The San Francisco Giants Are Making History
By Matt Weyrich
After boasting the best record in baseball heading into the All-Star Break, the San Francisco Giants have watched their stock plummet in the second half.
When the league’s best and brightest made their way to San Diego for a week of All-Star festivities in mid-July, the San Francisco Giants had staked their claim as the class of Major League Baseball. Owners of a 57-33 record, San Francisco was three games ahead of the closest competition.
They sent four players to the Midsummer Classic, held a six and a half game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West, and aces Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto were right in the thick of the Cy Young race.
Since the team took that week off, however, the tide has shifted against their favor. In the 39 games since the All-Star Break, the Giants have posted a 13-26 record. That mark is lowest winning percentage in the league. If San Francisco can’t find a way to turn things around, they could become the first team in MLB history to have the best winning percentage in the first half and the worst in the second.
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The Giants have enjoyed copious amounts of success over the past few years, including three World Series victories, but the club is in serious danger of missing the postseason for a second straight year. Manager Bruce Bochy may have just received a record-setting contract extension, and deservedly so, but this is a team that has more than just one hole to fix.
It’s difficult to point towards one specific problem that has pushed the Giants over the edge, as nearly ever facet of the team has struggled. After averaging 4.7 runs per game in the first half, San Francisco has managed just 3.8 thereafter. The team’s 3.55 ERA before the break makes their 4.13 mark since all the more concerning. Both Bumgarner and Cueto remain Cy Young candidates, but the rest of the rotation has either hit the Disabled List, watched their production falter, or both.
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The team is still clinging onto the top Wild Card spot, but at their current pace it is hard to imagine the team hanging on for much longer. With the Kershaw-less Dodgers somehow finding new ways to win, the Giants are running out of time to save their season. Even year or not, the team only has a little over a month left to decide their fate.