Giants Talk: Looking back at Rafael Devers trade after one-year anniversary
"Giants Talk" hosts Cole Kuiper and Alex Pavlovic react to San Francisco's Pride Night controversy and reflect on the Rafael Devers trade one year later.
Giants Talk: Looking back at Rafael Devers trade after one-year anniversary originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
What's up, Giants fans?
Welcome to another episode of Giants Talk.
I'm Cole Kuiper here with Giants insider Alex Pavlovic.
The Giants dropped the series to the Chicago Cubs, continuing their march below 500.
But it's not the losses that made headlines.
We'll talk about that.
Plus, it is around the one year mark since the Rafi/Devers trade, so we will do the post-trade, retrospective, I guess, that we've promised you for so long.
Before we get started, Giants Talk is presented by Mancini's Sleepworld.
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All right, Alex.
Giants reunited with the Cubs after just having seen them and man, what I mainly remember about the Cubs series was the Giants offense just going bananas on them.
then the series starts, and especially towards the start of it, didn't see that same gusto from the offense.
Yeah, there's a I looked this up during the game today.
They average 3.3 runs per game in home night games, which I don't remember.
Somebody on Twitter, shout out to that person if they're listening or watching, they asked me, they're like, "It feels like it- they're really bad at home at night."
And I was like, "Yes, they are.
At home at night, they are uniquely bad offensively."
So there's a lot of those one run nights.
Yeah.
right around, like, 20.
I mean, it was 24% of their games after Saturday, they scored zero or one runs.
And I would I haven't gone through, like, game by game.
I would guess, like, the majority of those are Oracle Park at night.
Just seems like we've had a lot of these nights where he, you know, as, as, like, rough as Friday was offensively, Saturday w- they were dead in the water.
Like, they just- Yeah never.
First pitch goes out, PCA, who's crushed them.
Yeah.
Might have to add him to your list of, Giants killers, 'cause he- Well, he gets, he hates the Dodgers so much that he, like, still has a beautiful, special place in my heart.
Honorary.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He's had a good year against them.
and after that it ju- it felt like the Giants never even threatened, so, I mean, that's the thing.
It's so easy to be like, "You know, the nighttime moist air at Oracle Park," but the, those splits don't hold the same for other teams coming into town.
Yeah, this is our whole don't move the fences in because- Exactly other teams are hitting home runs arguably more.
Just fine.
They're doing, they're generally doing okay.
And I think that we've talked a lot about the offense and I start there, but I, we'll, we'll get to the starting pitching too, and that's become, you know The bullpen's been an issue.
The offense for the first six weeks especially, and I think at, at times still is stuck in the mud.
But the starting pitching really has been a disappointment.
And, like, o- one of the things I think lately is, like, you know, everyone wanted Trevor McDonald in there over Tyler Maile and he's there.
He got that job, and he's struggled lately.
Landon Rupp has struggled lately.
Robbie Ray's had a tough time.
Adrian Houser the whole year pretty much.
it's a one man show right now in the rotation.
And it, it's, it's one of those things where I, if you kind of separate these into three groups like lineup, rotation, bullpen, I think if one of the other two is joining the lineup with what they've done for most of the last month, not Friday and Saturday, but most of the last month, they would, you know, at least have a chance to get some momentum going.
But- Yeah starting pitcher's putting them behind the eight ball and they're having trouble closing out games when they have a lead, which is just a horrible combination.
Well, baby step it, Alex, because it doesn't seem like that long ago that it was zero of the three producing.
So we'll, we'll start knocking them down one at a time.
Next thing you know it, three for three, right?
And not that long ago we were having, you know, we were getting mailbag questions from people who were very concerned about Logan Webb.
So- Yeah they have that going for them right n- he is back.
I mean- He's fully back.
I, I, I know we had other things planned but let's, let's take this moment to just give the kudos to Logan Webb because you're right.
We were getting a lot of fan reaction about how this isn't the Logan Webb we know.
What's wrong with him?
Has he lost something?
and since he came off the IL he just has been an absolute beast.
This is one of those where, you know, I, when I try to calm people down sometimes just being like, "I'm in the clubhouse every day.
I, you know, I hear things."
this is one of those where I was just very, very confident early in the year that when he gets healthy and feels right, he's fine.
Yeah.
And so I feel good about that 'cause he's, he just needed to take a little time off and, and get that knee right and, and, you know, get a little bit of a breather.
And this is as good as it's been the last few years, which is, not that I'm surprised at all, not that anyone should be surprised, but also I guess a little bit of a sigh of relief in a way just because so much has gone wrong.
You almost at the beginning of the year you're like, "Oh, and Logan too.
Is he-" Mm-hmm getting older?"
So he's there.
But I, I wanna hit you with this, 'cause I do think this is a, a major problem and something that hasn't been talked about enough here and just in general.
Going back to May 27th, here are the starting pitchers who have thrown six innings for your San Francisco Giants.
Yeah.
Logan Webb on June 3rd.
Logan Webb on June 8th.
Logan Webb on June 14th.
And that's- Wow.
And we're, you're not even saying eight innings.
Yeah, he- Six innings pitched.
Six innings.
Yeah.
That is absolutely brutal.
And just exasperated by the, the fact that the bullpen has been so shaky.
It's starters not going nearly far enough in games and handing it over to a bullpen that frankly hasn't earned our trust.
Yeah.
You know, one thing we talk about a lot just as, like, a concept and we did in the off season was like, okay, Giants have a lead going into the seventh.
Who pitches the seventh?
Who pitches the eighth?
Who pitches the ninth?
Yeah.
And I, I wanna go, maybe one day when I have time, I'm sitting in studio or something where there's a rain delay.
I, I wanna go through and see how many times it's actually happened because I feel like it's, like- Very, very, very rare that Tony Vitello even has the decision of starting pitcher had a quality start.
Mm-hmm.
We have the lead after six innings.
Who are my guys, like, coming down the stretch here?
So the, the bullpen certainly had their issues, but, like, it, it also hasn't been clean getting to them.
And, just way too many of these nights.
And I'll, I'll give some of the starters credit.
Like, they do ta- they, they're aware of it.
Like they- Yeah Trevor said on, on Saturday night.
He's like, "Yeah, just I'm asking those guys to cover too many innings."
So, but it, it is an ongoing issue, and I, I think it's been something.
The bullpen's been such a flashing red light, and there's been such, so much attention paid to, you know, certain guys like Devers and Chapman and, and Adamas, and some of the lineup stuff that I, I think it's gone a little bit under the radar that just this rotation that is healthy, and is generally like the guys you would wanna see out there has, has really struggled the last few weeks.
Yeah.
That's the big fear.
It'd be one thing if they're missing a power arm or something, but this is, h- I don't wanna say best case scenario, but this is who this, this starting rotation's gonna be.
Un- unless something magic just happens, it gets turned around, feels like it's gotta get picked up elsewhere.
Yeah.
I, I'm pretty close to wanting to see Carson Wisenhunt, and I- 100% agree I've been, pretty close just isn't, like, being realistic about what they have guys in the rotation.
