After finally getting it going here in late April and winning five of their last six ballgames heading into the weekend, the Giants had a largely forgettable 2-game set with the Padres in Mexico City.
They were out-slugged by San Diego in an offensive juggernaut on Saturday, then lost a game they'll tell you they probably should have held on to on Sunday. They had the late-inning lead but their two best relievers to date couldn't shut the door in the eighth.
Not only did they lose the series, but they may have lost their starting center fielder for a little while.
Just when it looks like the full lineup is back and healthy, Mike Yastrzemski came up limping after making a diving attempt on a shallow fly ball in the eighth inning. It didn't look good either as Yaz limped off the field and it looks like an IL stint is almost certain. You see something like that and you immediately think hamstring but I don't want to speculate.
For the Giants' sake, let's hope it was just a minor strain. Yaz has really been one of the more consistent guys at the plate thus far. He had a two-hit day before leaving on Sunday and his average is up to .292 with a strong .854 OPS. He's also played a really strong center field so far and both his glove and bat will be missed if he's shelved for any extended period of time. He didn't sound or look too concerned in his post game interview, however, which should be a good sign. I mean the fact he even was available to do that makes me optimistic that it maybe looked worse than it was.
It was a game that kind of described their whole month all in one afternoon. There were some bright spots. They got a pretty good start from Cobb, especially when you consider the conditions he was pitching in. They hit three home runs and they really had control of this one most of the day. But the bullpen, which has been very inconsistent over the first month, gave up three crucial runs late which ultimately put them away. Luckily for them, April is now over and they can clean the slate on their 11-16 start.
Despite the tough outcome in this series, they do have a couple of things moving in a positive direction for them.
I'm excited to see what Mitch Haniger can start doing now that he looks like he's fully over the oblique issue. That's a huge presence in the middle of the order that this team was without for the first four weeks of the year, and he's already made a big impact since his return.
That's what would make this potential Yaz injury really hurt. This lineup looks like it's rounding into form. They have a few different guys really swinging well and we've started to see the depth they can have when they're all healthy. J.D. Davis and Thairo Estrada look like all-stars right now and LaMonte Wade has been an OPS stud at the top. Conforto will get going at some point too and we haven't see Joc Pederson really light it up yet either.
I'm not too worried about the offense right now though. Even if Yaz is forced to miss some time, Austin Slater is healthy and has looked good at the plate since his return. They shouldn't miss to much on either side of the ball if Yaz is shelved for a few games.
I am, however, a little worried about this bullpen. You look down into that group and you see a ton of ERA's north of five. It feels like far too many inherited runners are being allowed to score. Camilo Doval has been a big culprit of that struggle too. Doval's numbers don't look too bad on paper, but it feels like every time he's come in with runners on, at least one of those runners crosses the plate. That's something that has to improve.
The bullpen has also thrown a lot of innings in the early going. The good thing is they do have a couple of guys down there who can handle those multi-inning stretches, but I hope guys like the Rogers' twins, John Brebbia and Scott Alexander are able to get a few days off here at some point.
At the end of the day, it's still remarkably early on the grand scale of the full season. We're 1/6 of the way through and despite the team's struggles, I'm still not ready to write them off or officially panic just yet. If they keep their lineup healthy and on the field and their bullpen can tighten up, we will see a better product in May.
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