Third straight loss puts Giants' needs at forefront
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WASHINGTON -- This could be a transformative few weeks for the Giants.
On Friday, they arrived in the nation’s capital for the first of six straight games against sub-.500 clubs. By the end of that stretch, the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline will be imminent, at which time San Francisco is expected to be one of the bigger-market buyers shopping for roster upgrades.
It is a critical stretch of the season the Giants want to approach in stride. They still have time to do that, even if Friday night’s 5-3 loss to Washington at Nationals Park continued a mini-spell for San Francisco, which is tied with Arizona for the first National League Wild Card spot.
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Alex Wood was outpitched by Nats rookie Jake Irvin and the Giants struck out 12 times en route to their third straight loss.
Like their previous two defeats in Cincinnati on Wednesday and Thursday, the Giants’ latest loss exemplified their two biggest needs heading into the Trade Deadline.
Let’s take a look at each in more detail.
Need 1: Starting pitching
Outside of co-aces Logan Webb and Alex Cobb, the Giants have searched for consistency from the rest of their rotation all season, bouncing three of their other four starters back to the bullpen at various points.
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An example of that is Wood, whose velocity dropped a tick across the board against the Nationals in his second start back from a three-week stint as a bulk reliever. He walked two in Washington’s three-run first and yielded two homers in four-plus innings, as the lefty ultimately surrendered five earned runs to balloon his ERA to 4.99.
“When a good, competitive pitcher like Alex struggles, it’s [because] balls [are] in the middle of the plate,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “With Alex, I think he’s also looking for the right shapes on his pitches, and that’s always kind of a work in progress for pitchers. But maybe he’s had more struggles with it this season than in season’s past.”
Said Wood: “I’ve been searching for it, man, trying to get it to click. Doing everything I can in-between to try to make it feel right, it just didn’t click tonight. I’m trying really hard to find my footing and hit my stride, and string a couple good ones together. It’s super frustrating.”
Potential fits: Shohei Ohtani (Angels), Marcus Stroman (Cubs), Jack Flaherty (Cardinals), Jordan Montgomery (Cardinals), Lucas Giolito (White Sox)
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Need 2: Middle infield
This need was sprung on the Giants recently, with Thairo Estrada (broken left hand) and most recently Brandon Crawford (recurring knee inflammation) landing on the injured list.
San Francisco remains flush with corner infield options, but the injuries leave the roster thin up the middle, with only rookies Casey Schmitt and Blake Wisely, and light-hitting utilityman David Villar. Neither is hitting much, and neither Wisely nor Villar sports any Major League experience defensively at shortstop.
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“We’ve got to at least evaluate what we have in the middle infield,” president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters earlier this month. “Kind of just keep an eye on the market and see if there’s someone that can be impactful there, and weigh that against continuing to give opportunities to [Schmitt] and [Wisely].”
Schmitt has gotten the lion’s share of shortstop reps in Crawford’s absence, going 1-for-15 with five strikeouts -- including a key, bases-loaded punchout in Friday’s seventh inning -- in the veteran’s stead.
All told, Schmitt is batting .213 with two homers in his first 58 career games.
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“I think he’s shown a significant amount of frustration [tonight], but I think he’s shown quite a bit all the way through,” Kapler said. “In his last at-bat, he really had a lot of grind. … He’s finding his way.
“He’s a young, developing player with a lot of upside, and needs to keep grinding.”
Even with Crawford and Estrada healthy, Giants second basemen rank 11th among NL clubs in OPS this season. Their shortstops rank last among NL clubs and 26th in MLB in OPS.
It stands to reason Zaidi might scour the market for upgrades even if Crawford’s issues are long-term concerns.
Potential fits: Paul DeJong (Cardinals), Tim Anderson (White Sox), Santiago Espinal (Blue Jays)