Wednesday’s Reverse Philly did not revive their hopes. But it did provide a roadmap of the joy that can still lie ahead in this beautiful mess.

Bryce Eldridge, Rafael Devers, and Jung Hoo Lee all homered. It’s been a while since we saw a .319 average and .963 OPS in the heart of the order.

Carson Whisenhunt threw five solid innings. I’d like to see a lot more Whisenhunt in my box score and a lot less Houser.

Old friends Mike Yastrzemski, Mauricio Dubon, and Dominic Smith were in the crosshairs of it all. Nothing gets me going like remembering all good times we had with Dubon.

I was entertained. That’s more than we can say for much of the previous three months.

Up next: Landen Roupp (5-7, 4.24 ERA) takes the mound as the Giants go for a sweep (?) of the best team in baseball. He’ll face Martín Pérez (5-3, 2.90) at 4:15 pm.

Bryce Eldridge, the Giants’ best prospect in years, capped the team’s greatest comeback in decades with a walk-off grand slam.

He said after the game he wants to be the face of the franchise, something that certainly takes more than one moment in one game.

But if there’s anything salvageable in the next four months, let it be Eldridge believing he can be The Guy on a team that should already have one, or two, or three of them.

Before Wednesday the Giants hadn’t won any of the 30 games they were losing after six innings. Eldridge’s tin roof homer, straight out of J.T. Snow’s playbook, broke the streak by turning a 9-1 deficit into an 11-10 win.

And while it doesn’t fill me with hope about this season, it does about the future. I don’t know if Tony Vitello or Buster Posey or anyone else will be a part of it. But Wednesday afternoon made it easy to believe Eldridge won’t only be a part of it, he’ll be leading it.

Stat pack:

• Entering Wednesday, teams were a combined 1-3,090 when trailing by 8+ runs after 7 innings over the last 20 seasons. (ESPN)

• Wednesday was the Giants’ greatest comeback since moving to San Francisco. It was the first time since 1947 that the Giants have won a game when trailing by eight runs heading into the eighth. (Alex Pavlovic)

• Eldridge, 21, became the youngest player ever to hit a walk-off grand slam. Roberto Clemente previously held the record. (ESPN)

On your way out… listen to Jon Miller’s call. What an absolute delight.

He joined us for my dad’s first game at Wrigley, spoiling the festivities with one out to go. He redeemed himself Sunday to force extra innings. And then Monday night, watching through the hazy eyes of someone who awoke well before sunrise, I could hardly believe I was seeing him again.

This visit was by far the worst, mostly because of where the focus should be in this space.

Logan Webb’s return to form. Bryce Eldridge’s continued ascendance. Jung Hoo Lee batting .508 over his 16-game hitting streak.

Instead we’re left to lament a Giants bullpen that isn’t good enough and was never going to be good enough. Statistically, the team’s ERA in the ninth is 5.51. Anecdotally, it’s 55.10.

Of the seven pitchers who have finished more than three games for the Giants, two are on the IL, two are in Triple A, and one was released. That leaves you with JT Brubaker and Caleb Killian.

Keaton Winn is a fine pitcher. He is not the problem. The problem is waking up in June with the same one you had in February.

Up next: It’ll be Adrian Houser (2-5, 5.49 ERA) against Andrew Alvarez (1-0 3.54 ERA) in Game 2 of the series, first pitch at 6:40 pm.

You knew the script writers had something in store, right?

It was a tragic comedy before the game even began. Vitello sat his current top prospect against the Giants former top prospect so that (pitcher?) Buddy Kennedy could start at DH.

Then Harrison started pitching. He put together a performance unlike any of his 35 with the Giants. He tied a career high in strikeouts with 12, three of those coming against the man he was traded for in Devers.

I’m not here to tell you the Giants lost the trade, or that the Red Sox should feel worse than the Giants. Let’s just acknowledge the moment. In a season that has a lot of meaningless games to go, Tuesday night was not one of them.

The Giants former top prospect is an NL Cy Young contender for a first-place team. He shoved against his old team, sending them into last place and 25 games under .500 since the day they traded him. How’s that script read?

Up next: The Giants try to avoid the sweep as Logan Webb makes his return from the IL. First pitch at 4:40 p.m. I’ll be at Wrigley this weekend. Should be … something.