But, like, I, you keep seeing what he's doing in Triple A and then you see these guys struggle.
It's like he's as good a prospect as any of the guys up here.
Um- Yeah so yeah, I, I think this is something they have to figure out over the next few weeks and, look, they're 14 games under so there's not a whole lot of, like, who can, who can get momentum going.
But in the second half I'd like to see who can give you five, six innings every five days.
And- Yeah who other than Logan can dream of eight?
Like, it's, is that possible?
Wow.
Could you imagine?
Well, Logan's ERA is down under three and a half finally.
We talked about how he started off this year shaky, and he's been digging out of that hole, which I guess has just been the story of this season so far, not just Logan Webb, since then.
but seems to be on track.
Seems to be one of the, the shining, silver linings of, of what's going, going right.
But honestly just the kind of thing you just expect to go right and it feels weird if it doesn't.
this is the Logan Webb we know.
This is the Logan Webb we trust, and it's good to see him back in form.
Yeah.
I, you know, never any doubt from me about where he would be, so.
Alex, this, of course like we talked about last week, is yet another example of the Giants dr- struggling in the series early and wrapping it up with a win right before we have to podcast.
Now, we've had quite a few of these where the, that final game of the series is so fun and so exciting.
It makes it difficult for us to, to worry about the negatives.
But this is just another one.
This is the third time in three weeks that the Giants have lost the first two games, then won the third one.
and it, while that might make for slightly better flights on road trips and slightly better podcasts on our side, it's, it's not helping them get out of that hole they're in at all.
still far below expectations.
Still far below 500.
And frankly approaching the point where I can't fathom a 500 finish even if they do kind of start to get hot and do start to, to figure it out.
Yeah.
I mean, it, it just starts to become math of like- Exactly you're 15 games under.
It's the middle of June.
I mean, it's 14 now.
But, like, yeah, I think the disappointing thing is, like, that road trip was okay.
I mean, it, it wasn't They coulda had more.
Um- Yeah they coulda had less.
But it seemed like they w- like offensively got going a little bit and you felt like they were, you know, found a little bit of momentum.
And you'll, you'll generally take five and five on a road trip.
You'll take a 500 trip.
And to come home and just have another bad home stand, which they've had over and over and over again, just not taking advantage of, you know, there was, like, good crowds the whole home stand.
Good, good giveaways over the weekend.
people loved the soccer jersey they gave out Saturday, so.
Yeah.
Just a, a real failure to, to find any momentum.
And I, I think that's been our biggest thing is just, like, you look down, you look on paper and you look at some of the teams they're facing and see teams coming in struggling and read the stories about, like, Cubs are in a bad place right now.
But Giants have just been unable to take advantage of any of that.
And, and you mentioned that stat.
That doesn't even include that m- that Milwaukee series where they lost the first two and then won the next two, so.
That's true.
Yeah.
basically every single team that shows up or, or series, it's a small sample but it does start to make you wonder at some point about, like, how prepared they are at the start of some of these series.
And- Yeah you know, maybe it's just bad pitching match-ups or bad nights, but it just feels like it, this happens over and over and over again.
and, not just with the losing too.
I mean, there's a lot of times where they're split through the first two at home and, and lose the third or just haven't been able to, like You keep kind of waiting for that run of seven out of eight or, 'cause everybody does that.
Even bad teams have have their run.
That's the thing.
It's like statistically it has to happen.
It just, it, it feels like that would be, I don't know, science fiction for some of these games we're seeing.
Yeah.
Yep.
Just hasn't been there for them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And all this series, of course, coming on the tail of, one of the most exciting games of the year, the Bryce Eldridge walk-off grand slam.
That was a game that I had people who don't even watch baseball regularly talk to me about and come up to me, and it really felt like it was energizing this fan base.
And then to come out with this series just, you know, the Jung-hoo Lee streak gets snapped right away.
just not a lot going right.
Yeah.
I mean, we did a whole You know, I, I thought about this a lot on the off day, 'cause you and I podcasted on Wednesday after that game.
Mm-hmm.
And it's weird sometimes, as neutral as I try to stay, to, like, watch an ending like that, go in the clubhouse after a game like that, and then tape a podcast right after.
And try to, like, gather your thoughts and I, I was thinking as I was driving home on Wednesday and again on Thursday as I listened back to some of it, I was like, "We got pretty hyped about the future of Bryce- Yeah and what this means for the franchise."
And then I was watching him Friday and thinking, "I don't think we went far enough."
Like, I He's I- it's, it's kinda hard to believe what he's doing right now.
the numbers dipped a little bit by the end of the weekend, but there's a point there, I think Saturday morning, like among everyone.
You know, he's not a qualified hitter and it's gonna take him a long time to be a qualified hitter just in terms of what you need to qualify, like, for leaderboards and things like that, for average OPS.
But I think Saturday morning he was second in the National League to Ohtani, if he did qualify- Wow in terms of OPS.
He was right there in WRC+.
Like, he still is.
I, I think he's third, third or fourth right now in OPS.
So, what he's doing is pretty remarkable, and he just is pretty clearly like the, the guy you fear.
And talking to some people on the Cubs side this series, like, think he's already kinda become the guy that teams fear when they come into town.
three games in a row with a home run in the ninth inning, tying a Major League Baseball record.
He t- I, I thought he was gonna do it again, on Saturday.
Three hits on Friday.
The rest of the team had one.
And the interesting part is Tony moves him up to the two spot on Friday, and it just kinda felt like, okay, this is the way it should be for the next- Yeah as long as he's here, to be honest.
Like, I think that's a great spot for him.
I know they moved him to three on, on Sunday, but I'd love to see him hitting second.
it's a new way of doing it.
Generally, that's where you put your best hitter.
And- Well, especially when your leadoff guys is such a just get on base kinda player like Arias, a hit for average guy.
They have like seven different leadoff guys right now.
Well, that's true.
Yeah.
Like the whole team.
But I, I think he's just such a great fit for that spot, and he's having such good plate appearances and, you're seeing him tap into the power a little bit.
Yeah, I just, I kinda thought, like, one, a little bit of like, okay, we didn't go too far on the last podcast.
But, two, I, I feel further emboldened in my belief that just every decision they make over the next six weeks should be this is turning into Bryce's team, and this is pretty clearly gonna be, on opening day next year, the Bryce Eldridge Giants.
Yes.
And, you know, maybe like the Bryce Eldridge and Logan Webb Giants, but, what every decision has to be, what does that mean?
So, you know, you know, what, what's best for this guy and what's best for this team that, that should have him leading the lineup.
He's already the most dangerous hitter, and I, I think he's I think over the last couple weeks.
Like, I know Jung-hoo is batting like .600 for a couple weeks, but you look plate appearance by plate appearance.
Chapman's been great, too, but Bryce is having the best plate appearances consistently.
Yeah.
And he's doing it at 21.
