In a season where many clubs are caught in the middle and will take as much time as possible before determining whether to more aggressively buy or sell, the Giants have some rare — if unwanted — clarity. They’re sellers. President of baseball operations Buster Posey already conceded that things are trending that direction. It’s always possible a torrid hot streak will change their thinking, but this club hasn’t given any sort of indication that such a run is in the tank this year.
The Giants currently hold a 35-49 record — fourth-worst in all of baseball. San Francisco entered the season hoping to contend. They’re up there with the Mets, Tigers and Red Sox for most disappointing club of the 2026 season.
San Francisco’s pitching hasn’t been good but also hasn’t been awful. Giants starters are 15th in the majors with a 4.35 ERA, while their relievers also rank 17th with a near-identical 4.30 earned run average. The rotation is quite top-heavy, however, with little production coming beyond their top three starters. The bullpen recently lost one of its most effective arms, breakout righty Keaton Winn, to a right elbow strain — though there’s no structural damage, according to the team.
The offense is another story. Giants hitters actually rank fourth in baseball with a collective .256 batting average and fifth with a .417 slugging percentage. However, the offense as a whole is allergic to walks, resulting in a 26th-ranked .308 on-base percentage. Their collective 6.4% walk rate is the worst in baseball by a full percentage point.
Given that context, it shouldn’t be considered a surprise that far too many of the Giants’ extra-base hits have come with the bags empty. They’re 26th with 341 runs scored and tied for 19th in home runs (89). A whopping 59 of those 89 home runs (66.3%) have been solo shots. No team in Major League Baseball has seen a higher percentage of its home runs come with the bases empty.
With a -51 run differential — fifth-worst in the sport — and what can at best be described as middle-of-the-pack offense, pitching and defense, there’s not much hope of the Giants climbing out of their current hole. Posey has already more or less acknowledged as much. FanGraphs projects their playoff odds at a paltry 1.9%. How will the Giants proceed?
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