Giants Talk: Why San Francisco's 2026 season is highlighted by ‘unforced errors'
Giants Talk: Why San Francisco's 2026 season is highlighted by 'unforced errors' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Hey, what's up Giants fans?
Welcome to another episode of Giants Talk.
I'm Cole Kuiper here with Giants insider Alex Pavlovic.
The Giants take the series versus the A's, but fumble the sweep at the last second.
The bullpen issues with this team, I don't believe that.
We'll talk about that series, Buster Posey's press conference, and the upcoming Braves series.
Plus, we're being joined by Duane Kuiper to get some of his takes on what's going on in the world of Giants baseball.
We got a lot going on, but first, Giants Talk is presented by Mancini's Sleepworld.
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You can save up to $1,200 on cooling mattresses at the Mancini's Sleepworld 4th of July sale.
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All right, Alex.
We got the anti-Giants Talk series, which, as far as a record is concerned, better for the team.
But, two good games followed up by, n- one without many silver linings.
Yeah.
I mean, it was, it was going well for a while, and then just- That's true.
It, you know, the, the ninth inning really overshadows the rest of the other eight.
Yeah.
It's, it's just kind of unfortunately become the overpowering story of the season where so many other little things have gone wrong and, and big things have gone wrong.
But just over it all is that this is a really bad bullpen.
And it's- Sure.
Not something any- anyone could have predicted going into this year.
Who saw this coming?
that doesn't help by the way that everybody saw this coming and it's- Yes but it, it is, you know, I think of like the two worst bullpens I've covered in my 15 or 16 years, and I will forever think of 2016.
But that was a more of a ninth inning centralized issue.
Like- Mm-hmm cannot get the final three outs of a game, including in game four of the, first postseason series.
But- All they needed was Mark Melanson.
Yeah.
They, that didn't solve it.
I guess when I think of bad bullpens I- bring up early 2017 as well.
But yeah, this has just been a, you know, and even when guys are like, Dylan Smith had thrown pretty well since he came back.
Um- Mm-hmm for the most part.
Ryan Walker had thrown very well since he came back.
Caleb Killian had nine scoreless appearances since that Coors Field, you know, blow up in the ninth inning there.
He kind of figured it out.
Tony actually named him the closer.
And Tony said something after Robbie Ray's performance that, kind of resonated with me today, which was he's like, "These guys basically had an all-star break."
Because, you know, they, Atlanta, they didn't pitch that much because it was two games.
They get rained out.
Robbie comes out of the bullpen.
you know, gets pretty deep into that, that first game there.
Logan goes eight innings on Sunday.
Robbie goes eight innings on, on, Tuesday.
They had the day off at home on Monday.
So he's like, "These guys are all well rested, they're fresh."
He had his guys out there today.
He used everyone he needed to use, and they got a lead to Caleb Killian, who's been good the last couple weeks and this happened.
Like, it's just, it's just ongoing.
as you said, everybody saw this coming, and it has truly just derailed a season where at multiple points, like today's one of them where you're just kind of like, "Can you sweep the series?"
And then look, you just played well against the Braves.
The Braves are in a really bad spot right now.
Can you have a five and one home stand?
Like, maybe in a dream world, can you have a six and oh home stand and like feel good about yourselves and start to like build some momentum?
And it's just impossible because whenever they feel like they have the, the ball rolling in any way, they have one of these.
Yeah.
And it happens quite often.
Eighth time this year they've led after six innings and, and blown a lead.
It, it takes the wind out of the sails so much.
Yep.
and like you said, the most frustrating part is that this issue was talked about at length going into the year, so we all saw it coming.
Ryan Walker gave up those two, and then Caleb Killian just got bloops to death.
Single, wild pitch, walk, single, single, single.
Pile on started happening.
he had given up a run all June, but he's, he's supposed to be the closer.
Yep.
You know what?
It, it's one of those weird things where I think if you roll this season out 100 times and they're gonna it's never gonna be a good bullpen.
But there's other, there's other universes where like, hey, Caleb Killian gives up his He has this bad outing four days ago.
Like it's not- Yeah.
He doesn't have it now when you're holding a one run lead.
So they do have a special ability to kind of, you know, at the worst possible time every single time do this.
But it, it's, it's been an ongoing issue and I, I think really for me, I mean, one thing I wrote today, like I, I kind of go back to the off season where I had heard in November from Giants people, they're like, "We've had the discussions of every resource, whether it's dollars, whether it's trades, whether it's roster spots, needs to go to pitching."
And we talked about that here, and it made a ton of sense.
And I was like, "Okay, good.
I'm glad you guys realize this."
And then, you know, they kind of did it, but they also obviously didn't give Harrison Bader a decent contract.
They, they spent some money on Luis Arias.
that's worked out very well.
But, they, they didn't totally commit to just pitching, pitching, pitching, pitching.
And I, I think the- Oh, sorry.
Go on.
I'll just say I think the important thing ahead of the trade deadline is like how many arms can you get into this organization?
And, you know, u- upper level, like you're not gonna be able to trade for a closer.
Like, that's not First of all, no one's trading quality relievers this time anyway.
People are trying to get good relievers.
unless you're like- a true rebuilding team and you have a closer you wanna send off.
But can you get some guys in Double-A and Triple-A, like Blade Tidwell types, who we've seen some good things from him, and you can see how it can work for him.
they're trying him as a starter right now, but you can see how he can be part of the solution next year in the bullpen if, if that's the case.
Like, how many of those guys can they add over the next six weeks?