And I Just kind of being around Friday and talking to some people who got a full day to just recover from everything and, and maybe take a deep breath after Wednesday, there's a lot of excitement within the organization of just like, "Okay," like, "The next guy has arrived."
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, Friday he gets three times as many hits as the rest of the team combined.
Basically single-handedly covers the off- c- carries the offense.
Yeah.
Now, they didn't get the win so it didn't mean much, but he's The, I, let's just say the ceiling is higher on him than I feel like I thought it was at the start of the year.
Yeah, I think that's fair.
you know, like, he's hitting .300 and it's, he's not supposed to hit .300.
And- Yeah.
That was- kind of the- The whole thing was like, it's not like he's exactly smoking the ball- Yeah in a hitter-friendly Triple A.
Well, he's smoking the ball up here.
And you watch it and you kinda go like, "Yeah, I don't really see why he can't hit .300 in the big leagues-" Yeah " at some point."
Maybe not this year.
Maybe there's a, a slump coming.
But, it's pretty special and I, I think Giants are starting to Y- yeah.
I, I think the ceiling has been raised.
And to do this at 21 and to look so comfortable doing it all, he's, has so many media requests, he has so many requests from fans, and just seems completely at ease with everything that comes with being this guy.
And, and, I think that's, for me, that we've talked about some of the highlights of the year of, you know, early on it was, it was Landon and for a few weeks it was Casey Schmidt and his breakout.
I think lately Jung-hoo Lee kind of living up to expectations stands there.
It, for me, it seems like we're really headed in a direction where at the end of the year when we do a postmortem and talk about what went right, like, it's Bryce over here- Mm-hmm and everything else kinda, you know, underneath a little bit.
But y- this has gone about as well as they possibly could expect.
I love that you're already looking ahead to opening day of next year being Bryce's Giants.
So that's, when that comes around- He's playing in June of 2027- Yeah that'll, that'll be great to experience.
Yeah.
You know what?
I think the thing is, I was talking to a Giants employee about this, on Saturday, and they're like, "It kinda reminds me of, of, just right before, like, Buster and that group arrived."
And you, you start to see some of these get, some of these guys get here and I think in a weird way, like, Timmy's a great comparison here because it was just a little bit of like, "Okay, there's, there's a light at the end of this tunnel."
Yeah.
I mean- Timmy was a paradigm shift for this organization.
Yeah.
he took them out of, like, a really weird place, the post-Barry Bonds era, which, you know, as much as Bonds is the greatest ever to it, came with its own baggage, and carried them through to one of the brightest spots in history.
So feeling like we have a new era beginning is really exciting.
Yeah, I think that's the main, the main thing here and, and, you know, something we talked about on the last podcast was, like, you kinda knew this was gonna happen at some point.
Didn't n- didn't Nobody really thought it would be this year and, or to just be so clear where you, you plop him in the number two spot on Friday and just go, "Yeah, that's..." I, they spend a lot of time talking about the lineup- Over the off day.
And I don't think it was on that.
I think it was like- What are, what, what are the cascading effects of- Yeah moving Bryce Eldridge up to number two?
Because that means some guys who are used to hitting second or third or fourth are all of a sudden down near the bottom, and that's the weird thing that I think That's what I think Tony has to deal with that more than, you know, the simple fact of moving Bryce and what does this mean for the 21-year-old.
Yeah.
I think it's more what does this mean for everybody else because that spot's no longer available and everyone else gets moved down a little bit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, there's plenty of hitters on this team right now who can get moved down a little bit.
I'll put it that way.
There are.
You know, it's W- I get this question a lot.
There are.
It's also There's a lot at play here at all times, right?
Like, there's egos at play, there's, just trying to keep everybody happy.
So it is I, I think you're seeing things at times where y- you're like, yeah, Tony would probably love to hit that guy ninth for a couple weeks, but he can't.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah.
there's a lot of that.
Yeah.
Well, the future looks bright even if this year doesn't.
Bryce Eldridge is here.
His team is here.
and we were begging for, for this to become the season of Bryce one way or the other, and it, it's finally arrived.
It has.
It has.
now Alex, we cannot talk about this mid-June series without touching on, one of the biggest subjects of the weekend, and that is kind of the way the Giants annual Pride Night went, which has been a staple of Oracle Park for the past five years, I wanna say.
Yeah.
Giants were the first team to, to start doing these when it, it came with the hat and, you know, it obviously If any city's gonna be the team to start something like this, it's San Francisco.
Yeah.
I think it was 2022.
So.
'22?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I know, you know, I know that's something you're very passionate about, so I'm j- like- Yeah all yours.
So.
Yeah, I mean, Pride Night is, is one of those things where it, it's obviously mostly a form of, like, rainbow capitalism.
You know, make some money, sell some hats.
Sure.
but it also means a lot to a lot of fans, now more than ever.
and this year a surprisingly, a shockingly large cadre of players had a problem with it.
a handful of pitchers wore the hat but put a little Bible verse next to it as a form of protest.
another opted out of wearing it entirely.
and this bothered me a lot.
You know, as a, as a Giants fan, as I know a lot of other Giants fans, I was very pissed off about this.
these guys aren't just representing the San Francisco Giants, not just representing Giants fans.
They're representing the city of San Francisco.
And by protesting against this, which celebrated a huge chunk of Giants fans, an important element of San Francisco's culture, feels like they made a statement very clear that they aren't interested in being part of the fabric of this city, this multicultural accepting progressive city.
the only quote you really got out of it was, let me pull it up, Sam Henge's, "It's just something that I feel like I was forced to support when I don't morally support it."
and what's crazy is that in my naivet I kind of felt like we had moved past this as a society.
You know, I don't morally support it.
gay marriage was legalized.
We all have queer friends and family, but here we are.
So at the end of the day it just is frankly embarrassing for this organization top to bottom.
It's another unforced error in a season completely full of them.
Pride Day is an absolute layup in goodwill for the Giants to earn positivity from fans, remind the league who we are as San Francisco, and now it's just kind of been reclaimed by a handful of guys who put the narrative on themselves.
Buster Posey has said, "This is the memory-making business," and a very, very strong memory was made for the very Giants fans, the night was supposed to be supporting.
And I don't think that memory's gonna be going away anytime soon.
That's what I got.
Well, well said.
I'm, I'm not happy.
Yeah.
I, I want to touch on something you said, which is, you know, the Giants starting this.
And I, I think one unfortunate thing about this is they celebrate this better than any organization, I think, in professional sports.
And you go to the ballpark, you look around in June, and you see the way they celebrate it.
So for it to become a story for this reason- Exactly is unfortunate, I think, for the whole organization because they do go really, really far towards celebrating pride and towards making this part of it.
And it really hasn't been an issue the last few years.
I will say they did a good job of hiding it at times.
Yeah.
I think a lot of guys wore beanies in the dugout, which is- Yeah, I didn't even talk about that- very good because that seems like circumstantial evidence, but it's possible that this goes much deeper than it feels on the surface.
Yeah.
