggest questions I have going forward in terms of if this team is really able to put together a winning stretch to even just like get back into the hunt, to even just sort of like get back into relevance before the deadline or whatever needs to happen. Uh I it's you you have the names, but so far it's been uh they haven't looked like they have in the in the um in the last couple years, and it it just feels very um on shaky ground consistency-wise.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

Curiosity number four and five. Curiosity four, do they win more than three games in a row at some point? Curiosity five, do they sweep at some point?

SPEAKER_00 36:50

Because they have not done that.

SPEAKER_01 36:53

They I I I haven't fact-checked this, but I saw a tweet yesterday that said they're the only team that hasn't swept anyone at any point this season. And that's that's very jar. We're in it's almost June, that's very jarring, and like they also have just not won more than three games in a row, which is you know, if you're gonna have to go on a hundred-win pace to get back to the playoffs, you gotta win more than three in a row at some point. It can't just be like these like win three, lose two. Like, you can't, it it's got they gotta go on a tear at some point, they gotta catch fire at some point. And uh, we have not just seen them catch fire at any point. A lot of questions left, a lot of curiosities left, but no more questions for you, Shannon Rubin. We will save those for another day. Except one. Okay. Where can we find your work?

SPEAKER_00 37:36

You can find my work at San Francisco Chronicle, sfchronicle.com.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

Sfchronicle.com on Twitter.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

Yeah, that's what it is. SFCronicle.com.

SPEAKER_01 37:44

Last time I checked the websites and the Twitch. Well, Twitter might change its name again, but last time I checked, websites have not changed. Justice Delos Santos, San Jose Mercury News, Shandra Rubin, San Francisco Chronicle. Catch y'all next time.