Because we know in the off-season they're gonna have to go out and, and add as well.
but I, I just think when you look back at spring training, like, and we talked about this at the time, there just weren't enough guys to, to potentially break through.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's, it's painfully clear that we were right at the start of the year.
It just, I think all of the other things that went wrong this year that now are kind of fixing themself.
The offense, I guess, being the one that is, is warming up.
Maybe not all the guys we want, but key players are contributing in a way that the Giants are scoring runs, really overshadowed early on the issues with the bullpen.
Yeah.
On the bright side, couple of guys who could very well be on the trade block, we've talked about it here on Giants Talk, had great weeks.
Yeah.
I mean, the, you know, the positive to the series, other than winning two out of three is I think at a time when things are starting to heat up.
And look, we get mail back questions from people who are like, "When are they gonna make a move?
When are they gonna make a move?"
They are, are very, very focused on the draft.
And this is traditionally what happens anyway.
Teams are, are extremely focused on the draft because Major League Baseball the draft is very, very difficult.
Um- Mm-hmm and you're picking a ton of guys and you're, you're looking at a ton of guys.
So teams are really dug in on the draft every year at this time.
And then once you get through that, and it's the All-Star break too, so a- after that it really starts to heat up trade-wise.
But I, I do think, like, this is still, this is still a time when, like, everyone's starting to do more serious scouting b- before the deadline.
And, and so a positive from this week is Robbie Ray looks good.
he's looked good two times in a row now.
he looks like he's, you know, mostly back to where he's been when he's been good as a Giant, and we know Robbie is gonna be one of the top potential starters out there on the market.
And then I We've talked about this and just had to kind of just be blunt about it, like, they need to have Tyler Maile be good so they can trade him.
And- Hey, and here we are.
I was very briefly on no hitter watch.
I, I was too, except I, I knew he had a pitch count, so I was like, "Eh, maybe combined."
Um- He was through, through, what, four with, or yeah, through four with- It was like- 50 pitches, I think.
Three perfect innings.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, he looked sharp.
Velocity was up.
he was pounding the strike zone.
He has been a very good big leaguer at times in the past.
So if he can get back to that, and again, we're just trying to be realistic about this.
Like, he becomes a, a decent trade chip for them.
It's not the way anyone anticipated this going when he signed, but he's on a one-year deal and, everyone's always looking for pitching.
And I, I thought the most interesting thing that maybe happened in Giants world, other than the obvious over the last few days, was David Peterson gets traded and he has a 6.0 ERA.
some of the advanced stuff on him is better, but he gets traded to the Cubs.
And it, it's not a huge return.
They get a, a Double-A or, or high-A, like, corner infielder back, a former second round pick.
But like- Mm-hmm it was just a reminder that when it comes to pitching, like, the bar is very, very low to actually be, you know, someone who is looked at as potentially a, a, a big help from other teams.
So- Yeah I do think they're gonna have some guys that, that can help and, and they're gonna have to trade those guys.
Yeah.
Well, if we're also mentioning the trade candidates having a good series, the number one trade candidate here on Giants Talk, unfortunately Luis Arias, caught a foul ball with his foot and has not played since.
not great for trade value, but Alex, we expecting to see him back soon?
Yeah, I think he, he, he could be back Friday.
So- Great he luckily X-rays came back negative.
And we've talked about him a lot.
we've talked about the need there to just make that move.
I, I will say MLB trade rumors put out like a top 30, 35 list.
He was number two behind Scoobell in terms of- Ooh trade chips available.
And, and you, you know, guys get traded that you never imagined, but it's Scoobell, Arias, Peralta at the top.
So like he's- Right he's gonna have a lot of suitors at the deadline.
so it's important for him to be healthy.
All right.
Does that mean we're on emergency podcast watch from here until the end of July, or can I relax for a few weeks?
I'll let you relax for like another week, but- whoever's got traded June 15th, so.
I know.
That's why I'm panicking.
Yeah.
I think everyone was at the draft combine this week, which alternately they were busy with that, but also- Mm-hmm they're all in one place, so maybe some conversations were had.
Yeah.
There we go.
With other teams.
But yeah, it's, we're getting close to that time.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's give a little bit of love to game two of the series, which was another As bad as the ending to Thursday's game was, Wednesday's game was just an all-timer for Giants fans.
The stadium was going insane on Victor Barraco To, having his absolute welcome to the big leagues moment.
Yeah.
just an absolute rocket.
the craziest part about that is he hit another home run Thursday with the exact same exit velocity and the exact same projected distance, which I don't think I've ever even seen two homers that had like the same distance or exit velocity in that similar timeframe.
Mm-hmm.
To have two in like 16 hours that were the exact same on both is insane.
But a really impressive couple days for Victor.
Shows off the arm as well.
you know, I thought just had, had good at bats.
And this is a guy who hadn't played in two weeks, and we talked about how- On the last podcast, I think, how unfair it was that he had not played and they threw him out there in the eighth inning of a game and, and said, you know, "Go and try to tie it," against a guy- Yeah throwing, like, Frisbee sliders.
Um- He's just, like, atrophying.
Yeah.
But to his credit, he put the work in, and he was doing early work every day, and he stayed sharp.
And I'm fascinated by what comes next.
Because if you had asked me o- on Wednesday morning, like, "What's the next roster move?"
It would be Elliot Ramos returns and Victor Barraco Cotto goes back to triple A.
'Cause he just wasn't playing.
That doesn't seem viable now.
Yeah.
He's 24 years old.
He wasn't playing.