I can’t say I asked myself this over the last two weeks, blissfully wandering through four national parks. (Giants Postcards has a very generous PTO policy.)

Upon my return to air conditioning, high-speed internet, and a home with four solid walls, the Giants reminded me of everything I had missed. Matt Chapman hit his first home run since March and then the Brewers scored 16 unanswered runs.

Buddy Kennedy threw the final pitches for the Giants. I hadn’t heard of him until his promotion on Monday. He’s a third baseman.

What happened to the Giants?

Up next: Hilariously, tragically, cruelly, the Giants will face Kyle Harrison (6-1, 1.57 ERA) on Tuesday afternoon. Look at those numbers, goodness. Opposing Harrison will be Trevor McDonald, who the Giants would very much like to be New Kyle Harrison. First pitch at 4:40 pm.

Podcast: Kerry and I debate the real answer to the question at the center of this postcard. What happened to the Giants? Well, the autopsy is just beginning.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

Nobody owned the Giants like Clayton Kershaw did. Not Goldschmidt, not Arenado, not even Scott Hairston.

Kershaw threw 411 2/3 innings against the Giants over 18 years and posted a 2.10 ERA. So long, farewell. See you never.

Problem is, someone filled his shoes. Problem is, he’s even better—and not just with a bat in his hands.

Shohei Ohtani stepped into Wednesday with a 0.43 ERA against the Giants … and still managed to lower it.

He fired seven shutout innings to bring that number down to 0.32 across five starts.

Even Kershaw couldn’t do that. He labored through his first five outings against the Giants, limping to a 1.50 ERA.

Imagine longing for the days of Kershaw. The Giants definitely don’t, unless the real Giant Killer is on the mound.

Up next: Landen Roupp (5-3, 3.09 ERA) leads the Giants into the series finale as they try to take three of four. Emmet Sheehan (2-1, 4.79 ERA) stands on the other side. First pitch at 7:10 pm.

Eric Haase had no place on the Giants roster a few weeks ago. The club had one catcher with two Gold Gloves and another with Rule 5 protection. Now Patrick Bailey plays in Cleveland and Daniel Susac in Sacramento, rehabbing an elbow injury.

And Haase? Well, he’s the most important bat in the Giants lineup. At least on Tuesday.

He became the first player to hit two home runs in a game against Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

A multi-home run game in only his fifth start with the Giants is impressive enough—even more so when you consider Patrick Bailey never had one. To push the comparison a smidge further, Haase hit three balls harder than 102 mph on Tuesday night. Bailey did that only seven times all season. Half the hard hit balls in (much less than) half the time.

Even after the power surge, Haase is about to get bumped off the roster or at least down the totem pole. But if only for a night he got to be Babe Haase, the unforgettable star of a game even he couldn’t have seen coming.

Up next: Shohei Ohtani (2-2, 0.97 ERA) has done a lot in his life, but he hasn’t won a Cy Young. Maybe that changes this year. Robbie Ray (3-4, 2.76 ERA) and the Giants will try to stand in his way. First pitch at 7:10 p.m.

Rafael Devers stood in with the bases loaded and a 3-2 count. He fought off one high fastball and waited for another. This time the bat stayed on his shoulder. Ball four flew way above the zone, giving the Giants the lead in the least likely way possible.

That’s hardly hyperbole.

As Ken Rosenthal shared Monday, if the Giants’ 5.4% walk rate holds, it would be the lowest in 60 years. Of any team. Andrew Baggarly noted last week the Giants went 130 plate appearances between walks, a gap spanning Monday to Saturday. A whole work week, no walks. Couldn’t be me.

Finally the Giants could reap the rewards they had been missing out on. Three of their six walks came around to score. The line kept moving, setting up Willy Adames for two bases-loaded singles.

And that set up the Giants outfielders for a victory walk of their own, so they could do... this?

Up next: The Dodgers’ conveyor belt of aces keeps rolling as Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-2, 3.09 ERA) squares off against anti-ace Adrian Houser (0-4, 6.19 ERA). First pitch at 7:10 pm.

With the bases loaded in extra innings, Jesus Rodriguez blooped a walk-off single into right. The park exploded in celebration, except one guy. The most important guy.

Heliot Ramos, representing the winning run, went back to third base.

