You can't spell hello without LL
Phillies 3, Giants 2 | Phillies 6, Giants 5 F/10
Kyle Schwarber dropped down to a knee and brought every Giants fan with him.
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.
“The Giants are 10 games over .500 after taking two of three from the Red Sox. Now it’s time to get greedy, take advantage of this portion of the schedule, strive to be no worse than 15 games over or better after the July 4 weekend, and make their boss look really, really smart for giving their lineup a huge boost in mid-June instead of late July.”
Baggs didn’t say the Giants needed to clean up the sloppy shit and mental mistakes that were chronic in those series wins: Braves, Rockies, Red Sox. Andrew didn’t detail it in 2024-2025 because it happened under a 3x MoY that the media enjoys being around. When it occurs under Kapler or Vitello he unleashes the full Death Star.
Posey’s red flags emerged early in his Board and POBO career, but they’re ignored because he’s a franchise icon. If Posey steps down and an outsider replaces him, Baggs’ keen eye will probably not miss any misstep. He didn’t miss them under Zaidi.
Kerry, John and TK are super smart too but their coverage is scary: following a cult leader hoping for lightning in the bottle. Devers didn’t cost Melvin his job. Just like Preller and the so-called egos didn’t drive Melvin out of San Diego. Arráez is the floor on 2024-2026 Win-Now teams, not the ceiling. Poking fun that Arráez wasn’t a Gold Glove 2B with the Padres misses the 3-alarm fire: Adames and Chapman need to be your best infielders: 1/3 billion to be the “best leftside in baseball.”
Posey’s hands aren’t tied! Giants have 1/2 Billion invested long term in Devers, Adames + Chapman. Giants are the only team with 2 Fangraphs top 10 worst WAR: Devers, Bader. Spend more wisely you can shore up your pitching. PE doesn’t like to burn 1/2 billion so fans suggesting bench or DH roles for the rest of their careers are delusional.
The Rockies are better than 2025. Swept Mets. Dodgers looked bad in Rockies, Giants, Marlins series, but Giants beat writers and fans see it as a strength Giants beat LA. Katie Woo calls the Dodgers series in SL “get right series.”
That’s why I suggest everyone read Kevin Acee’s Padres Daily and buy a subscription to support his work. He’s written some of his most detailed concerns when the Padres are one of the best teams ranking wise, regardless of who is managing: veteran or new. Every concern he wrote about when the Padres were winning 6 consecutive series, showed up in the Padres Cubs series loss. That’s why Acee’s the best baseball beat reporter, not Baggs who writes more beautifully.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/05/02/padres-daily-an-illustrative-loss-tatis-gets-a-little-extra-some-lefty-talk/