He needs to play every day.
y- we've seen there's, like, a really impressive tool set there.
So it's like, get this guy more reps.
But now you also look at him and go, he's just had, like, the best 48 hours.
there's been some other stretches, but, like, a really impressive 48 hours- Yeah for a young guy.
And we've seen a lot from him.
And, like, now what do they do?
'Cause i- if Arias is back on Friday, and Casey Schmidt goes back to the outfield, and Elliot Ramos is ready, like, I don't know that you wanna send Jonah Cox out either because he's, he's pretty valuable as a speed guy even though he's not playing, so.
Yeah.
It's a really interesting decision they have to make, and potentially, like, a really tough one where, yeah, I, I don't know what they're gonna do with this one.
It seemed easy two days ago.
But I, I think it was impressive with the skill set.
And also, you know, we should mention Victor's going through a lot.
he's Venezuelan a- along with Arias, Jos Butto, and their bullpen catcher, Elas Zambrano.
And Victor in particular after that game on, on Wednesday, he goes back to the clubhouse and they do the whole celebration, and he picks up his phone, and he kinda got a sense of how He knew there was earthquakes obviously, but he didn't realize how bad everything was, so.
Yeah.
Um- What, 7.1 in Caracas?
Yeah.
And he told us today that he's, his brother, lost his girlfriend in one of the- Oh, wow earthquakes.
So been through a lot.
Thoughts are obviously w- with all those guys.
And the Giants have a long history.
You know, Pablo is Venezuelan.
Gregor Blanco.
I think at one point they had, like, six or seven Venezuelan guys on one of those teams.
So a lot of guys with Giants ties.
and I think some of them, you know, from what I've heard, some of them have some real concerns, about family members and, and friends back in Venezuela.
But a, a, a tough couple days for all those guys, but also for Victor I think.
Like, a, a very eye-opening couple days baseball wise.
Yeah.
I'm, I'm rocking my Tigres de Aragua Venezuelan League hat right now.
Ooh.
Love it.
Love it.
Well, I mean, now I feel weird celebrating the rest of the stuff that went on at the end- Yeah of that game.
But to recap it, at the very least it was more than just a bat.
Barraco Cotto had that awesome throw, just an absolute laser to catch the runner at home after the Giants had an error passed ball get to the outfield.
Beyond that, Jung-hoo Lee, incredible catch in the corner for a guy who I would not, tag that, saved the game.
Devers gets his home run in the midst of, I guess, a controversy.
He's certainly a discussion topic right now.
Yes.
His, or his bobblehead.
Just seemed like all the boxes got checked.
Yeah.
And, you know, with Lee in particular, like, he has pretty quickly And maybe it makes sense because one of his closest friends is Mike Yastrzemski, who I think played the actual dimensions of right field there as- Mm-hmm better than anybody.
So maybe he's gotten a lot of texts or maybe Mike just left him, like, a little map of- this is how you do it.
But he's really good out there at Oracle in particular.
Like, I think he's generally been as, a good defender this season, but he's really kind of figured out those corners and, and the gaps and, it's been impressive.
Yeah.
Oh, and can we talk about his home run to center?
Yeah.
I don't think even he knew he had that in him, so.
That was awesome.
Who needs to worry about triples alley when you can just do that?
There was a couple in this series that shocked me.
One was that, because you see that ball all the time.
Mm-hmm.
And you just, you assume it's, with anybody you assume it's not going out, and it just kept carrying and carrying.
I'm like, did not know Jung-hoo had that in him.
And then, you know, the Barraco Cotto one just from a journalist standpoint, like, I'm rewriting my story 'cause Devers just homers.
And all of a sudden everyone goes nuts and you look up and it's like the ball's no doubt it's gone, so.
No doubt.
yeah.
It was, it was a surprising- They called that one 445, I think.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was a lot.
Monster shot.
Awesome.
Well, for as rough as this series ended, I guess there were some highlights.
Any other big talking points, Alex?
I have a short list of things that I wrote down dur- during the series that are not worthy of 10 minutes of discussion, but, I love Casey Schmidt's glove flip in ga- not glove flip.
His flip in game two to start the double play.
Mm-hmm.
And it just, I watched it and it just, you know, I think it's extremely clear, and this is not breaking news, but, like, they need to trade an infielder because Casey is an infielder.
Like, he's- Yeah he's done a decent job in the out- He's, you know, for what they've asked he's done a great job in the outfield.
But you watch him on the dirt and you're just like, "Oh yeah, he was supposed to be Matt Chapman at third."
And they put him back at second when he's barely played there in a month, and looks right at home.
So that's probably the spot for him, and they just need to get him back on the dirt and let him work with Wash every day, 'cause he's- Yeah become a really good hitter.
Jonah Cox did not steal a base, but he was on first and Matt Chapman was the play, and Chapman fouled a bunch of pitches off as Cox was going against the lefty.
And just kind of watching that whole sequence, you can see why he's so good, and it just made me think he's gonna have, if he hits even a little bit he's gonna have a long career.
'Cause he, he really has everything down already at first base, which is- Again, didn't get the stolen base, but watching it I was like, "Okay, you can see why this guy stole so much in the minors."
And- Yeah the speed will play at this level.
The jumps he was getting off a lefty were, were really impressive.
also impressive for me, I, I know you're a big hot dog, sausage guy at the ballpark.
I'm generally- I am not.
Chicken tender guy.
Well-known fact, they're smaller this year.
I think every- everyone's figured that out by now.
But, like, the sausages at the ballpark are huge.