So I, I think they, i- it's This hasn't really Like, I guess in retrospect I'm surprised this, this didn't pop up before, but- Yeah also we know the way Gabe felt about stuff like this and Farhan did and, uh- Well, you could go back further than that.
You know, Matt Cain would- Yeah put himself out there in ads.
Rod Beck was a champion for the community.
Yeah.
I think, you know, I And the other thing I wanted to touch on, we got a lot of mail back questions from people who talked about kind of I guess quote unquote "punishment" or what's next.
Um- Yeah and I guess that's where I just kind of go like, I think it's a pretty big number and it's not one guy who was the starting pitcher.
It's not four guys.
it is something I think they probably need to figure out going forward, 'cause this is, this is something they do every year and all of a sudden became a national story for unexpected reasons and not really the way they, they expected this to go.
So, yeah, I, I think this is probably something they need to address next year and make sure that, you know, it, it, it's a whole month at the ballpark, but really in that particular day, everything pre-game, everything during the game is aimed towards one purpose.
And all of that was kind of overshadowed, so.
100%.
I would imagine there's gonna be a lot of conversations had before, before next year.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we'll see.
hey, Alex, Prague could be opening day next year.
Yeah, I- we keep joking about when- when the season's gonna start next year, so.
Yeah.
All right.
Yeah.
That's the Giants-Cubs series.
obviously a dis- disappointing series for many reasons, but, the season lives on.
It's not like they're playing the best team in baseball up next or anything like that, right?
No, not Well, you know, they've had some injuries, so.
All right.
Fair.
They're quite out of flavor of the best team.
They're the, 98% the best team in baseball.
There we go.
All right.
Speaking of injuries, let's talk about a little bit of Giant news.
Roster moves and injuries over here.
Number one, Keaton Wynn goes on the IL with an elbow strain.
What do, what is this?
What is the, the seriousness?
What is the timeframe?
What do we know?
The word from Tony was that the MRI came back okay.
I do think we, you know, have not gotten a lot of injury specifics from this particular group this year, at times.
So, don't know exactly how long he's gonna miss.
It doesn't seem like it's anything You know, he's not being sent to see like Dr. Alatrosh or Dr. Meister or whoever.
I think Dr. Andrews retired, but whoever they go to.
Like, he's not, he wasn't on a plane on Sunday, so that's good.
the bad news is I think this was something that was somewhat predictable.
And I, part of our reaction to the way they handled Monday's game was just this is a guy who's never done this before, and it just felt really unnecessary to throw Keaton out there, and ends up throwing 63 pitches over three days and doesn't pitch again until s- you know, Sunday morning when they announce he's going on the IL with an elbow issue.
And this is a guy who's had Tommy John in the minors.
Mm-hmm.
Had elbow problems two years ago, had shoulder problems last year.
So I think that's where I'm very sensitive to this, and I, I hope he's okay because if there's any, any tale to this, if there's any- anything beyond just him missing a couple weeks here, it is gonna look really bad because it, it was unnecessary for him to pitch on Monday.
And I also don't think there seems to be a lot of And maybe he'll be totally fine and that's why this is the case, but I, I don't think at the moment there seems to be a lot of, introspection, I guess, of, of like, "Yeah, maybe shouldn't have done that."
Yeah, I just, I, I think it'd be really unfortunate for someone who has He had a rough weekend, but in general has been one of the bright spots of this season to have- Yeah to deal with anything.
Because they threw him out there three days in a row when he's never done that before, and has barely even gone two days in a row.
So- Yeah that's where I come out on this one, just kinda hoping his, he doesn't have to deal with anything.
'Cause he has been through a lot the last two, three years.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Ob- obviously you hope this isn't the kinda thing that ends up being a learning experience, but, but let's- Yeah let's be a little more careful next time.
Yeah.
You know, you're It's this weird thing where they're trying to win every game.
It's also like, hey, you're pretty consistently sitting around 13, 14 games under 500, so.
That's the thing.
But- Obviously win every game, but don't, when the season is all but lost, maybe we don't risk players' arms in the process.
The guys who might be part, who should be part of a 2027 bullpen and part of the solution, like, let's, let's take it easy on them.
Yeah.
Or the guys who could be trade pieces.
Let's make sure they're healthy in, uh- Yeah in June.
Yeah.
Ryan Walker returned on Friday.
He did.
Two innings, one strikeout, no runs.
Mm-hmm.
So maybe the, the version of Ryan Walker we, we were hoping for all season is back?
It's gonna be low leverage now.
interestingly, Tony, for the first time on Friday, named a closer, who's Caleb Kilian.
Okay.
And we find out later.
I was, at the time I'm a little bit like, "Well, it kinda has been Keaton the last seven, 10 days," and then you find out why.
But, good.
It should be Caleb, Caleb's job right now.
Mm-hmm.
They are trying.
It sounds like they might have spent some time in the off day discussing, like, maybe it would help if guys had roles.
Yeah.
Which is, yeah, which any reliever will tell you.
obviously, you know, not really an opportunity in this series to show that off, but- Well, Alex- it's definitely been headed- It's, it's pretty nice looking at the box score for these three games, and outside of the pitcher, the starting pitcher and the guy who came in to relieve him, we're looking at one inning.
One.
One inning.
One inning.
No one point ones or point twos.
The guys are getting used for their, their normal amounts.
Maybe someone was listening to Giants Talk and said, "Hey-" There we go.
Our club has so far. "
stop having the guys pitch the seventh and the eighth.
This is ridiculous."
so Ryan's back.
quick injury updates.
Elliott Ramos is doing very well, a little bit ahead of schedule.
He is gonna rehab, likely, likely rehab with Triple-A Sacramento next week, and they'll go from there.
the interesting part of that, and something you and I can maybe flesh out fully when, when he gets close, is what does that mean for the lineup?
Because his spot has been taken by Casey Schmidt, whose spot has been taken by Bryce Eldridge.
Mm-hmm.
my early guess is they're probably just gonna have to go like, "Hey, sorry, we talked about outfield defense in the off-season, but this is now a Schmidt, Lee, Ramos outfield."
Yeah.
And screw it, try to score seven runs.
Well, and then when Harrison Bader comes back.
Yeah.
Bader doesn't seem like he's close.
Matt Gage is close, and Tony said they're probably not gonna go back to four lefty relievers.
And- Okay Eric Miller has options and Ryver San Martn has options, so maybe a move coming there in the next few days.
And then Tyler Mally is on a rehab assignment, and a few days ago I think I would've gone, like, they're probably gonna stretch this one out.
But, you know, some of these guys in this rotation are not doing a very good job of holding off someone coming off the IL.
So- Yeah we might see him get a shot here soon.
the other bit of Giants news that I got s- asked about so much over the past few days, I promised everyone we would discuss it on this podcast, is Reggie Crawford.
Yes.
A name who, who comes up on this podcast quite a bit, mostly in the form of, "Do we have any updates on Reggie Crawford?"
"No, we don't."
"Do we have any updates on Reggie Crawford?"
"No, we don't."
Well, guess what?
