Series Preview: SF Giants vs. NY Mets - the good, the bad, and the simply weird

The SF Giants have an identity problem.

The team we've been sold on, the dream of the 107-win gestalt machine, is predicated on the idea that the Giants will play competitive innings - in other words, that the team will achieve ultimate consistency. In order to make that dream a reality, the Giants dove deep into the free agent market. They called up prospects with a chance to prove themselves. They put their veteran players in a position to succeed.

None of it's helped a lick.

The plan was to leverage a deep pitching staff against an underappreciated lineup that could overcome some defensive inconsistencies with power from spots 1-9. To their credit, the power is there - the Giants have slugged 28 home runs, third-most in baseball. Problem is, they've also allowed 23. Maybe the lack of home run suppression can be overcome with consistent slugging, but Giants hitters have recorded 188 strikeouts this year - most in the major leagues. When you combine a truly boom-or-bust offense with a pitching staff that features fully half of its members with an ERA north of 4.50, you get a team that's not consistent, not competitive, and not winning.

So, after a deflating road trip in which they only managed one win in five tries, the Giants find themselves with a cringeworthy 6-11 record. They'll face off against the 12-7 Mets, who might be a little better at baseball than Detroit or Miami. They'll need rapid growth or a minor miracle to take a series against anyone, let alone one of the three best teams in the National League.

The only potential saving grace is that the Giants' getaway day victory on Wednesday not only put the stopper on a wild skid, it required the whole team to come together to win. To hold fast against a scorching New York team, they'll need to build on that performance in order to find the identity they've been missing. To that end, we'll take a look at the good, the bad, and the simply odd from their recent road trip to find out what San Francisco needs to do to win a series again.

The Good

Taylor Rogers and Ross Stripling are... back? The pair had combined to make a complete mess of the Giants' offseason plans, especially with injuries to Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto. But against Miami, they seemed to turn it around, combining for three scoreless appearances, including Rogers' decisive finish to Wednesday's game.
J.D. Davis and Darin Ruf are both raking, posting a combined .928 OPS so far this year, with Ruf knocking in the only run in regulation on Wednesday. The end result of the trade with the Mets has been absolutely stunning, with New York essentially giving the Giants a starting third baseman and three prospects for free.
Joey Bart has also made a smooth return from injury, slashing .333/.407/.375 in eight games this year. The fact that Bart has resembled a major league hitter is massive for a team that's already battling a strikeout epidemic- and he's been a sneakily strong defender, too.

The Bad

On defense, the Giants are 1st in the MLB in ground ball rate. Their conversion rate on ground balls to outs? 22nd. Taken together, that's a recipe for disaster. And it gets worse when you consider the amount of home runs they've given up. A ground ball team getting lit up through the air doesn't make a ton of sense... until you realize that the Giants have a bottom-3 average exit velocity, too. In other words, their "home run suppression" tactics aren't working because opponents are collectively hitting the snot out of the baseball.
Alex Wood's injury in Tuesday's game has placed him on the 15-game IL. That's a few turns through the rotation that the Giants will need to cover, which should in theory be doable. Some combination of Hjelle, Stripling, and Junis should be able to cover his spot, but the Giants will miss Wood's 1.80 ERA through three starts this year.
San Francisco's otherworldly platoon splits continue; they're second in OPS against right-handers as a team, second-worst against lefties. A mostly dull offensive series against Miami wasn't going to move the needle, and it's an open question whether they can do anything at all to change that until Austin Slater, Michael Conforto, and Mitch Haniger are back to full health.

The Weird

Somehow, Logan Webb still doesn't have a win to his name, recording losses in all four of his starts this year. Saturday's game should offer a good opportunity to fix that, with the Giants matching up against the struggling David Peterson... as long as they can make contact against a left-handed starter.
Darin Ruf got thrown out on a back-pick play at first on Wednesday, capping a series where the Giants just didn't have very good control of the bases - the Marlins also executed a double steal, and Alex Cobb made the strange decision to give Miami CF Jazz Chisholm a free base by making three straight pickoff attempts to start an at-bat. It may well be the first trifecta of double steal, intentional balk, and pickoff allowed this year.

Series Details:

Who: SF Giants vs. New York Mets
Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California
When: Thurs. 4/20 (6:45 PM), Fri. 4/21 (7:15 PM), Sat. 4/22 (1:05 PM), Sun. 4/23 (4:10 PM). All times PT.

Projected starters:

Thursday: Sean Manaea* (0-0, 4.76 ERA) vs. Kodai Senga (2-0, 3.38 ERA)

Friday: Anthony DeSclafani (1-0, 1.42 ERA) vs. TBD

Saturday: Logan Webb (0-4, 4.94 ERA) vs. David Peterson* (1-2, 6.10 ERA)

Sunday: Ross Stripling (0-1, 7.30 ERA) vs. Tylor McGill (3-1, 3.00 ERA)

*Indicates LHP

How to watch:

Giants broadcast: NBCSBA+ (Thursday), NBC Sports Bay Area, KNBR 680/1510 AM
Mets broadcast: SportsNet New York, WCBS 880/1280 AM, Audacy
National broadcasts: ESPN Deportes 1050 (Friday, radio)