I, I You can't make sausages smaller, Alex.
You can, you can mess around with the, the chicken tender size, but the sausage casing- Yeah it's a certain size.
You're gonna get You, you can't get ripped off on a hot dog or a sausage.
I had one Tuesday, first time in a while.
Just wanted to shout out.
What is your accoutrement on your ballpark- Just mustard and ketchup for me.
Keep it simple.
Great.
But- Love it I was pleasantly surprised given some of, you know, we're headed in a different direction a lot of times with ballpark food, and I was like, "You know what?
The old standby, like, it's still there for you."
So.
Love that.
So I And I know that's what you do.
You just go to a ballgame and have a hot dog.
Are you gonna get Cracker Jacks at your next game?
Just really run it back old school style?
I might test out how, you know, how many Cracker Jacks are in the box now, so.
But impressed by that.
two quick things I did not love.
Not really cool to option Tristan Beck on his birthday.
I know you had no choice, Giants, but, like- Yeah, that's rough.
That is rough it's a little rough.
I hope someone at least, like, got him a house of Prime Rib reservation or something and was like- Yeah "Go have a nice night before going-" Is that just patronizing?
Just enjoy a nice birthday night before going home.
And then I, I want your opinion on this.
During today's game, the Giants advertised the split Giants A's hat, which was on sale at the ballpark.
I, I've never been a fan of that hat.
Hugely unpopular take.
I love the split hat, Alex.
Oh.
I love it.
I ruined an A's hat and a, a Giants hat a few years ago trying to hand make one of those neon orange City Connect split hats.
Of course you did.
Just wanted to piss off everyone at the ballpark.
Um- I saw that in the store and I'm like, "Is this Are they actually selling this at the ballpark?"
And yes, they are.
Yeah.
And it's like- I, I loved going to A's fans as a kid.
I didn't see the A's as like a Dodger style rival.
I saw them as like a sibling style rival.
They were my, my American League team for so long.
I don't know if they are anymore.
I don't know if they're anyone's team anymore, but I, I, I'm a, I'm an A's guy or at least I was and I If I If they'd sold the split hat at the Dugout store in 2000, I don't know, 10, 2009, I'd have bought it in an instant and worn it as often as possible.
But I also do enjoy making people upset.
I have good news for you.
They're selling the hat, so.
I'm gonna get one.
you know- I'm gonna get one this weekend.
Maybe someone will send you one.
Yeah.
It's, I was a little surprised, but actually on sale, so all right.
You're, you're the guy who wears team gear, so needed your opinion on that one.
That's right.
I had nothing against the A's.
I went to the Coliseum all the time as a kid.
$2 tickets, dollar hot dog.
I think it was Wednesday nights.
So, did that all the time.
Just it, it is a little funny how quick You know, they had the banner out there again, the, the area code banner with the, like, heart in the middle or handshake in the middle.
I was like, really moving quickly in on the- Yeah history here, so.
Yeah.
I, I always just feel like the split hat was one of those things people just It's a rule.
You know?
Like, oh, we, we don't call it San Fran, and we hate the split cap, and we don't put ketchup on our hot dogs.
It's like, look, I Some of those things I might be okay with, guys.
Okay.
Surprising.
Wow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I wish we could run a poll right now, but.
I would be curious to see if I am sure most people listening are anti split hat, but if you're not, if you think the split hat's cool, I want to hear from you.
If you think it's cool, I have good news for you.
It is currently on sale- at the Giants Dugout store.
So.
all right.
Anyway, sorry to end on that series.
Yeah.
Well, I have, I, I guess, another thing I'm not a fan of going on.
I think, it's, it's worth mentioning the Giants are still in, I guess, PR hot water is how we could put it.
it doesn't seem like, anything has really gone le- gone right since the, the Pride Night debacle.
Finally, the Giants top brass is coming out and speaking, but are they really speaking?
Buster Posey sat down for questions.
You were sitting shoulder to shoulder with him.
I was.
I saw you in all the clips.
Larry came on KMBR just on Thursday.
He did his bit.
Alex, you were there.
What, what, what was your take on Buster's press conference?
I, I was not the least bit surprised because I, I think You- I, I guess I was surprised that they sent him out there for that, ultimately, like, if that was the way it was gonna go and he, he just wanted to answer baseball questions.
But I covered basically his whole career, and the only time I can ever remember him, you know, wading into anything slightly controversial was when Melky got suspended, and he was pretty firm at his locker that day, and it was notable 'cause he was young and he was not an MVP yet, and he, he was pretty forceful with his comments.
But, you know, when I was writing my book, I went back and watched that and, and read the comments, and they actually weren't, like, that spicy.
It was just like- Mm-hmm no one expected Buster to be the one to stand up there and, and, and speak for the team then, because of his age.
So it I just don't think it's something he's, he's comfortable doing.
I don't think it's something he's ever done.
I think my main opinion on this whole thing is that I think what they did on Thursday is what they should've done a week ago, and if, if this is the statement they wanna give and the way they wanna handle it, it's something Larry should've done a while ago.
Um- Yeah so yeah.
It's been the, you know, it's season, a season of unforced errors in a lot of ways.
Um- And I thought this was included, like, just to You know, once, once you see that crowd there, like, pretty obvious people aren't there to really ask.
some interesting things actually came out of that session.
Like, very forceful no to will you accept, like, Logan Webb trade offers.
said he hasn't talked to Adames and Chapman about waiving their no trade clauses.
I think, you know, the Devers stuff just I found interesting, just the whole mechanics of it.