He thought the ball would be caught. Instead, he was the one caught, needing to make a mad dash home to save the Giants from their most egregious moment yet.

Duane Kuiper slammed the breaks on his walk-off call, yelling: YOU GOTTA GET HOME. YOU GOTTA GET HOME.

Mercifully, the Pirates right fielder, like all of us, assumed the game had ended. Only at the last moment did he attempt a throw home, close enough to make you imagine the worst-case scenario.

That is the edge the Giants teeter on every day.

Up next: The Giants hit the road for L.A., Sacramento, and Phoenix. They need to win nine of 10 to come back home .500. It’ll be Trevor McDonald vs. Roki Sasaki at 7:10 p.m.

My wife earnestly posed this question to our group, the four of us among the 40,417 lucky attendees to Saturday night’s yuckfest. She knows ball, and it was a fair question.

The Pirates turned five* innings against the Giants bullpen into batting practice (17 hits, nine runs). In the middle of the yuck, as my friend and I reminisced about watching Patrick Bailey’s walk-off inside-the-park homer in person, my wife said she saw Bailey.

No, not the real Patrick Bailey. Miniature Patrick Bailey.

Lou Seal, she said, was hauling a big bag of unlabeled white boxes. Santa Claus in orange and black.

He handed the boxes to kids as my wife watched one after another rip open their brand new Patrick Bailey bobbleheads. One dad, apparently, let it slip that the Giants had traded him hours earlier.

It’s true, they did trade their once-future franchise catcher Saturday morning. But why spoil the fun with the truth? Enough of that, and it might leave you wondering.

How does the season end if the Giants can’t win any more games?

Up next: The Giants will try to take the series from Konnor (Don’t Call Me Connor) Griffin and the Pirates on Sunday afternoon. It’ll be Tyler Mahle against Bubba Chandler are 1:05 p.m. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, starting with mine.

*Christian Koss is part of the Giants’ bullpen.

Travis Ishikawa. Brandon Belt. Aubrey Huff.

All of them played in the outfield when needed, hundreds of feet from where they truly belonged at first base. It didn’t matter. Those Giants teams could bend, even break, conventional wisdom and it never cost them much.

The same cannot be said about these Giants. These Giants tried playing a catcher in right field on Wednesday and lost because of it.

You’re right, the Giants probably lost because they tallied only three hits and didn’t draw a walk. Their impossibly thin margin for error, though, is not helped by trying to build a utility player on the fly.

Ty France sent a ball to right field that had an expected batting average of .080. In other words, only eight times out of 100 does France’s fly ball fall for a hit. Jesus Rodriguez sprinted a long way before the ball ticked off his glove as he tumbled to the ground.

Two runs scored as France zoomed all the way to third, meaning more Padres touched third base on one play than the Giants did all game.

Sure, those Even Year teams probably took their lumps with guys playing out of position. But as I recall, their seasons never felt on the brink in May.

Podcast: Kerry and I break down what’s led the Giants to this point, and what the roster shakeup means for Buster Posey, Tony Vitello, and all those expensive, underperforming veterans. Listen on Apple or Spotify or wherever you get your pods.

Up next: The Giants are off on Thursday. Tony V said he thinks his everyday guys are exhausted, which… well… OK. Same, I guess. The Pirates come to town on Friday and thankfully Paul Skenes will remain in the dugout for the series.

The moment Buster Posey decided he’d seen enough of his Opening Day roster. The point at which the Matt Chapmans took a seat in favor of the Casey Schmitts. The day in which the Giants ushered in as much of a youth movement as they could, led by Bryce Eldridge, Jesús Rodríguez... and Trevor McDonald?

Yes, on a day headlined by the arrivals of Eldridge and Rodríguez, it was the desperation starter who stole the show. McDonald dominated for seven innings, allowing only two hits and a run. Quite a debut, especially when you consider neither Robbie Ray nor Adrian Houser have completed seven innings in a start.

He certainly looked good enough to stick in the rotation for a few turns.

Two days ago I would’ve told you the Giants didn’t have the guts to turn things upside down. But now? If sitting Matt Chapman is on the table, I think everything is.

Up next: The Giants turn to Logan Webb as the Padres counter with Walker Buehler. First pitch at 6:45 pm, City Connects and all.