We have an update, and it is so far in the other direction of what- Yeah I expected.
Reggie Crawford is back, and when I say back, he is back in the batter's box.
I thought it was a You know how these things are all, like, kinda automated?
You pull names into the lineup and you, you There's someone just kinda doing it on a computer and it shows up on Game Tracker.
Yeah.
I thought someone just hit the wrong name.
And they wrote Someone, someone put Reggie Crawford at DH instead of somebody else.
But- Yes no, he DH-ed on Friday.
And I will also say, you joke about people asking us all the time.
I take those questions and I think Giants officials are probably sick of me, like certain people, they're like, "Every time I see you, you ask how Reggie's doing."
So I've been very curious as well.
so here's the deal.
Reggie returned on Friday as a DH.
He is still rehabbing from a second shoulder surgery.
From what I've gathered, I think the rehab's been very slow.
Yeah.
it's been slow to come back.
And that's Look, Jason Foley and Sam Hentges are coming back from shoulder surgery, and we've seen the velocity issues that they've had.
I mean, Foley just got shut down for, for a week to try to, you know, get rid of some shoulder fatigue.
So those guys are one shoulder surgery.
This is back-to-back for Reggie.
so I think it's been a little slow.
I think there's been a lot of frustration.
not just anybody frustrated with him, but just with the process.
And he had not been on a field in two years.
And so it sounds like they looked at it and just went, "Hey, this guy can hit, too."
Like, and you know what?
There's no health risk here, so let's get him out there.
Let's let him hit.
Let's let him have some fun.
Let's let him play baseball again, which is great for him.
He hasn't played baseball in two years.
And let's see where this goes.
Now, he's 25 years old and he's playing in a league where, you know, Josh Var is there and Luis Hernandez is there, and that's kinda the caliber.
That's the age of player there, so this is unusual.
but he's gonna hit a little bit.
They're gonna see where it goes and they're gonna see, you know, how the pitching ends up.
They'd like to get him off a mound this summer.
I still think easily his beth- best path to the big leagues is on the mound if, i- if he gets over these shoulder issues and, and if You know, he was in triple-A and he was throwing 97, 98 from the left side.
Like, that works.
That- Yeah that is a- There's a space for that guy on a team.
Yeah.
And I think you look at somebody like Eric Miller right now, like, you don't even have to you wish he didn't walk as many guys, but, like, you don't even have to command it that, that much to You can, you can have some command issues when you're a lefty throwing that way.
So, that is the path for him, I think.
But there's this alternate path where he's a talented guy, he's a big guy, and, and, they'll see where this goes and, and you know, there's, there's a world where the arm just never bounces back.
Yeah.
And this is an opportunity for him.
So it would take a long time if, if he does end up doing the position player path.
you're basically starting from scratch because he, before the 2024 season, stopped hitting.
but I find it fascinating and I, I think it's I think it was a smart decision, one, 'cause he hasn't played baseball in two years, and let him, let him have some fun, let him enjoy this.
And two, I just think this is something that you and I will continue to follow, 'cause it is such an interesting story, and it would be such an incredible story.
regardless, if he reaches it as a pitcher after two shoulder surgeries, that's awesome.
If he gets to the big leagues as a position player after everything he's been through the last few years, that's, that's like movie stuff.
So.
Exactly.
To have a, a two-way prospect get drafted, immediately shift him to just pitcher, and then this pivot after him not touching dirt for, for two years.
Yeah.
He hits a home run right away.
It's It is, it really feels like a movie, Alex.
Yeah.
And I You know, there's also, like, there's maybe a world in which, neither path becomes clear, but you also say, like, this guy could be on a 26-man roster.
Um- And we'll figure out what to do with him he's a left-handed reliever.
Maybe the velocity doesn't get back to where it was, but he's still, you know, low to mid-90s.
And, we've spent enough time with him with the bat that, like, he could be a pinch hitter off the bench.
So maybe that's- Oh an option down the line.
But, I, I like to look and s- Alex yeah.
You're excited.
Oh, you're getting me hot and bothered.
We might have to bring Gabe and Farhan back for this one.
They're, they're dreaming of this.
But just having gotten to know him a little bit over the last few years and talked to him about it and knowing how hard he's worked, I'm very happy for him that he's playing baseball again.
And- Exactly.
I- Yeah.
I was We're all watching those box scores anyway because of the kids who are there, but this is gonna be fun to follow.
It, it's I have to imagine how hard it's been for him to be away from the game, healing, his future in question, and stepping back in there.
Being in the, the clubhouse again, being in the dugout again, being able to contribute again.
There's, there's a world where that even helps his path towards healing.
Yeah.
I, and I, I will say that is, that is something one Giants person told me.
They were like, "This might just help just, you know, just get him back on the field, get him back playing, and maybe this will help at some point with the pitching."
But- Yeah I'm fascinated to see where this goes and, and we will be I, I think we'll keep updating it here because it's- It's a really cool story now.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
As I promised in the intro, we are roughly a year away from the Rafi Devers trade with the Boston Red Sox, and it's about time we do a full debrief of how it's gone since then.
first question I guess would be, Alex, who won this trade?
I don't know that anyone did.
I'll tell you who won the trade.
I Well, I know a team who wasn't in the trade.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, the Milwaukee Brewers- won the trade.
And you know, I, I'm writing about this.
I'll have a story about this I think by the time the podcast goes up or people listen to it.
I kinda dug into everything, during some of these games the last couple days.
I really think the big winner here ended up being Kyle Harrison.
Yeah.
Who's- I think you're absolutely right he is pitching like an all-star.
if you take out the stupid Las Vegas numbers that he- Las Vegas.
He gave up eight runs in a series where I think there was an average of, like, six homers a game on that home stand.
If you take out those numbers, he has, like, a 1.4 ERA.
So he's pitching like an all-star.
He ended up in a great spot.
ultimately Kyle, I think, is, is the current winner.
But Milwaukee's the winner, Los Angeles is the loser.
Or Los Angeles is the winner.
I'll tell you, the big loser is the Boston Red Sox.
Yes.
That, that's pretty clear.
And then I, I think we've talked about this, but the Giants, I, I really am just gonna put in, like, a TBD because I, I do still think that was a trade they had to make.
And the concern here is they are 69 and 93 since that trade, and there's They thought they were opening up this window of contention and it was slammed shut faster than anybody could have imagined.
So- So fast I, that's kinda where I come at with the Giants.
And the other thing I'll touch on, and, and you can tell me how you grade them, but I do think there's also this weird element now of, like, Bryce Eldridge seems like he's pretty quickly becoming your best player and- And he's first you've locked off his position for the next eight years.
So.
Yeah.
And I, I ha- I think I haven't re-listened to that Devers Emergency pod, but I think we talked about that quite a bit, that they're, they're now filling in a role that we thought the they, they had planned out already- Yeah on paper.
it would be very curious to see.
Obviously you have to make that trade, but if you had a time machine and could see the results, do you still make that trade?
No.
Yeah.
Right?
No.
I think if, if you know where this team's headed record-wise, you hold your prospects.
