Welcome to the funhouse
Giants 9, Padres 3
Looking through stats at the beginning of a baseball season is like standing in front of funhouse mirror. It’s a warped view of reality, but hey, isn’t it kinda fun?
Take Tuesday night’s shellacking of the Padres, for example.
Willy Adames entered the night hitting .133 with a .267 OPS. By the time his head hit the pillow, he was batting .300 with an .800 OPS.
Jung Hoo Lee tacked on 150 points to his batting average and another 300 to his OPS.
Even Logan Webb, who fought against the strike zone all night, shaved more than three runs off his ERA. (It’s still over 7.)
The effects get even better when you zoom out and look at the whole team.
Three scoreless innings in relief pulled the bullpen’s ERA below 2. And a 16-hit performance vaulted the Giants from last place in batting average (.154) to 18th (.215).
Who did they leave behind in the cellar, you’re wondering?
Welcome to the funhouse, Padres.
Up next: Adrian Houser makes his debut as the Giants go for the sweep and, yes, a return to .500. First pitch against Nick Pivetta and the Padres at 1:10 pm.
Giants fans received a gift when Shildt left. The Kapler vs Melvin vibes that permeated 2024-2025, especially by Baggs, who sets the tone for coverage. Melvin would help the Giants prepare by Standing for the Anthem vs Kapler. The best sports writer is Kevin Acee.
Pay for a subscription to SD U-T and most importantly, sign up for Padres Daily. You’ll learn more about how to evaluate baseball and a sports season. Every journalist should sign up too. PhD education. This is how you cover a team. Baseball is a business: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/04/01/padres-daily-not-pretty-stammens-patience-back-of-the-rotation-blues-laureano-left-out/
The Shildt vs Stammen vibes are strong. Only 5 games into the season, but so far Stammen has weak attention to details, players aren’t prepared: game planning, fundamentals and mental mistakes. Padres lost 2-3 winnable games w/ Tigers and Giants.
When Eno Sarris said “eyewash wins” on Opening Day 2024, everyone in the Giants organization, including Posey, ignored it: Board member + more importantly as POBO. The same eyewash in SD by Melvin and his staff. The funniest shit is Dave Flemming, who is super smart, told the Friar Territory pod that it was a weakness Melvin had the same staff for so long, but Posey escapes any accountability. Ditto most fans and media.
Melvin is so loved by the media no one wants to tarnish his legacy: 2025 Giants, and most especially, 2023 Padres, are manager malpractice: exact same results with 3 different FO, rosters and the highest payroll in Padres franchise history.
SD fans, local, national media, including Pavs and Shea, said Shildt couldn’t get the Padres to the World Series. Nor did Melvin’s loaded A’s or Padres. Nor has Murphy, who is charismatic, high energy. Brewers swept the Dodgers in the regular season with the best record in baseball: swept postseason by Dodgers, offense cold. WBC + MLB postseason prove that any offense can shut down with “built to win now” rosters when a championship is on the line.