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.

It was the unforgettable moment of the weekend in D.C., in which the Giants completed a five-run comeback Saturday before losing quietly Sunday.

I thought Adames lost the game. You thought he lost the game. Watch the replay and look at Luis Arraez throw his head back in disbelief. You don’t think he thought they lost the game?

Adames turned an ordinary play into an extraordinary one. With the bases loaded and the game on the line, Adames tried to run a routine ground ball to second base. As he realized he was losing this race, he saved himself (and the game) by rocketing a throw to first base as he tumbled to the ground.

What do you see when you look at this?

An earthquake? Baseball in space? The Giants?

It felt like a moment only the Giants could orchestrate.

Late and close game against a team they should be handling. Ordinary ground ball to the franchise shortstop, who decides at the worst possible time that he doesn’t want to throw the baseball. Changes his mind only when 192 pounds are barreling into his legs. Inning over.

I don’t use these words lightly, but they are fit for the moment: Nothing Like It.

Up next: The Giants are off Monday before welcoming the Dodgers (and too many of their fans) to San Francisco. It’s (likely) going to be Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Landen Roupp on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. See you at the yard.

🎧 Podcast: Introducing the Tip Your Cast list (and Hall of Fame). Plus the best and worst of the week, stock reports, and what to do about all those Dodgers fans at Oracle Park.

The Giants can only hope that’s what they got on Thursday afternoon. It had the right ingredients.

You had Landen Roupp continuing a coming out party that started last summer. He held the Reds hitless through five innings. Toss out* his final two starts of last year, and he’s got a 2.98 ERA dating back to the beginning of 2025.

You had a two-out rally that you had to see to believe. After three weeks of an offense that looked like Skyline Chili, the Giants magically, miraculously, impossibly strung together three straight run-scoring hits in the seventh. If only for a half inning, they looked like a winning ballclub.

You had a team ready to be the aggressor. Roupp drilled Spencer Steer a night after the Reds infielder barked at JT Brubaker. Then Erik Miller struck out Sal Stuart, who hit three times as many home runs as the Giants did this series, and told him to sit the f— down. Benches cleared. Players yelled, pointed, and shoved. And the Giants won.

If it wasn’t The Game That Changed Everything, it was at least the game that made me think it could.

Up next: The Giants head to Washington, where it doesn’t feel like they’ve played well since Brandon Belt’s 18th inning home run. It’ll be Logan Webb against old friend Zack Littell, first pitch at 3:45 pm.

*I don’t like when people use the “throwaway” strategy to invent stats. Felt kinda nice, though. Have to admit.

In the split second between the ball hitting Daniel Susac’s bat and seeing how far it would fly, a million things crossed my mind.

Tiny ballpark.

Hottest hitter on the team.

A Giants’ catcher hitting a game-changing home run in Cincinnati.

Then the ball died 379 feet from where it took off, leaving the Giants to grapple with another nine innings that didn’t go their way. Trouble is, those nine innings largely did go their way. They only gave up three hits. Two left the yard.

But when the Giants needed one the most, they could only get as far as the warning track. Just far enough to make you think they had a chance. A familiar feeling.

Up next: The Giants will try to get back in the win column with Tyler Mahle on the mound against the Reds’ Rhett Lowder. First pitch at 3:40 pm.

The answer is yes—barely. Twice the Giants have come back from one-run deficits, both against the Mets. They won one of those games and lost the other.

Two comebacks. One comeback win.

Otherwise the Giants have lost every time they’ve fallen behind. (And boy have they fallen behind. Their average margin of defeat is nearly five runs.)

What does mean to be a team built for comebacks? I’m not entirely sure.

There’s probably something to “keeping the line moving”—turning your lineup into a conveyor belt of players reaching base. The Giants didn’t take a walk on Sunday. They’ve taken the fewest walks in baseball.

Maybe a four-run comeback starts with ball four.

Up next: The Giants are off today before starting a three-game series in Cincinnati. It’ll be Robbie Ray against former Royals prospect Brady Singer. First pitch at 3:40 pm.

Just ask Luis Arraez.

He challenged a first-pitch strike in the seventh inning on Friday. Upon review, it landed six-tenths of an inch outside the strike zone. Strike one became ball one. A small victory.

The next pitch sailed high, further out of the strike zone than even the previous one. Arraez shook his head back and forth, as if to say no, I’m not swinging at a pitch like that.

He had to be surprised, then, to see home plate umpire Laz Diaz raise his fist and call a strike.

Arraez shot his eyes at Diaz, cracking the wryest of smiles. No words were spoken, but you could imagine the dialogue.

Arraez: Really? You’re gonna make me challenge two straight pitches?

Diaz: I dare you.

The moment came and went quietly. Arraez didn’t challenge and flied out two pitches later. But you saw the invisible effects of the system on display.

It tests the relationship between players and umpires. Just because you can show an umpire every time he’s wrong doesn’t mean you should. He’s going to be there when you’re out of challenges, too.

Up next: The Giants go for the series win with their ace on the mound. It’ll be Logan Webb against Chris Bassitt at 4:15 pm on Fox.

Maybe that feeling will wear off as the next eight years of his contract play out. For now, it remains. And he finally met the moment Wednesday afternoon.

Another rally was about to fizzle out, sending a scoreless game into the seventh. Disappointment lingered over Matt Chapman’s walk turning into a strikeout after an ABS challenge.

It didn’t linger long. Devers demolished the first-pitch fastball, planting a three-run homer into the garden beyond center field.

If it felt like a breakthrough swing of the bat, that’s because it was. It was Devers’ first go-ahead homer in the sixth inning or later with the Giants.

He’s started the season slow, and really, his numbers since joining the Giants are underwhelming. He’s batting .231 with a .775 OPS—compared to his .279 average and .859 OPS with the Red Sox.

