We’re on to Cincinnati.
Or, Dodger Stadium. You know what I mean.
I’m not going to bludgeon the Giants for blowing a 7-2 lead Thursday afternoon and losing, in embarrassing fashion, to the lowly Rockies. (Fun fact: 15.3% of Colorado’s win total this year is against Buster Posey’s Giants. I digress.)
The Gigantes are coming off a seven-game win streak and, quite frankly, stole a couple of games along the way in that streak. So, ball gods, and all that.
And like I said, on to Cincinnati. Or, Dodger Stadium. You know what I mean.
What a time for the Jock Blog to go macro: The first trip to Dodger Stadium! On June 13! Holy scheduling weirdness, Batman Manfred.
Believe it or not, it doesn’t look too bad out there, sports fans.
Even given the Denver Debacle on Thursday, the Giants are — get this — 40-29 (.580) and only one game out in the NL West. One game out! They are a game up on the Padres, and five and a half up on the Diamondbacks.
They lead the NL wild card race.
They’re pitching it great, even given Thursday’s hiccups. You all know the Giants have the best bullpen ERA in the bigs, and the 7th-best starter ERA in MLB.
Their offense, given up for dead in late May, may not be BALCO-era Bonds-type stuff, but the facts are the Giants are 15th in MLB in runs scored. Could be worse. Could be raining.
And Buster Posey’s big gambit — designating former teammate LaMonte Wade, Jr for assignment and signing veteran Dom Smith to play first base — has transpired quite well.
Now … THE DODGERS.
Can the Giants even begin to hang with the Shohei Ohtanis of the world? The Dodgers lead baseball in runs scored. Can the Giants hang with the Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernandezes of the world? The Dodgers trail only the Yankees in home runs smashed.
Let’s flip the script.
Can the Dodgers begin to hang with the Logan Webbs of the world? Can the Dodgers begin to hang with the Camilo Dovals of the world? Can the Dodgers begin to hang with the Randy Rodriguezes of the world? (Remember, we’re moving past Thursday.)
What a delicious change of the historical narrative.
For decades, the Giants of Mays and McCovey and Clark and Williams and Bonds and Kent played the slugger-dominant role in the rivalry.
The Dodgers of Sutton and Hershiser and Valenzuela and Kershaw played the pitching-dominant role in the rivalry.
In 2025, the Giants are coming in with arms. The Dodgers are coming in with bats. Who wins?
We asked the question the other day: should the Giants even realistically be thinking about winning the West? Or do you realistically set your sights on a wild card?
To which I say, what are we even talking about here? Of course you set your sights on the West. You wake up in the morning trying to be second-best at what you do? Sure, the Dodgers have Shohei and Mookie and Freddie and Friday night’s starter, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Sure, the odds are colored Pantone blue. And sure, the Giants are missing Matt Chapman and Pat Bailey. Not awesome.
But this is why we play the games, sports fans. The Giants are meeting the Dodgers 13 times in the next 93 games. The Dodgers make up 13.9% of the remainder of the schedule. They play each other seven times in September. Lots of chances out there.
Can the Giants take two of three in LA? Safe money says no. But I’d wager the head of baseball operations is conceding nothing, as I was just saying to the 2021 MLB standings.
Only five teams in baseball have a better record than your gritty, grind Giants. Only three teams in the National League have a better record. The Giants have done the work to be in the mix.
Now the fun part starts.
