With their 6-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the San Francisco Giants have mustered a 14-16 record halfway through this bizarro-world, abbreviated Major League Baseball season.

The Giants came into the 2020 season, even before COVID-19 forced the league to create a fan-less, 60-game campaign for all, with little to no expectations. They were in their first real season of a ‘rebuild,’ looking to see what talent laid within their newcomers from last season, such as Mike Yastrzemski, Mauricio Dubon, and Alex Dickerson. It also aimed to see if their younger brass of outfielders, like Austin Slater and Steven Duggar, could finally solidify themselves as mainstays with more at-bats. And finally, sucking whatever life that was left in World Series heroes like Buster Posey, the Brandons, Pablo Sandoval, and the returning Hunter Pence.

Wrap up all that together and throw it at a brand new manager, whose signing was met with either great displeasure or mild excitement; or, if you’re like me, your reaction to Gabe Kapler’s hiring was simply a, “Fuck it, we’re going to stink anyway.” This season was poised for weirdness.

Before things even got started, Buster Posey opted to not play for personal issues, leaving Giants fans without their most beloved player and, for some, eliminating a bullet point on a short list of reasons to even watch this year. Another one was crossed off when Joey Bart did not make the opening day roster, meaning the organization’s brightest young star would still not appear in the show despite the man he is replacing sitting out. And, after dropping two genuinely horrific losses to the Dodgers to start, it looked like these 60 games would be hell to watch.

But fast forward to today, and the Giants are plenty in the hunt thanks to a new extended playoff rule, a 6-game win streak, and at times, some pretty darn good baseball.

I’ve been harping on and on to those close to me complaining or critiquing the Giants’ misgivings so far this season with the same response: “What are the staples of a rebuilding team? The bad: big bullpen blow ups and ugly defense. The good: typically above average offensive production and plenty to look forward to.” So when the Giants blew 4 straight saves in a row, I was just as fine as I was when they won six straight before welcoming in the Dodgers at Oracle Park Tuesday night.

Yes, there has been ugliness. The aforementioned bullpen losses, which were effected in part by Tyler Rogers early and Trevor Gott lately, two names who the Giants were looking to be some of the most consistent arms among their relievers. The defense has also been ugly, particularly with the catcher interference oddities and garnering at least one error in nearly 50% of the games so far, even turning in a performance that saw 4 errors in a single contest. In terms of the bullpen, the scuffles could be due to guys pitching in more high-pressure situations, unlike the ones from last season in which nothing was really on the line for them; the Giants were plenty out of it, and focusing more on a Bochy farewell tour. As for the defense, players such as Dubon are being tried out at different positions; the hot hitting of Donovan Solano and Wilmer Flores has not only rightfully earned them more at bats (and the team more wins due to their production at the plate), but also exposed their average to below average defensive abilities, which has lost the Giants game here and there.

But, buy in large, the Giants have been pretty good this season. Perhaps the biggest improvement has been their offense. The Giants have scored steadily, both early and late in games. They’ve also somehow convinced themselves that they are a home run hitting ball club, clubbing 36 so far, which is good for 5th amongst National League teams, per https://www.baseball-reference.com/. Credit a change in personnel, and the reconfiguration of the ballpark’s dimensions for this up-tick (moving the fences in for the bullpens, closing the tunnels in right field to keep the wind from knocking down fly balls). As stated, Donovan Solano and Wilmer Flores have been amongst the team’s best hitters, with Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt racking up extra base hits and RBIs since coming off the injured list.

But one of the biggest ‘What if’s’ coming in was if last year’s second-half sensation Mike Yastrzemski could duplicate his incredible 2019 campaign, which pushed the Giants into contention for a Wild Card spot fairly late into the season. Could last year’s 28-year old rookie prove he was for real?

Well, so far, he’s leading the team in RBIs, hits (tied with Solano at 33), is second only to Flores in homers, and has been one of the deadliest two-strike hitters in all of baseball. The Yaz hype is almost real, folks. I do need to see it over the course of a full, 162-game season, but for now, it’s been freaking glorious.