Buster had not talked to him at the time, which obviously a lot of people had opinions on that as well.
but yeah, when, when you see a bunch of local news cameras there, like, there's, this is the direction this is heading, and, was not handled well.
And it, it just kind of continues a story that I think they probably could've, like, put the fire out a long time ago.
Yeah.
They're, they're not saying the right things.
They're saying them too late.
It, it's, just as, as bad as the bullpen has been, it's almost just like they're- It- they're blowing it here- Yeah as well, which is just brutal.
it's, it's disappointing to see, and I really, as much as, like, stick our head in the sand and wait for it to go away is a PR strategy that we see implemented all the time by all sorts of organizations w- within and outside the sports world.
I don't really feel like this one's going away, at least not until the team starts playing better and has that as a distraction.
Um- Yeah.
I, I guess I would disagree a little bit on that, just like, you know, there was, like, a couple people grumbling at Landon Rook today, but I, I don't know what the ne- I don't know where there are any more legs to this story other than a year from now.
Yeah.
When the decision is gonna be do you, you know, what, are you wearing pride hats, next June?
So, I don't know.
I've been surprised.
I didn't expect the vice president to tweet about it, so I- Like, I've been surprised where, from where this, the story has gone.
But I, I do think in general these things have a little bit of a shelf life, just in terms of being that mu- certainly I'm, I'm not saying anyone's anger or anyone's feelings about it.
I'm just saying in terms of it being that big a, a story, probably I, I think it's probably close to hitting the end of the line, but it, it is one that did take over a couple weeks of a season and, you know, there were ways to avoid that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The follow-up was Larry coming on to do an interview on KMBR today.
We're recording this on Thursday.
And then I believe they sent out a, email to ticket holders from Larry following that.
So- Yeah kind of finally addressing the situation.
but again, it seems like for this tactic to have been effective, it needed to have been deployed right away and I don't know.
I'm seeing a lot of upset people, and I hear from a lot of upset people.
Yeah.
No, I, I do as well.
but the I think they were trying to ride this out and probably thought it was two days, not two weeks.
Yeah.
And, yeah.
They c- caught them off guard.
Yeah.
The other, you know, it- I, it, I feel so silly calling this one a controversy, but we did get information, as you mentioned, about the Rafi Devers situation.
Yeah.
Devers says he apologized to Tony and then had to pepper in a little, little neg at blaming the media for blowing it out of proportion.
Well, I do want to mention first, like, one of the strange things about the Buster press conference was no one had-- They had an off day after the And the Devers thing happened in the ninth inning, and, you know, he didn't speak on Sunday, and I think Tony tried to brush it aside.
So it really hadn't been addressed.
And I, I know when I'm sitting there with reporters waiting for Buster, like, there were some people who were, and I saw people on social media say the same, who were like, "You know, is Buster coming out 'cause they're gonna suspend Devers for a game or, like, bench him for the series?"
Or things like that.
And so there was an element to that too where that was, like, hanging over, like, potentially a big baseball story.
Mm-hmm.
And ultimately ends up being absolutely nothing, 'cause they're, they're kind of like, it's, you know, everything's fine.
Tony felt fine with it.
Devers kind of reiterated that he, he says he was, telling Tony, "My hamstring's okay."
I think my pushback on that would be, "Okay, when you got to the dugout, were you still th- thinking about your hamstring?"
'Cause it didn't look like- Just- You know.
Were you trying to make sure Jace Tingler didn't pat your hamstring?
Like, it was so- I said it was okay, but it's not that okay.
Yeah.
I don't, I don't totally.
and then the media stuff, I just Look, I'm not trying to beef with anybody, but I, I just think that's, like, the laziest criticism of It, it's, it's become a thing to do in the last decade for a very obvious reason.
And, it's, it's very easy just to blame the media when, when something goes wrong.
And my response would just be like, "Ninth inning, one run game, very publicly wagged your finger at your manager.
I don't know why anyone's surprised that became a story."
So.
Yeah.
Well, on the other hand, fake news.
On the other hand, fake news.
It's always very easy just to do the old- and you know, I, I never really I'm one of those guys who I'm, I don't-- Some reporters feel differently.
I don't ever think anyone owes us anything, for the most part.
And, and if he doesn't want to talk to the media, like, look, he hits the game-tying homer on Wednesday, and he, he turned down interview requests afterwards.
That's just- Yeah he, he's been that way the whole time.
He doesn't want to talk to us.
But I do think there's special circumstances and, one of them is publicly, you know, seemingly going against a, a first-year manager who, oh, by the way, everything Tony does is heavily scrutinized because this is historic and, you put him in a really tough spot.
So yeah, I, I think that was a story.
I still kind of think, don't really believe much of it, but they've moved on.
But that's their story and they're sticking to it.
Yeah.
So it's And I, you know, the most important thing, I, I genuinely think Tony has zero issue with him.
Like, he- Yeah I was right next to him as well when he, he throws in a town reference of like, "Whose car are we taking?"
If- I caught that, yeah.
Yeah.
Which was great.
I, as a big town guy, I, I kinda did a double take.
couple good Tony jokes during this, this homestand.
But, y- you could see it in his eyes, like how, how fondly he thinks of, of Rafael Devers.
So they don't have an issue, but I also would say that was, like, a very notable moment and had to be addressed- Yeah and covered.
All right.
We got a quick remembering some guys coming up, plus a preview of Giants versus Braves, and Duane Kuiper joining us on today's episode.
Before we get into that, though, Giants Talk is presented by Mancini's Sleepworld.
