Ray of Hope?

 

A few years ago, when the Giants were trying to revitalize themselves without actually getting younger players, I wondered when they'd get the picture. The answer wasn't having an average age of 32, the answer was building something. And they tried, they had Joey Bart and Steven Duggar and Jaylin Davis, but none of that worked. And they were only getting older. I'm glad 2021 happened, as sort of this last hurrah for the old way of thinking, but they needed Melvinball, and they needed to crumple and toss.

So now that the team is being led by people like Willy Adames, Logan Webb, Jung-Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos, they can use older players in more supplementary and supportive roles, instead of as the driving force. Justin Verlander and Robbie Ray are not on this team to drive the bus, they're here to contribute, because they still can.

And to be honest, this is close to vintage Robbie Ray we're seeing here. Not as dominant as Toronto Robbie, he's still got a 4 ERA, but he's 3-0 with 25 Ks, and the only Giants starter to give up less earned runs so far is Logan Webb. I knew Ray would be a great piece for them when he got healthy, and we saw a glimpse of this last year. Now he's truly back, and I'm glad the Giants are benefitting. Same with Justin Verlander, who's clearly not peak JV, but he's still doing a lot of the same things. He's struck out 23 through 5 games, and even with a 5 ERA, he's only lost 1 game. It's not like Charlie Morton going 0-5 in all his starts, he's having trouble but not in a way where the Giants are screwed, because almost every time they hit their way back. Jordan Hicks, meanwhile, has a 6 ERA and 3 losses. So JV could be a lot worse.

The veteran supplanting stretches to the lineup, where Wilmer Flores leads the league in RBIs with 27, Matt Chapman's hitting up a storm and leading the charge, and Mike Yastrzemski's having his best season in years, hitting .282 with 13 RBIs and 4 homers. At the same time, the younger players can do the heavy lifting as well, with Fitzgerald, Ramos and Lee heavily contributing, and a young core of Randy Rodriguez, Hayden Birdsong, Spencer Bivens and Erik Miller ruling the bullpen. They've finally found a really nice mix, and it's worked so well that the Giants have lapped the Dodgers in the standings.

I think they can sustain this and add to this as Bailey, Adames and Wade click, and as the rotation sheds off some April cobwebs. If the team wasn't winning at the power game, the pitching would hurt more, and it doesn't. A lot can improve, even as this team's already outdone expectations. I hope they surprise people going forward.

Coming Tonight: Kyle Tucker is someone who I was waiting to get out of Houston so I could actually enjoy his gameplay. This guy, not only did he not exactly make himself easy to love, he went to Boston. Uphill battle for him I guess.