Their starting pitching has been solid as well, led by Johnny Cueto and surprise standouts Tyler Anderson and pre-injury Drew Smyly. Kevin Gausman has also been solid, reminding Giants fans that velocity is pretty cool, isn’t it? Shaun Anderson, whom I thought should have been the closer-in-training from the jump, has done well in his opportunities thus far to finish games/ pitch in tight spots. On the flip side, Jeff Samardzija has once again been underwhelming for the money he’s owed, and the previously covered bullpen collapses. The Giants were looking to Tyler Rogers to build on his stellar 2019 and be the future set-up man, but it appears that his lack of velocity is beginning to douse his party trick. As for the young arms, they throw hard, and that’s good. We’ll just see which one sticks.

Joey Bart did get his call up after all last week, and so far I’m already in love. If he plays the entire rest of the season, the sample size will still be too small. But again, my jersey is ready to be purchased.

Hunter Pence struggled mightily during his return, ultimately leading to his release. I knew it was a stretch, but in his short time he still seemingly completed the goal Giants brass bestowed on him in bringing him back, as evident from the words of his teammates and coach staff revering his attitude towards the game and constant upbeat demeanor. His influence was felt in the clubhouse, and I’ll always wish The Reverend good luck wherever he goes. He is truly Giant royalty.

I’ll end with my two cents on Gabe Kapler, leaving out his prior scandal and trying to drown out the fans that hate him just because he isn’t Bruce Bochy.

The man was undoubtedly hired because he would carry out Farhan Zaidi’s evil plan without pushing back on him too hard. His time in Philadelphia I take with a grain of salt. The Phillies were rebuilding when Kapler was brought in. He built upon their 66-96 season in ’17 with a 80-82 season the next, looking like the team was turning the tide with their younger stars. Then the team signed Bryce Harper, the biggest free agent in years up until that point, and suddenly the team was supposed to be contending for a title. Bryce was his usual 30 dinger-100 RBI self, but aside from Aaron Nola, the team had no pitching and basically banked on Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Rhys Hoskins to hit them to victory every time out. The Phillies finished 4th with an 81-81 record, and just like that Kapler was gone.

I don’t think Kapler is totally to blame for the Phillies misfortunes at all: the Washington Nationals were the team of destiny that year, and as Giants fans should know, there’s no stopping that destined franchise when the baseball gods choose them, no matter how good their competition is. Kapler was supposed to be playoff bound with a group he only had one year of experience with, then when he missed once, his plug was pulled. So those who claim he wasn’t a success in Philly aren’t technically wrong by the numbers, but I believe he deserves a lot more credit than he gets. He hasn’t been perfect in his time with the Giants by any stretch of the imagination, even muffing the new relief pitcher rule in a tight game against LA. But he has to get some credit, in part, to the Giants playing hard till the last out and not giving up late in games. The last few years of the Bochy era, one of the most infuriating things about those teams were that once they got behind, they laid down and died. This Giant offense has been resilient thus far, continuing to battle even when they’ve trailed late in games to make sure things, at bare minimum, get interesting. I have also really appreciated his practice and support of the Black Lives Matter displays Major League Baseball has done so far this season. As the manager of the San Francisco Giants, Kapler has rightfully been very conscious of how the team uses its platform during this time of social injustice and call for reform.

So, in all, the way I see it, the Giants have set themselves up for a win-win scenario. They could continue to push on with this scrappy offense, sneak their way into this new playoff structure, and see what happens. Or they could come up short/completely fall out of contention, but no matter where they finish or how their players do, no one expected them to ball out anyway, and their young-ish roster got a ton of risk-free, no low pressure opportunities to get better for 2021.

So keep on keeping on Giants fans, however many of you are left. I’m keeping a mental note of those who suddenly aren’t a die hard anymore, and have been for some time. So when the orange and black rise up again, I will be asking you where you’ve been!

Keep taking the good with the bad, and the bad with the ugly.

We’re playing with house money.

Cheers.