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All right, Alex.
We have a surprising amount of, of former Giants bopping around, making moves, getting added, getting dropped, that we can run through here today as part of a remembering of some guys.
Never underestimate my ability to find content for remembering some guys.
I popped two in here and, like, blinked and it was tripled.
It was, yeah.
Jared Olvey, now in New York Met.
nice guy, who was very excited to make the opening day roster.
All right.
He finds a role there in New York.
The Rangers signed Austin Wynn.
The Orioles added Chad Bucktrum to the roster, and the Rockies released Andrew Kinsler, which is continuing our trend of discussing former nice catchers.
Uh- I love it.
I love it we'll do every episode 'cause they, these guys are just circling around the league taking- Always on the move taking each other's jobs.
Uh- Traveling catchers John Foglia.
Ooh.
Colorado Rockies selected him.
All right.
Good for him.
not where you wanna be as a, a bullpen guy, but hey, if anyone can make light of it and have fun over there, it's him.
He's trying to chase down the San Francisco Giants and they're- Yeah.
Well, that's true.
Luke Jackson released by the Royals.
I had not realized Luke had been on five teams since his Giants tenure.
Luke is collecting hats.
He is collecting hats.
And then this one, this is sad.
Justin Verlander, who I think maybe got talked about on this podcast more than anybody last season, has a hamstring issue and went on the IL right after coming back.
He's made one start all season, and his quote to reporters in Detroit was, "I've always said I want to play until the wheels fall off, and I don't know, maybe they are falling off."
So- Oh seems like we're getting kind of a sad ending here to- That's a dagger in the heart.
Yeah.
I mean, I, I think you and I, I really enjoyed covering him and I think we, we talked quite often about the Giants' failure to help him get to 300 wins, but- Yeah sa- and I think we joked about, like, what if he gets to, like, 297 and we're like, "Remember when the Giants blew every one of his games for two months?"
Ex- exactly.
So at least they dodged that situation.
Yeah.
It seems like that's been dodged.
But still, absolute bummer.
He's a legend to the sport.
He was a good Giant while he was here.
A cool mentor to have.
One of those guys who years from now, when you see those pictures of him in a Giants hat, they'll be like, "Oh yeah.
That's right."
Yeah.
Yeah.
Randy Johnson.
Sure.
Justin Verlander.
I, well, he's gonna go in the Hall of Fame and I'm gonna be like, "I remember covering that guy."
So.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Y- I wonder- Hopefully how much the Giants would have to offer him to go in in the Giants hat.
Split cap?
Split cap.
Let's go.
Huggers Giants?
All right.
The Atlanta Braves, who I feel like we just saw, are coming to town.
We already know that half their roster is filled with our old friends, familiar faces.
Seems like the other half of the roster is all finalists to go to the All-Star Game.
Yeah.
Pretty much.
Who do we have on the pitching mound?
Giants, by the way, do not have an All-Star finalist, if you were wondering.
So.
Shocked.
Shocked.
You probably, probably were not.
yeah.
We saw the Braves a week ago.
Since then they have traded for Joey Bart, s- who hit a home run in San Diego.
So one more old friend in, in Atlanta.
It is Rinaldo Lopez versus Trevor McDonald, Bryce Elder versus Logan Webb, and then Chris Sale versus Robbie Ray.
So- We didn't, we didn't get a look at Bryce Elder last time.
Yeah.
But that's gonna be fun when we get that matchup of Bryce Elder, Bryce Eldridge.
You wrote Elder Eldridge into our notes a week ago and I had to delete it- I did 'cause it wasn't happening.
But- You stole that content from me.
I deleted it 'cause I was like, "That's, I've seen the pitching matchups."
But yeah.
We're gonna get that.
and then, you know, Chris Sale on, so the Giants are, i- it's gonna be tougher than it was a week ago.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That, I mean, since then, though, the Braves did get swept by the Padres.
They got bumped down from best record in the National League in Major League Baseball to third best in the National League in Major League Baseball.
That is a little bit of shade I'm throwing towards the American League.
Tighten it up, guys.
and then for those attending this weekend, we have Rafi Devers Bobblehead Day on Saturday, and they're giving away a camo shirt on Sunday.
I can't imagine those lines will be as long as Hello Kitty, but bobbleheads are always popular, so get there early.
Truly incredible timing.
So.
It really is.
He, he gets him, his self back in good graces with a comeback home run.
It's incredible.
It's, it's good timing.
Yeah, it'll be And look, the, the weather during the A's games was unbelievable.
So, um- Honestly, one of the main reasons I might not go this weekend is 'cause I'm already sunburned 'cause the weather's- Yeah been so good.
Yeah.
So I, if you see me in the bleachers, I'm gonna be in one of those big straw hats covering up as much as I can.
Yeah.
I think it's gonna be a crowded, crowded weekend.
I think they drew 40,000, 37, and then 33 the last three games.
and you know, probably a lot of people from Sacramento coming down to see Doobie.
So.
There we go.
Well, it'll be fun.
I, you know- I always like seeing old friends.
Yeah.
And there's 17 of them over there.
All right.
We've got Duane Kuiper joining us on today's episode of Giants Talk.
We haven't checked in with him in a while.
Let's get a look inside the brain of Duane Kuiper to see what he thinks of what's going on in the 2026 Giants.
All right.
We are thrilled on today's episode to be joined by the one and only Duane Kuiper.
we talked about getting you on after the Giants were ahead in this A series.
I was hoping we could get you after a sweep since we tend to end up with you in rough spots and, this does feel like a rough part in a Giants season right now.
