SAN FRANCISCO -- At the same time as the Giants were failing to get a runner in from third on Wednesday in Detroit, the Los Angeles Dodgers were watching their bullpen implode in Cleveland.
It turned into a five-loss day for the National League West, which has come back to earth in May. Early on, it looked like the division could put four teams in the National League playoff field, but the Dodgers (13-12) are the only team in the West with a winning record in May.
Each team has its own issues, and it's easy to pinpoint what has sunk the Giants. They have stopped hitting, failing to score more than four runs in each of their last 11 games, their longest streak since ... 2024. This is what they have done quite often over the past four seasons, although this year they at least have some company. With the others in the West dealing with their own warts, the Giants are just three games out of first place after getting swept in Detroit.
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SIGN UP HERE As they head for June, here are three things that went right for the Giants over the first third of the season, and three issues that they need to fix if they want to stay in the race:
Near the bottom
Having a rough 50-ish games would be one thing, but that's not what's most worrisome for Patrick Bailey and LaMonte Wade Jr. The real issue is that this is not just a 2025 development.
Since the 2024 All-Star break, Bailey (.172) and Wade (.191) are in the bottom four in the majors in batting average (Joc Pederson and Michael Conforto are also in the bottom 15, so at least the Giants moved on before it got really ugly). Bailey is the only big leaguer hitting under .180 during that stretch, which covers more than 100 games, and has just two homers.
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The catcher's Gold Glove defense at least allows him to contribute in some way on a nightly basis. Wade has been below league-average there, too, and it seems the Giants are preparing to move on. Marco Luciano got his first start at first base in Triple-A on Wednesday and Jerar Encarnacion should be back next week.
There are no decisions to be made with the highest-paid player on the roster. Willy Adames is 3-for-20 on this road trip and his average for the year is down to .208, with a .621 OPS that's the lowest of his career by about 100 points. After hitting 32 homers and driving in 112 runs last year, he's on pace for 14 and 72. When you throw in some early defensive issues, he's sitting at 0.1 Wins Above Replacement through his first 56 games in orange and black.
The Giants will address first base in the coming days, and if Bailey doesn't turn it around, they can look for a better offensive option in the offseason. But Adames is just beginning a seven-year deal. There's nothing to do there but wait and hope their shortstop finds his old form.
Where did it go?
The Giants stole six bases on their successful season-opening road trip and then ran wild in their home opener. Adames, Jung Hoo Lee, Heliot Ramos and Tyler Fitzgerald all took off that afternoon, making the team 10-for-10 on the bases through seven games. They had at least one steal in each of the next three games, and it looked like -- after years of talking about being more athletic -- the Giants would finally be making an adjustment.
Currently, they rank 28th in the majors.
The running game has been shut down, with just five stolen bases in 10 attempts in May. After stealing 13 bags in their first 10 games, the Giants have taken 13 over their last 46. They have been caught 11 times during that stretch, too.
That percentage bothers manager Bob Melvin and has led to a change in strategy in the dugout, although when he was asked over the weekend about the lack of running, he first pointed to another area.
"We haven't had any baserunners and we go when we feel like there are opportunities to steal," he told reporters in Washington D.C. "There was a period where we were too aggressive and got some guys thrown out, so we have to pick the right times."
Given how slow it's been offensively in general, the Giants need to be more aggressive the rest of the way. Fitzgerald, one of the fastest players in the big leagues, is six-for-eight. Lee has just one attempt since April 5
Hitting snooze
On May 18, Ramos crushed Jeffrey Springs' first pitch of the game into the bullpen. The Giants didn't pick up another hit until the seventh, and all too often, that's been the norm.
They have outscored opponents by an MLB-best 34 runs from the seventh inning on, but they're at plus-five in the first six innings of games, and in recent weeks, those early-game numbers have fallen off a cliff. Over their last 20 games, they have a .644 OPS in the first six innings and have just 45 runs in those frames, which are primarily against starting pitchers.
The offense has been bad in general lately, but the early innings have been particularly ugly, especially against left-handed pitchers. The Giants have six walk-off wins already, but waiting for late-game heroics isn't a sustainable approach.
The best around
The Giants have played an MLB-high 42 games decided by three-or-fewer runs. They're 21-21 in those games, but you can't blame the guys pitching the late innings.
The bullpen has a 2.48 ERA, the lowest in baseball and lowest in the NL by nearly half a run.
It's hard for relievers to make an All-Star team, but this group has three real candidates. Randy Rodriguez has a 0.73 ERA and is among the league leaders in both strikeout and walk rate. Hitters are batting .154 off his slider and .152 off his fastball.
Tyler Rogers is doing Tyler Rogers things. He leads the Giants with 26 appearances and has a 1.78 ERA, but there's a twist this year -- he's striking out nearly a batter per inning.
Camilo Doval may now be the best bet to represent the bullpen in the All-Star Game, having been moved back to the closer role. Doval has a 1.16 ERA, has cut his walk rate in half, and hasn't allowed a run since April 7.
The bullpen has easily been the best unit on the team, which actually makes this first third of the year a bit disappointing. The Giants are 21-2 when they lead after six, but their lineup hasn't been able to get many leads to this group lately.
Double trouble
When the Giants traded for Robbie Ray, Farhan Zaidi said he viewed the lefty as an ideal long-term partner for Logan Webb. Ray needed some extra time to return to form -- which partially led to the disappointing second half last year that cost Zaidi -- but that trade looks like an absolute heist by the former president of baseball operations.
Ray is 7-0 and the Giants have won all of his starts but one. He has a 2.56 ERA and 3.19 FIP, and those numbers are 1.41 and 1.57 in May. Ray has said this is the best he has felt since 2021, when he won the Cy Young Award, and described a recent dominant start as being on autopilot. The return to Cy Young form has given the Giants perhaps the best one-two punch in baseball.
Webb has had a couple of off starts recently, but still carries a 2.82 ERA and league-leading 2.18 FIP. He is fifth in the NL in groundball rate and his strikeout rate is easily the highest of his career. Webb wants to check 200 strikeouts off his bucket list, and he's well on his way to leading the league in innings for a third straight year.
There has been inconsistency with the rest of the rotation, but Justin Verlander was throwing better before he got hurt and Landen Roupp had a 1.73 ERA in May. As expected, the Giants have one of the deeper rotations in baseball, with a top two that would give them a real shot in a short playoff series.
Taking the leap
Matt Chapman and Lee lead Giants position players in WAR, and one of the cooler stories for the organization has been the full embrace of the center fielder at home games. Wilmer Flores briefly sat ahead of Aaron Judge atop the MLB RBI leaderboard, and he has seemingly won a half-dozen games with clutch hits.
But if you're looking for the best development with the hitters, it might be the fact that there's been no sophomore slump with Ramos.
Alright, technically Ramos isn't a sophomore. He has played in parts of four big league seasons, but this is his second as a full-time player, and he has taken a step forward in just about every respect.
After slashing .269/.322/.469 last year, Ramos is at .288/.349/.486, and with 10 homers, he has a real shot at ending the 30-homer drought. He leads the Giants with a 133 wRC+ and he has slightly lowered his strikeout rate while fixing a huge hole in his game.
There were times in the second half last year when it looked like Ramos might be headed for semi-platoon life, but his splits are just about even. He had a .673 OPS against righties last year but is at .838 this year with eight homers.
There is still work to be done. Ramos went 25 games without a homer at one point, and the defensive metrics are disappointing. Given his background as a center fielder, he really should be a more reliable defender in left.
But overall, Ramos has taken his game to a new level, giving the Giants a homegrown 25-year-old outfielder who is looking like a foundational piece.