It's the youth.
You hold your powder mostly, and you wait for, you know, you wait for the right opportunity to spend that 260 million.
Yeah.
but again, I think going back, like, that's a trade you have to make, but the shocking element here is them being essentially the worst team in Well, not quite, but, like, non Rockies category.
Like, pretty close to the worst- team in baseball since they made that trade.
Yeah.
And- And also, I'm gonna read you.
Yeah.
It's been 162 games for Devers.
Mm-hmm.
29 home runs, 235 average, 762 OPS, 209 strikeouts.
Ooh.
So he You know, there's been some power flashes, but he hasn't done his part either.
Yeah.
Um- Yeah.
And obviously- It's a little bit frustrating if he, if he had done his part in those 162, this conversation feels completely, completely different.
the really only silver lining is with how much ire, how much anger the Red Sox fans had to them, them coming out of it so much worse makes it- a little more palatable.
Yeah.
It's been rough over there as well.
but yeah, I, I think my main takeaway from this, and again, June 15th, the anniversary of this trade, it's been a year and I think you and I have always gone back to trade you have to make, and also could not ever have imagined it going this way over the last year.
I- They were battling for first, Alex.
Can you believe that?
A year ago, I can't even imagine myself sitting in this chair a year ago and we're talking about a first place team.
Did that really happen?
I think it was June 13th probably.
Like, that was, like, that Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
Wow.
and I, you know, to circle back, like, we talked about how this is maybe the best case scenario for an Eldridge launch over the last month.
Like, the Devers trade has pretty much, I think, ended up as a worst case scenario outcome.
Like, i- if you make that trade in a vacuum 100 times, I don't know how many times it, it looks worse than it has now, just because of where the teams ended up.
So.
Yeah.
Well, the same way they have to start winning seven of eight.
They have to start streaking on the positive side.
I'm just waiting for Rafi Devers to turn it on, to start his, his power surge and become that guy.
because I just feel like this, this cannot be him all the way.
Yeah.
They thought it was g- You know, you kinda almost knew at some point that contract's gonna hurt, but- You didn't expect it to be day one?
Not 25, 26, 27, 28.
Like, nope.
Not right now.
Yeah.
So.
Well, we'll schedule another debrief, I guess- Yeah for this time next year.
The two year anniversary.
Opening day.
Opening day 2027.
Opening day 2027.
We'll see you there.
All right.
We have some mail bag questions.
We have Giants versus Braves coming up.
But I wanna do a little bit of remembering some guys before we get to that.
Off the top, our old friend J- Gerard Encarnacion is heading across the Pacific, playing for the Yokohama BayStars.
Kinda fell off the face of the earth after the Giants let him go, and- He did he's going to Japan.
Um- Yeah.
He's, you know I, I always, I think that's a great spot for guys, when they end up there.
I know.
And, but yeah, it, it is a little like you look back and you go, "Man, we had a lot of conversations about those roster spots," and his spot specifically and, and, uh- This guy's gotta be on the team why him over other guys.
And like they let him go, and the whole league was just like, "Okay."
Yeah.
So, I'll run through these quickly.
Diamondbacks DFA'd Aramis Garcia.
The Blue Jays DFA'd Tyler Heineman, friend of the pod.
Um- No, I'm a big Heineman guy still.
Yeah.
We're having a lot of catcher DFAs la- former Giant catcher DFAs lately.
Um- Well, statistically, that makes sense.
Yeah, it does.
Bryce Johnson DFA'd by the Padres.
And this one, I don't know that we ever really included him in remembering some guys, but he was a Giant, and he ended up playing 134 games for the Padres over the last three years.
So- Wow.
Good pod technically was, in division quite a bit.
And then this, I'm gonna hit you with this one.
This might be my favorite one of the year.
Tristan Peters hits a homer off of Yoshinobu Yamamoto the other day to break up a no-hitter.
He was technically a Giant.
They acquired him for Trevor Rosenthal in a little nifty- Wow little album there back in the day when Trevor Rosenthal was, like, a Giant for five minutes.
Grateful.
and then traded him for Brett Wisely, and has bounced around, and now is in Chicago, and has found some success.
So that is- He- a former Giant breaking up a Dodgers no-hitter.
He's out there salvaging seasons for us, uh- Yeah against the Dodgers.
That's awesome.
I honestly, I saw the highlight.
I was like, "Oh wow, good for this kid."
Completely forgot that he was a, in the Giants organization.
This is my sickness of, writing- 100 transactions over the years.
and then one last one- Did you, were you watching that game?
I was.
And this is what- Oof I'm gonna give you one more to pump your fist on.
Oh, yeah.
Mookie Betts' error kept Yamamoto from tying the legend Yusmeiro Petit and- Legend his, his run of, his run of 46 consecutive outs.
So- All right Yusmeiro still in the record books.
Mookie looking out for us.
Tristan Peters- Yeah looking out for us.
Also, it is fascinating that what the Dodgers have, with what the Dodgers have put together down there, they haven't had a no-hitter since, what, Kershaw more than 10 years ago.
Is that true?
That Rockies game?
Oh, they, they had a, a combined.
But come on.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We, we don't as a society count those.
I do, but in this case I'll give it to you.
So, yeah, no, they, Yamamoto's come close.
And you- Yeah.
Oh, yeah really- Still can.
Absolutely.
By the way, hilarious National League Cy Young race this year that guys like Yamamoto are doing this.
And- Yeah they're, he might finish sixth.
Like, there's certain k- there's guys so far ahead of the field.
Yes.
So.
Yeah.
It's a wild one.
It is a wild one.
All right.
Before we go any further, Alex, I'd like to remind everyone that Giants Talk is presented by Mancini's Sleepworld.
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Okay, Alex.
We've got some mail bag questions from listeners.
As always, if you have a question for Giants Talk, go ahead and send it wherever you can find Alex or myself on social media.
We'll get it added to our queue and address it in an upcoming episode.
Up first today is Miles.
Miles says: With Webb not pushing to go back out for the ninth, do you think he is getting discouraged with the team, enough where he would ask for a trade?
The team hasn't been good for many years, and he's a super competitive guy who wants to pitch in the playoffs.
Well, we, we did talk about that, that they kinda told him he was done, and then said, "Hey, what else do you got?"
And he was like- Yes "I'm the..." So that was a miscommunication.
I don't think Logan would ever ask for a trade.
I don't think- Yes.
Th- yeah.
Let, let's just clarify.
This, of course- Yeah is referring to Logan's la- previous start before- The Monday, yeah Sunday.
Yeah.
I don't think Logan would ever ask for a trade.
I also think if it happened and they sent him to a contender or got him in the postseason, he'd be bummed, but probably not too bummed.
'Cause I think he desperately, desperately wants to pitch for a championship.
Yeah.
And, he wants to do it in San Francisco, and he said that on this podcast in March.
But they're not there right now.
Um- Yeah I would also say this is a Giants team, there as we just talked about, with Devers has built towards '26, '27, '28.