But days like Wednesday are the ones you dream on. The ones Buster Posey dreamed on a year ago when he made the trade. The ones that make me believe there was something more to that swing, keeping me waiting for the next one.

Up next: The Giants are off Thursday as they head east to start a road trip that will cover Baltimore, Cincinnati, and DC. Come Friday it’ll be Landon Roupp against Shane Baz on Apple TV. First pitch at 4:15 pm.

At the center of it is two players, one with two Gold Gloves and the other with two career starts. Patrick Bailey and Daniel Susac. Who plays, Tony V?

This is only a question at all because of Susac’s historic start at the plate. His first two hits on Tuesday made him the first player since 1960 to start his career 5 for 5. He did, finally, make an out. And then he hit a two-run triple.

That’s six hits across two games, something Bailey’s never done in his three-plus years. What’s worse is that Bailey is 4 for 31 (.129) this season with one RBI and no extra-base hits. He’s a career .227 hitter.

We know Bailey is a defense-first player.

We know how badly the Giants have struggled to score.

We know Vitello’s reluctance to use his bench. (Christian Koss still hasn’t taken an at-bat in two weeks.)

We know Buster Posey probably has an opinion or three about his catchers.

Pool together all of this information, and what do you do? I’m starting to split playing time evenly. Vitello, though? He’s shown a willingness to mess with his lineup but not his starters.

Time to put his beliefs to the test.

Up next: A little afternoon baseball to decide the series. It’ll be Tyler Mahle against Aaron Nola at 12:45 pm.

The assignment was clear: get the most important outs of the night.

He stood poised on the mound, swung his left arm out wide on each pitch, and needed only nine of them to get the job done. Down went Chase Utley. Down went Ryan Howard. Back to the dugout went Javier Lopez, another quiet October day at the office wrapped up.

Fast forward 16 years, the Phillies’ lefties are just as fearsome. And Lopez might still be the Giants’ best option to get them out, one year shy of his 50th birthday.

Instead they tried Ryan Borucki, who’s quickly becoming a main character on this bad TV show. He flipped the game upside down in 10 pitches: four-pitch walk, bases-loaded single, go-ahead double. Game over.

Every bullpen needs to take its lumps—and its losses—to figure out a pecking order. To figure out who stays and who goes. To figure out who can be trusted and when.

You’d just rather not have to do it with the worst record in the National League.

Up next: Robbie Ray takes the mound against the Phillies’ brilliant lefty, a Javier Lopez that can throw a complete game. His name is Cristopher Sánchez. He’ll be slinging the baseball at 6:45 pm. Enjoy the City Connects.

Sunday, specifically, laid out the recipe behind this disastrous start.

A sleepy offense. This unit should be the Giants’ strongest but you’d never know it. They have the lowest hard-hit rate in the majors. Their 26 runs are tied with the Reds for the fewest in baseball, and less than half the Dodgers’ total (54).

A build-the-plane-while-flying-it bullpen. In total, the relief pitching has been better than expected. Sunday brought the first real test: a one-run lead in the eighth inning. Keaton Winn and Erik Miller gave up four runs on five hits. No.

Small mistakes. Running on the wrong side of the baseline. Throwing the ball in the dirt. Catcher’s interference. Miscues that aren’t lethal on their own, but all together? Killer.

Mind-numbingly inexplicable, selfish mistakes. Jerar Encarnacion thinking he hit a home run and getting thrown out at second base. Matt Chapman trying (and failing) to steal second base in the ninth inning, down three. Then he wasn’t around to take questions after the game. What are we even doing? Cue Mike Singletery: I want winners.

The season is not over after 10 games, no. But the stakes for the next 10 just got a lot higher.

Up next: The fun doesn’t stop for the Giants as the Phillies come to San Francisco. It’ll be Robbie Ray against another prized rookie, Andrew Painter, at 6:40 pm.

Koss plowed through the middle of the Mets lineup with the game out of reach, needing only nine lobs to get the job done. He has more innings pitched this season (1) than at-bats (0).

Susan Slusser writes that he’s the team’s first position player to throw at least five scoreless innings since High Pockets Kelly in 1917.

It’s hard to decide between that nugget and the pizza-eating seagulls as the highlight of the last 48 hours.

Otherwise there’s the Gold Glove third baseman, last seen telling his teammate to “catch the f—ing ball,” making a two-run error. There’s the 1-4 hitters going 2-for-30 across the last two nights. And there’s the power-hitting backup first baseman/outfielder batting ... ninth?

Yeah, I’ll take the pizza seagulls.

Up next: We’ve got a dandy on tap Sunday afternoon. It’ll be Logan Webb against Kodai Senga as the Giants try to split the series. I’ll see you at the yard.

Andrew entered into the eighth inning of a Giants-Dodgers game on July 26, 2014. He took over catching duties from his brother’s boss, Buster Posey. If he looked out to right field he would’ve seen broadcaster Hunter Pence. If he narrowed his focus on the infield, there was Forever Giant Dan Uggla at second base.

Andrew took his first major league at-bat that night, grounding out to Juan Uribe (!) at third base. Little did he know how his younger brother would upstage him 11 years, eight months, and seven days later.

Daniel debuted Thursday night, looking more like a top prospect than a backup catcher. He saw two pitches in his first two at-bats and knocked two singles. He took a walk and then rounded out his night with a third hit, much to the delight of his personal cheering section.

The banner night tied Daniel with his brother for the same number of career three-hit games. Andrew, however, still holds a 1-0 lead in a much more important category: World Series rings.

Up next: Tyler Mahle makes his second start of the year as the Mets counter with their prized rookie, Nolan McLean. First pitch at 7:15 p.m.