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Giants’ biggest flop to begin 2026 MLB season
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As we turn the calendar to the second week of April in the 2026 MLB season, people in San Francisco are already hitting the panic button. This Giants team looked like it would be a contender on paper. A front office that aggressively assembled a fantasy-baseball-esque infield featuring Rafael Devers , Willy Adames , Matt Chapman, and Luis Arraez sent a clear message to the National League West: the Giants are here to slug.
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Yet, ten games into the season, the reality by the Bay is starkly, painfully different. While there is plenty of blame to go around, from a starting rotation that has been surprisingly leaky to a bullpen featuring some glaring early-season gas cans, the answer to what has been the team's biggest flop is undeniable. The biggest failure of the 2026 San Francisco Giants is the complete collapse of their new, star-studded offensive core, led by Rafael Devers, who is struggling.
The Missing Middle of the Order
Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
When you construct a lineup with Rafael Devers and Willy Adames, you are paying for exit velocity, towering home runs, and run production. Instead, the Giants are getting empty at-bats and a staggering number of walks back to the dugout.
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Let's start with Devers. Expected to be the terrifying left-handed anchor of this lineup, Devers has stumbled out of the gate with a meager .211 batting average. Through his first 38 at-bats, he has managed just eight hits and a single home run. Even more concerning for the typically disciplined slugger is his strikeout rate; he has gone down on strikes 12 times while drawing just four walks, resulting in a hollow .602 OPS. For a player of his caliber, these aren't just slow-start numbers; they are rally-killing metrics that set the tone for the rest of the lineup.
But Devers isn't alone on this sinking ship. Adames has been arguably worse, hitting a frigid .184 with a paltry .560 OPS. Like Devers, Adames has only managed one home run and has struck out 13 times in 38 at-bats. When the two players expected to drive in your runs are striking out in nearly a third of their plate appearances, the offense is fundamentally broken. Even Jung Hoo Lee, in whom the Giants invested heavily for high-contact, top-of-the-order production, is completely lost at the plate, hitting .152 with an abysmal .242 slugging percentage.
Luis Arraez is doing his best to set the table, leading the team with 11 hits and a .275 average, but he is constantly stranded. He is the only player providing any semblance of expected production, but his singles are rendered useless when the heavy hitters behind him are consistently failing to make solid contact.
Historically Bad Team Metrics
If you zoom out from the individual struggles, the aggregate data paints a horrifying picture for San Francisco's coaching staff. This isn't just a streak of bad luck or hitting into hard outs; this is a comprehensive offensive blackout.
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Through ten games, the Giants rank dead last (30th) in Major League Baseball in total runs scored with just 26. That is an average of 2.6 runs per game. You simply cannot win baseball games in the modern era scoring two and a half runs a night. They also rank 30th in home runs, having hit only four as a team in ten games. To put that in perspective, there are individual players in the league who hit four home runs in their first weekend.
The lack of slugging is systemic. They rank 30th in Slugging Percentage (.292) and 29th in On-Base Percentage (.269). They are not getting on base, and when they do, they are completely incapable of moving runners into scoring position with extra-base hits. When your team Slugging Percentage is lower than what a good player's On-Base Percentage should be, your lineup is practically giving away innings.
Pitching Under the Microscope
The sheer futility of the offense has severely magnified the team's pitching woes. It is incredibly difficult to pitch when you know that giving up two runs might lose you the game.
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Logan Webb , the undisputed ace of the staff, has felt this pressure. Webb has pitched to a 5.00 ERA over 18 innings, allowing 19 hits and 11 runs. Normally, an ace can pitch through some early-season rust, but with zero margin for error provided by his lineup, Webb's mistakes are instantly catastrophic.
Tyler Mahle (7.00 ERA) and backend relievers like José Buttó (22.50 ERA) and Erik Miller (12.00 ERA) have certainly contributed to the Giants ranking 22nd overall with a 4.65 team ERA, but the pitching staff is essentially being hung out to dry. Even bright spots like Robbie Ray (3.38 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 10.2 innings) are having their efforts entirely wasted by the bats.
It is only April 6th. There are 152 games left to play, and talent usually normalizes over a long summer. Devers, Adames, and Chapman have too much of a track record to continue hitting like minor leaguers. However, the Giants did not push their chips into the middle of the table to dig themselves out of a massive hole before May. If this core doesn't wake up immediately, the biggest flop of the beginning of the 2026 season could quickly snowball into one of the most disappointing campaigns in recent franchise history.
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