Like, they have this core, and I don't really see the point of trading Logan away from that core.
Like, that's a pretty big step back.
But I'm sure it's gonna be talked about a lot in this, in the next six weeks.
But I don't think he would ever ask for a trade.
I can't imagine Logan Webb asking for a trade.
No.
Being a NorCal guy, what kind of a, a betrayal of the fans that would be.
That would be bizarre.
Well, even if he did it behind closed doors, I just, I, I think, um- This isn't like the NBA where they just, like, full on get out there?
No, I, I don't think so.
But, look, he's pitching really well and he wants to pitch in the postseason.
And- Yeah he's, I'm sure there are gonna be teams that call the Giants and say, "What would it take?"
Yeah.
And you have to listen, but I, they're in this weird spot where they're not very good, but also, like, if you make a move like that you kinda go, "Okay, so now you have this really expensive lineup and maybe the worst starting staff in baseball.
And-" " so where are you now in 2027?"
Yeah.
Yeah.
next question's from Aiden.
Do you think Araiz being on the team has helped with Jung-hoo Lee's great production?
Maybe he's giving Lee some tips?
it hasn't really been talked about other than sometimes people ask those questions that are leading and it's like, what's the guy supposed to say?
No, he's not helping me at all?
Uh- Yeah, and then you get, "Jung-hoo Lee says Araiz not helping with his-" Yeah.
So sometimes people ask, they're like, "Hey, does it help you to watch Luis Araiz?"
Like, of course it does.
Um- Yeah at least maybe rubbed off a little bit.
I, I also think mostly like this is a guy who this is his third year now, and it's like, you know, he's older so we don't really think of him as a, as a young p- like player.
But imagine, think about like Casey Schmidt's path.
Don't.
Take the Bryce Eldgers out of this, but like the Casey Schmidt path of like got a little comfortable in the big leagues and figured it out.
So I think that's the case here.
I think he's, he's gotten comfortable and figured things out in the big leagues.
Yeah.
I'd like to remind people, we had a mailbag question, it was more like a mailbag scoop this off-season from someone who said, in the, the Korean interviews Lee had been being pretty candid about, things he had been struggling with, including like time zone changes- Yeah and stuff like that, and how it really seemed like 2026 was gonna be the year he turned it around.
And whoever submitted that, I could probably go hunt it down and check, was spot on.
Yeah.
This goes back to our old Kyle Harrison conversation where it's like, this is who he was supposed to be.
Yeah.
So he's just arrived.
Exactly.
all right.
From Chris, "Why has Michael Fulmer not been given a shot in the pen with the big club?
He has closing experience and his numbers look pretty good in the PCL this year.
3.29 ERA, 39 strikeouts in 27 innings."
Yeah.
He was in camp.
I, you know, there's kind of a stuff deficit there with him.
The fastball's 91, 92.
So, I think we'll probably see him at some point but they've Yeah.
They've I, I also think the fact they carry so many lefties all the time has just made it difficult on, on guys like Fulmer and Spencer Bivens.
Yeah.
But he, he's not really, you know, he's getting by a little bit more on pitch ability than, than stuff these days.
from Mark, "I know you're fairly adamant Jung-hoo Lee won't opt out, but according to FanGraphs the last two years of his contract drop back down a little.
With the qualifying offer being raised every year, I think he'd be right at that threshold.
Wouldn't the Giants offer him the qualifying offer anyways if he's performing similarly to now?
He's probably at his prime age, but I'd have to imagine he'll wanna maximize his earnings with a Boris encouragement of course, and get one more multi-year contract."
Yeah.
I, I think this stuff's gonna be touched on in the new CBA and what they do with this.
So it's, in terms of that, somebody asked us like an Araiz qualifying offer question and I'm like, it's a I, I don't think this current system will probably be They change it every time.
Yeah.
So I think there'll be It's not, I don't worry about that as much.
I will say the conversations we've had about the opt out were generally when he was hitting like 240.
Yeah.
Not when he was hitting 330.
So, now you look at it and there will be two years and 41 million left on that deal, and if this is who he is now, then yeah, that's an opt out.
Yeah.
but- It's been my fear, man.
That's been my fear it's been your fear.
So I tried to like calm you down, but then he became the hottest hitter in baseball, so.
No one could've seen that coming.
Yes.
He t- a guy would opt out of a, a two-year, $41 million deal at that point.
Yeah.
But we're a, we're a long way from that decision- Yeah actually being made.
AJ says, "One name you guys haven't mentioned lately is Jared Oliva.
I know he's rehabbing in triple A.
My guess the role Jonah Cox is filling is what they were missing when Oliva went down with the injury.
I really like Cox, but he does appear to need regular playing time.
The swings and misses don't look great, but then he comes through with a triple off the right field wall, so a little inconsistent."
Yeah.
"Is it possible we see Cox sent to Sacramento to play every day when Oliva comes back to fill that role?"
By the way, did you know Victor Barraco is still here?
Well, not really.
I ask that is 'cause he, he doesn't play anymore.
he's also young.
So I do think at some point when Ramos gets back, especially once Bader gets back, but these guys will probably have to go to triple A and, and, and play every day.
I don't think it'll be Jared Oliva who, who changes the math on that necessarily.
I think Ramos will be first, but- Mm-hmm Jared is rehabbing in triple A. we'll see what they do with him.
But him and Cox are very similar players.
And- Yeah so yeah.
I, I think at some point they're gonna have to let these guys play.
'Cause you did see, like we've seen the flashes, as you mentioned, and then you also see plenty of times where it's like, oh yeah, Jonah Cox never played in triple A. Yeah.
So he needs to play more baseball.
I mean, we talked about how that, the skill set they need him to bring to the team isn't really one that develops a ton.
Yeah.
It's just like go out there and be fast.
Hey, we're in the 10th inning, you're pinch running.
But that is also going to have implications on his full-time development and career if that's how he's used at this age.
Yeah.
Him and Barraco are young enough that they can still go play every day in triple A and try to- Yeah you know, turn into something.
So.
Yeah.
yeah.
He, they did not play a lot on the homestand.
One more question from Joshua.
Joshua says, "I enjoy cooking for and with my kids.
We have a new tradition started by my oldest to cook a meal each week based on a city the Giants are playing in.
Philly cheesesteaks when playing the Phillies, for example.
And when watching the ballgame we eat a new food.
It's been a fun way we've been able to get the kids to try new things.
So we're wondering, what are some of your favorite foods from certain cities and/or ballparks that we should try next?"
Giants upcoming cities are what?
Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix, Denver?
I think so.
That's right.
Yeah.
Atlanta, Mi- yeah.
I think they come home after that, but yeah, Atlanta, Miami.
you put lemon pepper wings here for Atlanta.
That's, I, I think they serve those only in strip clubs there.
Is that- Well, what are you, what, what's your implication, Alex?
What are you, what are you trying to say to me?
I, no implication.
I just- thought you might be right.
Uh- I'm gonna be honest, I haven't been to Atlanta since I was probably 11 years old, so not prime strip club, clientele.