Apparently, it’s Bryce Eldridge time. No pressure, kid. Jesús Rodríguez, who the Giants received for Camilo Doval, is also reportedly joining the team.

The Giants’ complicated (losing) dynamic is about to get even more complex. Tony Vitello has hardly turned to his bench this year—the club’s 20 plate appearances by pinch-hitters are bottom five in baseball. They’ve used in a pinch-runner in two games.

So with a pair of prospects called up to presumably play every day, how does Vitello tell his nine-figure stars that they won’t?

Eldridge plays first base, and Rodriguez is a catcher who can supposedly play around the infield and outfield. (I’m skeptical too.) Casey Schmitt and Luis Arraez have been the team’s best hitters, so let’s assume they stay in the lineup.

Are we staring at a situation where Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and Rafael Devers are about to have their playing time cut? It’s hard to believe. Then again, so is all of this.

Up next: No rest for the weary. The Giants return from Florida to face the 20-13 Padres. It’ll be Randy Vásquez against Trevor McDonald, fresh up from Triple A, at 6:45 pm.

Heliot Ramos scorched a ball 107.9 mph. It soared high and deep to center, sending Cedric Mullins all the way to the wall before he suddenly ran in a few steps to make the catch.

Ramos couldn’t believe what happened, and neither could the computers. Statcast initially said the ball traveled 424 feet—easily a home run. Except… it wasn’t. It dropped out of the sky and into Mullins’ glove.

The ball likely hit off the catwalk in Tropicana Field’s roof, but “likely” isn’t good enough to change an out into a home run. Tony Vitello’s dugout didn’t take the news well.

Umpires ejected director of pitching Frank Anderson and struggling starter Adrian Houser. Vitello said the umps made comments to him about “pom poms,” while Susan Slusser wrote that home plate umpire Hunter Wendlestedt said “Who do you think you are?” to Anderson, who came with Vitello from Tennessee.

How bad is the going for the Giants? Even the umpires don’t respect them.

Up next: The Giants will try to avoid going winless on this road trip. It’ll be Tyler Mahle against Steven Matz at 10:40 a.m.

With two outs and two strikes in the ninth, the Phillies’ burly slugger somehow pulled a shin-high splitter into right for a game-tying double. An inning later the Phillies spilled onto the field for their second dogpile of the day.

The Giants were walked off twice Thursday, a feat they hadn’t experienced in 70 years. It was the kind of baseball nightmare you feared when Buster Posey’s front office decided it didn’t need to improve the bullpen. The worst part? They’ve mostly been right. The bullpen has been great.

What hasn’t been is the offense. The baserunning. The decision-making. The stuff that fills the razor-thin margin between winning and losing.

Why didn’t Ryan Walker throw over to first before giving up a game-tying triple?

Why didn’t Tony Vitello pitch around Schwarber with two bases open?

Why didn’t Hector Borg wave home Drew Gilbert to score the go-ahead run?

Because, through 31 games, the Giants have shown that they are not a very good baseball team. Sometimes the answer is simple, and it might even bring you to your knees.

Up next: The Giants head to their once-future home in Tampa Bay to face Shane McClanahan and the (Robbie) Rays. First pitch at 4:10 p.m.

About a year ago I went to Jung Hoo Lee’s best game—a two-homer afternoon in New York—which ended in me referring to Aaron Judge as the Yankees’ Jung Hoo Lee.

That zinger aged well for about a week before Lee’s numbers fell off a cliff. He hit under .200 across May and June.

So it’s with healthy skepticism I look back at his last two weeks—he’s batting .439 with a 1.133 OPS—and wonder how real it is. Lee’s next dribbler to second base can’t be far, right?

For now, it’s hypnotizing to watch him at the plate. He has complete control of the bat. He’s pulling inside pitches, shooting outside ones the other way, and driving balls over the middle of the plate. Max Meyer tried to groove his first pitch of the game and Lee crushed it into Triple’s Alley.

He went 4 for 5 Sunday afternoon, his sixth multi-hit game in the last 10 days. (Judge has only had four such games all season.)

Still, after 215 career games, I don’t think we don’t have a read on who Lee is as a hitter. Consistently inconsistent? The Sultan of Spring? The 4-3 King?

I’ll let you know in a year.