So up in the broadcast booth, when we get to a point in the season like this, does that impact the way you go about calling a game?
Well, first of all, if, if the Giants lose the game on Tuesday and then they win the next two, we have a whole different attitude on what we're doing tonight.
The order of operations matters a lot.
I mean, the whole order of how you win and how you lose, and then how you have the lead and it looks like you're gonna sweep the A's and but as far as what we do broadcast-wise, you know, and I, I really believe that unless you're involved in a 12-game losing streak, you pretty much I mean, at least Mike and I, when we're together, it's not just another game, but it's just another game.
Yeah.
And, and we have to treat it like that because otherwise I mean, you have to be careful where you, where in- and we've been caught a few times, where at the end of the year you're involved in a pennant race and you say, "This is a must-win."
Well, if you don't win, now what are you gonna say?
Yeah.
I guess the next day you gotta say it's a must-win.
So we don't get involved in those must-win situations, but we do definitely clarify the fact that it's a big, important game.
And right now every game is important, and every game is big because, you know, what we're all hoping for is not to take two out of three from a team, but to win three, win three, now take two out of three, and all of a sudden you've got some momentum where you can inch back to that 500 mark.
Which 500 is average, but at this point we'd be really happy to be average.
Yeah.
You've been in the booth for quite a while, but you played for a decade plus.
I'm sure you had some rough patches in the dugout or on the field with some of those teams you were on on the Giants and in Cleveland.
Is there a season that stands out to you when you were in the dugout like, "Oof, this is, this is a tough one"?
Yeah.
Well, remember at '85 we lost 100 games.
That'll do it.
And, you know, that was the year that coming out of spring training, they, you know, they're gonna release me, and I needed 30 days for 10 years.
And, talked to Tom Haller and Bob Lurie, and Jim Davenport was the manager.
So they put me on the DL to start out the season for 30 days.
So I got my 10 years in, but then the night of the anniversary for me, my 10 years, they traded Johnny LeMaster to Cleveland and they activated me.
I mean, I, all I've been doing is throwing batting practice, and they gave Johnny LeMaster my ticket to Cleveland.
We were in Pittsburgh.
Hey, I remember Da- Jim Davenport said, "Hey, Kuiper, give your ticket to LeMaster.
We, we're gonna activate you."
And I said, "Are you gonna activate me?
What are you doing?"
Right?
So anyway, it w- I was really lucky.
I got another two months, you know, to be in the Major Leagues.
But losing 100 games is not fun.
Yeah.
And, and you know, if you really talk to Mike about it, it was a team that was pretty talented, but they just didn't hit at all.
At all.
I mean, Jim Davenport would call a meeting and he'd say, "We're gonna hit," and we never hit.
And, consequently it was a, a 100 loss season.
But, you know, you have to watch to see what guys hang in there during 100 loss season and what guys, you know, jump the ship.
And the ones that hang in there are the ones that you wanna be teammates with for a long time.
And there was a bunch of guys on that team that hung in there, and they had a chance to be involved in the, in the rebound of '76, '70 or, '86.
'87 they go to the playoffs.
'88 they're really good.
'89 they go to the World Series.
So when it's all said and done, 100 yard or 100 loss season is bad, but there's always some good things that happen.
Duane, you, you mentioned 10 years, and I think a lot of people don't realize how important that is.
Like, there's clubhouse celebrations.
you know, like the Players Association now mentions everyone who gets to 10 years on social media.
I know there's like pension stuff and healthcare stuff, but isn't there also like a card that you can go to every game?
Not that you need it, but you- Yeah are there still perks like that when you reach the 10 years?
I think it's eight for that, for the card.
and then for the 10 it's how you max out on your pension.
and you know, and look, that's important.
I mean, I At the time it's, it's never important because you're in your 30s or maybe your early 40s and you don't think about pensions.
I mean, you're thinking about getting up the next morning and raising a couple of kids or, or thinking about, in my case, uh- You know, at, at the end of my career getting married.
but 10 years is important, but eight years And I still have the card.
It's called a Gold Card.
Yeah.
And it allows you to go to any game in, you know, assuming that there are tickets available, I mean, you're allowed to go to any game anywhere.
And, and I talked to a lot of guys, and I've heard a lot of guys talk about it.
They're super proud to have the card, but yet I don't think they've ever used it or maybe even know how to use it, for that matter.
I've never talked to anyone who has actually used it.
So I know- Yeah, I'd, I'd love to know what even like a, an usher or ticket taker at Oracle Park- Yeah would do if presented with a card.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, I mean, I, I think what you'd have to do is call Russ Stanley and say, "Look, I got this card."
And he'd say, "Never mind the card.
If you, if you're a former Giant, you can sit wherever you want."
I got tickets for you.
I, w- I was thinking about your past career as a second baseman.
Cole and I were talking about a, a play in the series where Chapman stepped on Zack Galef's hand, and- Yeah I, I think Chapman sent him a bottle of wine it sounds like.
Is it, it is a little bit of like a I'm sorry about that, even though it's just a weird play all around.
As, as a former infielder, did you get a little squeamish just thinking about that and your days of, of maybe getting stepped on?
You know, if you and I were together, Alex, and the sun was out, and I put both of my hands out for you to see, you would ski that see that I have nicks and little scars all over both the back of my hands.
Nothing as bad as what happened with Galef.
And there wasn't anything Chapman could do.
Galef, for whatever reason, you know, threw his glove down there, and then, I don't know, he got a little bit off balance, and all of a sudden his bare hand is right in front of the bag.
