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SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants are 14-23. They’ve lost eight of their last nine. They’re tied for the worst record in the majors. They’re last in the majors in runs and home runs, in walks and steals. They’re last in run differential, too.
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There’s little need to wax poetic when the reality is this cold.
Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman, their three highest-paid players, have been below-average hitters.
Logan Webb, who dealt with left knee discomfort in his last start, hasn’t consistently looked right.
Tony Vitello, who was coaching in the SEC a year ago, has had his share of missteps.
Patrick Bailey, whose OPS starts with a three, has lost hold of the everyday catcher job.
Ryan Walker, the closest thing this team has to a closer, has allowed a run in three straight outings.
The clubhouse televisions on Monday and Tuesday broadcast how the Giants rank last in on-base percentage; the team proceeded to draw no walks in the final two games of the Padres series.
All those points – and several others – are worth comprehensive dissection, but the forest should not be missed for the trees: Through 37 games, this season has been a complete and total mess.
Their struggles are why Buster Posey shook things up by calling up Bryce Eldridge and Jesus Rodriguez. And their struggles are why Thursday’s off day couldn’t come at a better time.
“I think you want to take advantage of the day off,” said manager Tony Vitello following Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to the Padres. “It’s been a long grind. It’s been a long time coming as far as the day off. If anything, it’s probably a good time for everybody to take a time out and do whatever it is that they do, either relax or spend time with family.”
Chapman said, “Sometimes when you’re playing every single day and we’re not playing our best baseball, things just kind of compound a little bit. It’s stressful when you can’t get it going. We’re not playing well, and we’re not finding a way to get runs. Then, you show up the next day, and the same thing happens. It’s frustrating.
“Hopefully, everybody gets away from stressing about everything we need to do and how we get better for a day. Then, we’ll come back on Friday ready to get back to work.”
Chapman, whose numbers have cratered over the last week, is among those who could most benefit from a day away from 24 Willie Mays Plaza.
Before the Giants’ six-game East Coast trip, Chapman was hitting .283 with a .733 OPS while providing his standard excellent defense. Now, he’s in the midst of a six-game hitless streak. His batting average and OPS are down to .234 and .623, respectively.
Chapman theorized, following Wednesday’s loss, that he started trying to do too much at the plate because he wasn’t hitting with as much power as preferred.
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“What comes with that is swing and miss and maybe getting outside of what you’re doing,” Chapman said. “I think for me, I need to get back to shortening it up and finding the barrel and trusting that the power will come.”
The likes of Adames, Chapman and Devers should find their power in time. Devers homered on Wednesday and has had a hit in seven straight games. But Monday’s roster shakeup proved that the Giants’ leadership, whether it’s Vitello or Posey, will not fall back on the credo of patience. The best bats need to be in the lineup, even if it means the regulars become less regular.
On Monday, Casey Schmitt got the start at third in place of Chapman, who missed his first game of the season. Adames may have gotten a day off on Tuesday as well in favor of Schmitt if not for Luis Arraez’s sore left thumb, which forced Arraez to miss Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The conversations I had are pretty much what you’ve heard,” Chapman said. “They just need to find ways to get the best bats in the lineup right now. I understand why they would want to do that. We need to win now. I haven’t really had any more conversations about it, but all that’s really out of my control.
“What I’m focused on is getting myself right, because if this team is going to be what it needs to be, all of us have to be doing our jobs. I get it. Buster wants to shake things up and put the pressure on us to get it done now. So, there’s no excuses. I’ve just got to be better.”
Chapman, even if he gets the occasional day off, will still be an everyday player. The same can’t be said of Bailey, even with the two Gold Glove Awards to his name.
Rodriguez got the start over Bailey on Monday and Tuesday behind the dish, then started in right field on Wednesday to keep his bat in the lineup. The 24-year-old hasn’t wasted the opportunities in his first three major-league games, so far going 4-for-9 with a home run and two RBIs.
As for Bailey? He went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts on Wednesday, dropping his OPS to .396. The Giants already have three catchers in the mix with Bailey, Rodriguez and Eric Haase. Daniel Susac started a rehab assignment on Thursday, adding another element to this dynamic.
When asked on Tuesday whether he has an everyday catcher, Vitello spoke at length without providing a definitive “yes” or “no” answer.
“It’s not a rule to have an everyday catcher,” Vitello said. “It is a rule to start the game with a catcher. You got people upstairs, people downstairs, people in all kinds of different rooms, their opinions are all valued.”
The Giants’ underperformance should not absolve Vitello, himself. On Wednesday, for example, Vitello pulled Adrian Houser at 74 pitches in the top of the seventh after Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the inning by reaching on an error by Chapman.
Houser, who entered the day with a 7.12 ERA, had only allowed one run up to that point and had a case for pitching longer. In the same frame, the Padres’ Ty France hit a go-ahead two-run triple. Rodriguez, a primary catcher with minimal experience in right, dove and couldn’t catch the line drive. While it was a tough play, Vitello conceded it was catchable.
Yet while Vitello is not blameless in the Giants’ poor start, there aren’t many buttons Vitello can push when the team’s foundational players are collectively underperforming.
“As a collective, we really haven’t got it going,” Chapman said. “The good news is there’s a lot of upside in this lineup and maybe it’s going to be one of those things where we’re all cold at the same time and we all get hot at the same time and we’re looking at a lot different situation in a month here. Only time will tell.”
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This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 8:13 AM.