Okay.
So I did a Google search.
Right.
What is , what is the must-have food of Atlanta?
And it seemed pretty unanimous.
I think there's a reason for that.
There's a reason for that.
People, people can figure it out.
Miami, a Cuban sandwich, like that's an easy one.
There, there's nothing like a good Cubano.
And, and it's, it's not hard to make at home.
Which by the way, you can get in the airport in Miami.
There- Oh, yeah there's a Versailles there.
Get a Cubano for the way home.
Uh- Period not hard to make at home.
And then because Chicago is here, I, like Italian beef seems like an easy one.
Yeah.
So.
And you watch some episodes of The Bear, I guess.
So I don't know how- Yeah how interested your kids would be in that.
Yeah.
I like this, though.
I like this idea of, This reminds me of during COVID when we had a cooking show with- Oh, yeah.
Me and Anthony Garcia at Kelly Johnson.
Incredible.
And Rich Aurilia was judging it via Zoom.
It was, wild times back then.
Yeah.
I would, I would love for Joshua to keep us updated on where, where, what his family's, makes as the Giants travel around the country.
Arizona, I got nothing.
I don't really have anything either.
I'm trying to I eat a lot of fast food it feels like when I'm in Arizona.
Yeah.
Denver, I- Denver omelette?
You do the Rocky Mountain Oysters.
Oh, that's a good answer.
Yeah.
"Hey, kids, don't ask what we're eating."
Might be tough to do at home, so.
All right.
Isn't there green chili there?
But maybe that's- Green chili?
Yeah, I don't know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, when they get to Cincinnati we know the answer there.
Don't do it.
Let's talk Giants versus Braves.
Alex, the Braves of course are the best team in the National League.
You already mentioned though that they're not playing the Giants at full strength.
Acuna is out.
Spencer Strider just got hurt.
Baldwin is rehabbing.
It sounds like he might be ready for the start of the series, but Acuna being out is, is the big one.
Um- Yeah, that's massive.
And then I think Strider would've pitched against him.
But anyway, and Chris Sale sounds like he I got some pitching problems from the Braves.
It looks like Chris Sale got pushed back- Okay a few days, so the Giants are missing, missing him, but it'll be Grant Holmes versus Adrian Houser, JR Richie versus Robbie Ray, and Martn Prez versus Landon Ropp on Thursday.
But yeah, they are, they're a juggernaut.
Yeah.
They're a And there, there's a, you know, two series in the next few weeks for the Giants with them on the schedule, so.
This is A- And to make, add insult to injury, to make it all worse, it is a team absolutely chock-full of former Giants.
Loaded.
Just, and not even like, like just guys who were on this team, but absolute fan favorites, absolute dudes who are missed.
Loaded.
Who, who would very possibly just be ganging up on the Giants.
Can I read you this headline I found when I was looking for Chris Sale news?
It, it's from a writer in Atlanta and the tweet is, "You could argue that Dom Smith, Mauricio Dubn, Mike Yastrzemski, and Jorge Mateo are collectively in the top two or three reasons why the Braves have been so good in 2026."
Oh.
"More than likely they've given Atlanta its deepest bench in years."
Wow.
So that's the story on MLB.com.
Wow.
Well, you, you already started rattling them off.
I know almost everyone who watches the Giants is a fan of Mike Yastrzemski.
Yeah.
What he brought to this team in his stint here was fabulous.
Mauricio Dubn, sword high, we remember you well here on this podcast.
Dom Smith, Austin wins.
And then you get into the coaches, and we've even got Ansuan Richardson- Yeah and JP Martinez.
Mauricio, if you listen to the pod, put a bunt down.
For old time's sake.
and then a couple y- Ha-Seong Kim, honorary almost Giant.
Yeah, yeah.
And then- It, lot of dudes- I didn't realize Yeah, I didn't realize Rowdy Tellez was there.
What is the opposite of a good Giant?
He's not a fan.
Not, not a fan of San Francisco, Rowdy Tellez.
Yeah, they always- Yeah Giants East, but it's especially this year, like- Yes all time remembering some guys group.
Yeah.
And with, with so many of the, the powerhouses of, of fan favorites injured right now, it, it really is like the guys we loved becoming the guys they love in Atlanta.
Yeah.
So a lot of guy, a lot of It's gonna be a weird It's funny, 'cause this is like Tony's homecoming so to speak.
It's three hours from Knoxville.
Mm-hmm.
His parents are flying down.
And I don't even know that he's gonna have the most conversations, 'cause it's, there's Yaz and Dubn and Dom and- Oh, absolutely it's the whole thing.
The whole pregame's just gonna be back and forth.
Yeah.
So.
It was adorable seeing the pictures of young Tony at the Cubs World Series game though, in the broadcast this past weekend.
Oh, I missed that.
Yeah.
It was a, it was, it was he was a baby.
Yeah.
Missed that one.
Yeah.
That was his, that was his hometown.
I mean, he was in St. Louis, but they used to go to a lot of Cubs games.
Yeah, yeah.
All right, Alex, as I mentioned, I have not been to Atlanta in 20-ish years.
I, I got a request from fans to do a little highlighting of what they need to try when they're at an opposing team's stadium or in an opposing team's city.
Do you have any tips for visiting Atlanta?
I did a little research of what they serve at the ballpark, and the one thing I found was a, a burger made up of two pounds of beef short rib, pork belly, cheese, and a fried egg.
Which I have to imagine costs like 50 bucks, but sounds absolutely delicious.
I believe I've mentioned this a few times here.
That is the only place I ever got sick doing Alex Eats.
And it was the predecessor, I believe, of this burger, which was like their blooper burger, and it was a- I love this grilled cheese, chicken tenders burger.
Every, like every condiment was a different food.
Like the bun was made of grilled cheese, and the- Oh instead of bacon strips it's like chick- whatever.
It was, it was a monstrosity.
And when I ordered it I think it was like $35, and the woman was like, "Are you sure you wanna order this?"
And realized later, later it was 'cause it'd been sitting out for a while just, like kind of as a display.
But, violently ill in a Marriott in- Incredible in Atlanta.
So best of luck to everybody trying- trying, trying their food.
The, the Braves did send out media information, and their popular concessions, four of them are barbecue places.
They have a wing place, and then obviously Chick-fil-A in the south.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah.
they Yeah, nothing.
I, I don't know what they're up to, but I, I still have nightmares about I think it was called the blooper burger or something like that.
So.
Man, justice for the blooper burger.
It got me.
It got me.
Got me good.
Oh, all right.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Giants Talk, everyone.
We will be back after this series in Atlanta to break down how it goes, talk about our, our friendly faces of Yaz, Dubn, and everyone else we've already mentioned.
and overall see, see how this team looks in a few more days.
In the meantime, don't forget to subscribe to Giants Talk wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Go ahead and give us a glowing review if you're a fan.
If you're not a fan, you can skip that part.
buy Alex's book, buy Dusty Baker's book.
Do all the things, and we will see you later.