And, and that's when Chapman stepped on it.
I mean, he stepped on it hard.
I, I was shocked that there wasn't any broken bones and, and I'm really glad because he's a good, he's a good kid and he's a good player.
you know, look, Chapman's a former A, you know, good for him, but he didn't, he didn't do anything wrong.
Yeah.
I mean, there wasn't anything he could do to avoid that.
But your hands are You know, if you're gonna play the, if you're gonna play the middle infield spot and play it well, you're gonna get nicked up with your hands.
And, especially nowadays where you have to apply the tag.
There's no such thing as the phantom tag, you know, because of replay.
I mean, we did have the phantom tag, but nevertheless you still got caught with, with spikes coming in.
I got, I got stepped on just like that in triple A where they cut a tendon in my right hand.
And, it was on a Friday night.
And I remember I went to the hospital and they stitched it up.
And that night our triple A manager got a call from Cleveland saying that Jack Brohamer, the second baseman, got hurt, they needed me to come up.
If our triple A manager would've told them that I got hurt, I wouldn't know this is what would've happened.
Yeah.
I showed up with stitches in my hand and, you know, they were like, "What the he- What's going on?"
but I was still able to play.
And, you know, and I, and I played really well.
But, but I'll, I'll never, ever, you know, forget the fact that, that I had a guy that, you know, you know, he knew how important it was to get to the big leagues and, he didn't say anything.
his last name was Davis.
I can't think of his first name, but he was a massive old-timer in triple A.
And, and, you know what, I'll, I'll always love him for it.
All right.
It's been a, a tough time for the Giants, but I think a bright spot recently, not the last few days but the last month or so, has been Bryce Eldridge.
When you I, I know you're on the field a lot now.
He's a talkative guy.
I'm sure you've gotten to chat with him a little bit.
But watching him, talking to him, kind of hearing the confidence, does he remind you of anybody?
Does he D- Has anything stood out to you other than, like, the obvious, just being that cl- being around him the last few weeks?
Well, not personality wise but, but at bat, player wise, he's a lot like Belt with his knowledge of the strike zone and, and how tall and lanky he is.
And, and I don't know if he'll ever be as good defensively as Belt, but he's not bad over there at first.
I mean, he's really worked at it.
you know, as far as his personality, he's probably, he's probably more like Joe Panik than, you know, than Willie Adams.
You know, kind of a quiet guy but really confident, always friendly.
And then always that, you know, that was the beauty of Joe who, you know, was really just a terrific guy.
You know, the other thing about Eldridge is he wants to be, he wants to be the face of the franchise.
He does.
And, that's a big, big responsibility.
so you know, let's watch him progress like he is and, you know, we'll see where this goes in the next four or five years.
But he ain't going anywhere, folks.
He's gonna be in that lineup every day for a long time.
Dwayne, I'll, I'll finish with this.
It's, it's been an interesting few weeks for Buster Posey.
I think for the first time maybe since he was drafted, like, doesn't have 100% approval rating with Giants fans.
I, I know You know, I've known him for a long time.
I think what I've seen from him the last few days is, like, I think other than everything going on off the field, the losing, I think he's wearing it quite a bit.
you've known Buster for a long time as well and are close to him.
What do you think of just, you know, the way he's taking all of this and what's going on on the field but also off the field?
Yeah, I think he's taking it super hard.
And, you know, look, w- when he stopped playing, I know the visions that he had, as far as what he was gonna do with his family, golf, hunt, travel, be with his family.
And then all of a sudden he gets this massive desire to really try to help flip this organization into something that he would like to see, more like how Brian Sabean did things.
And, and I mean, he's wearing this.
This has been really tough on him.
And, I'm actually almost afraid to, to call his wife, Kristen, and say, "How's he doing?"
Because I mean, if you look at him, he's like aging like a president.
I mean, he is.
I mean, you, you look at the presidents from year one to the year four, all of a sudden there's a lot of gray hair involved.
So I, I know that he's taking this very, very, very tough.
And, and one of the things that makes it really tough is when he was a player, he could do something about it because he'd have four at-bats and he was behind the plate calling every pitch.
He can't do that.
Now, now he's a spectator and he has to rely on the people he chose to do the things that he wants them to do.
I have a ton of faith in him and, I'm just hoping that it turns around so that things are a little bit easier for him because I don't like to see people mad at Buster Posey.
for whatever reason, in my mind, you know, that's almost sacrilegious.
But it's, it's baseball and, you know, you're gonna have people out there that, that are gonna wish bad things and I just don't want that to happen to him.
Strange times here.
Well, I, I will say you always joke about us calling you after bad losses.
Cole did text me before this game and the Giants were 2 and 0 in the series, so he was optimistic and then this happened.
But thank you for joining us.
Well, the ninth innings have sucked.
So I'm- They really have I'm not, I'm not surprised at all- Yeah that, that this was happened.
But, you know, and they Look, even if you say, "Well, they took two out of three," it d- I th- you know what?
When you're leading in the ninth and you've already won two, then I don't care about two out of three.
And yeah, they were four and two against the I don't care.
this one, you know, you gotta wear it and now you gotta worry about the Braves coming in tomorrow night.
Well, we promise we'll invite you on after a, a sweep in the Giants' favor this season.
You know what?
D- Cole, don't make any promises.
The Morning Show guys at KNBR have made those promises and, uh- they never, they never, ever come through.
So, uh- Yeah I'll be happy to come on with you guys anytime, anytime.
Awesome.