Up next: The Giants are off Monday before beginning an East Coast road trip through Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. It’ll be Tyler Mahle against Jesús Luzardo at 3:40 p.m on Tuesday. The Phils have lost 11 of 12 and Mahle’s ERA is over five, so it’ll be a get well game for somebody.

Schmitt had again rounded second base and slipped, as if the Marlins had dropped a Mario Kart banana peel in the perfect spot. Both times he was tagged out as he scrambled back to the base. This time he slammed his right hand against the dirt. He trudged back to the dugout only to watch Jung Hoo Lee line the next pitch off the wall, a hit Schmitt could’ve walked home on.

Redemption could only come in one form.

Eury Perez delivered it as a high fastball. Schmitt launched it 404 feet into the afternoon sun, where no defender could make a play. Where Schmitt could slip and sit for lunch if he wanted to. Where all anyone could do is laugh about what happened.

Because there’s no better way to get around the bases than a go-ahead home run trot.

Up next: The Giants go for the series win against a Marlins team that I think is … not bad? Pretty good? Better than the Giants? They sent five .300 hitters to the plate on Saturday. The Giants sent Luis Arraez. Thank goodness for him. It’ll be Landen Roupp against Max Meyer at 1:05 pm.

Those games come and go, the baseball equivalent of a flyover state.

In the same way you might peer out the window of the plane and try to figure out where you are, maybe you find a quiet moment to sneak a peek at the Giants score. You’re not watching, you’re just... curious.

That’s what I found myself doing Friday night. Not watching, just curious.

Then my phone greeted me with:

Marlins 8

Giants 0

Top 5

And in the same way you might look out the window of the plane, see endless miles of The Jefferson Grid, and think to yourself, huh, I couldn’t imagine living there. I saw the score, refreshed to make sure it was right, and thought to myself, huh, I couldn’t imagine being there—or watching at all.

I’m sorry if you did.

Up next: Robbie Ray will try to cool off the Marlins, facing Eury Pérez at 1:05 pm. It’s also Brandon Belt day at the yard. My favorite Belt moment came in my short time on the beat, watching him bounce over to the waiting reporters after a game in 2016. He shot his arms high into the air and wore a wide smile. He had just launched Splash Hit No. 69.

Drew Gilbert bunted two runners into scoring position in hopes that Patrick Bailey—with eight singles to his name all season—could hit a fly ball.

It’s hard to understate how bad Bailey’s been. Look through the kaleidoscope of fancy stats or simple ones and the picture looks the same.

He stepped into Wednesday with a batting average and slugging percentage of .145. His OPS+ withered down to 7, meaning he’d been 93% worse than the average hitter. Crank the Fancy Dial to 11, and you’d see he was one of two hitters with a wRC+ under 10 and isolated power (ISO) of .000.

Add it all up and it’s more than enough validation for the shock you felt when Bailey launched a lazy slider 407 feet—high enough, far enough, fast enough to be a home run in every ballpark.

Bailey’s first homer of the year was also his first extra-base hit of the year.

Even the worst hitters have their best night.

Up next: The Giants turn to Logan Webb as they try to sweep the Dodgers for the first time in three years. (What, you already forgot about the 2023 Giants? Same.) L.A. sends Tyler Glasnow to the mound for some afternoon ball. First pitch at 12:45 p.m.

Dodgers fans have invaded San Francisco for a few years, and I keep asking myself what it’s going to take to change it.

Long term? A lot more Giants winning and Dodgers losing.

Short term? A lot more nights like Tuesday.

The offense sent eight men to the plate in the first inning, rallying against splitters and sinkers and cutters and curveballs from the World Series MVP.

Landen Roupp got a well-timed double play to make a moot point out of his five walks in five innings. He ended the night 4-1 with a 2.28 ERA.

Tony Vitello did his best Bruce Bochy impression, building a five-headed monster out of Borucki, Gage, Miller, Winn, and Walker. You can argue whether that monster is scarier for Giants fans or opposing hitters, but the answer was clear Tuesday night.

By the time Walker struck out Alex Call for the final out, the seagulls were the only ones invading Oracle Park. Dodgers fans must’ve left early.

Up next: Shohei Ohtani makes his fourth career start against the Giants, and his first three have gone pretty well. He’s allowed one run in 15 innings, good for a 0.60 ERA. Tyler Mahle starts for the local nine at 6:40 pm.