No reason to be cute with the headline or insightful with the commentary. These are two bad teams beyond redemption. The Giants have had just 2 winning seasons since 2016 (2016 & 2021), but the Angels haven’t had any — 2026 will mark their 11th consecutive losing season… basically, they’ve been losers since they fully dropped Anaheim from their name (Anaheim Angels —> Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim —> The Los Angeles Angels (since 2016). What’s the Giants’ excuse? Um, well…
The Giants are bad in some
heartbreaking ways. Whether it’s coming up short despite efficiency gains from Farhan Zaidi’s process or Buster Posey’s “What if we took computers out of the game, and experience, and focused on batting average and pitchers who remind me of when I won championships?” strategy, the Giants have managed to squander the talent they’ve been able to assemble.
Outside of Mike Trout, the Angels don’t really “do” talent. Since the start of the 2016 season, their position player group has been worth a total of 139.5 fWAR (23rd in MLB) and their pitching group 107.1 (28th). They’re 731-890, record-wise (23rd). Now, before you get too cocky as a Giants fan, their 164.5 fWAR is just 20th over this same span and their pitching value of 143.2 fWAR is just 13th. Their 800-820 record is 15th. Yes, the Giants have been better and still might be better in this series, but we’re very much about to watch a slap fight between two very stupid and untalented teams.
The Angels have a rotten owner situation as well, though its not a consortium of interests like the Giants, it’s one just Arte Moreno, whose whimsy and caprice has taken a team that embarrassed the Giants in the 2002 World Series and made them into one of the heartiest laughingstocks in professional sports. Their most recent headline?
They had to fire The Baseball Spy.
The scout, Justin “Boomer” Prinstein, had only been hired by the Angels in December. He was let go shortly after the team was alerted to the incident by Major League Baseball, according to team and league sources briefed on the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.
Prinstein had been scouting the Rockies ahead of the Angels’ home series against Colorado from June 1-3. While seated in a section at Coors Field designated for scouts, he was spotted filming coaches on his phone during a game by a member of the Rockies organization. While scouts filming is generally considered a legal practice, using technology to steal or decode signs is not allowed.
[…]
The Rockies won the series between the two clubs, which own the worst records in their respective leagues.
Ohhhh, but… Humm Baby, here come the Giants! They’re just 1 win better than either team as of this morning. Does this mean that the Giants are as bad as the Rockies and Angels? Well, I would say yes. Regardless of how the on-paper talent might stack up, didn’t the Giants’ fanbase just spend 6 years waging a war against process to assert the dominance of results? For all their efforts, the Giants are as bad as these Angels.
But it’s good that the Giants are on a 5-game losing streak because the Angels serve as the best chance to snap a losing streak. The Angels are 5-11 in July with a -13 run differential. They’re 17-34 on the road this season. Their starting pitching has been slightly more valuable than the Giants’ (7.2 fWAR to 6.0), and their bullpen has been better, too (1.1 fWAR to 0.0) — their relievers strikeout nearly 2 batters per 9 more than the Giants, though walk slightly more. Offensively, they’ve been about as good as the Royals (96 wRC+ to KC’s 97). But their position player group is just dreadful, defensively. -24.1 Defensive Runs Above Average, the worst in the sport. This is why they’re just slightly worse than the Giants.
Let’s circle back to The Baseball Spy story to close out here because I want to give this post a little personality. The Spy has two nicknames? He’s both “Boomer” and The Baseball Spy? And he’s 42 years old? Oof. Here’s another example of Millenial Incompetence. We really are a failed generation, aren’t we? See other examples of failed Millenials: Mike Trout himself. Zack Minasian. Buster Posey. Most ICE agents are Millenials. Angels manager Kurt Suzuki willingly took a 1-year contract just to get the chance to manage a major league team. Have some self respect! My generation hasn’t risen to meet our moment, have we?
Well, I guess Millenials did help bring the Giants their first championships in San Francisco history. But, you know, except for that… don’t count on us to be in charge of anything important.
Series Overview
Who: San Francisco Giants (42-60) vs. Los Angeles Angels (41-62)
Where: Oracle Park | San Francisco, California
When: Friday at 7:15pm PT, Saturday & Sunday at 1:05pm PT
National broadcasts: None
Projected starters
Friday: Logan Webb (RHP 5-7, 3.87 ERA) vs. Grayson Rodriguez (RHP 3-3, 8.23 ERA)
Saturday: Robbie Ray (LHP 8-6, 3.33 ERA) vs. Ryan Johnson (RHP 2-4, 6.10 ERA)
Sunday: TBD vs. Jose Soriano (RHP 8-6, 3.43 ERA)
Players to watch
Angels
Mike Trout: Last year, he played 130 games for the first time since 2019 and managed to hit 20% better than the league average. This year, he’s had a hamstring issue that caused him to miss nearly a month, but he has a 136 wRC+ in 379 PA, so, he’s good and back, right, even at 34 years old? In 10 games off the IL, he’s slashing just .237/.341/.368, so, he could start to get hot in this series or maybe he’s in decline. What’s fun about the Giants being bad is that we won’t know for sure.
Jorge Soler: This is the final year of the 3-year deal Farhan Zaidi signed him to in the 2023-2024 offseason. It was great that he was able to move the contract as soon as he did. It’s not as though Soler was a total flameout of a contract, but the results were entirely predictable. He was great for Atlanta right after the trade (.243/.356/.493), but since they traded him to the Angels after 2024, he’s hit just .210/.293/.381 over his last 161 games. In July, he’s 8-for-52 with just 4 doubles as extra base hits. 4 walks against 23 strikeouts.
Grayson Rodriguez: The first starter of the series was the return for a curious trade Zack Minasian’s brother Perry made in the offseason, when the Angels shipped Taylor Ward to the Orioles for the talented, but injured Rodriguez. He had a bit of a breakout in 2024, and in his first two seasons was 20-8 in 43 starts with a 4.11 ERA and 3.9 fWAR in value. Then, he had elbow surgery. Since returning, he’s been shaky. He’s made 8 starts for the Angels and on top of an 8.23 ERA he has a 5.22 FIP. After averaging around 10 K/9 in those first two seasons, he’s down to 6.9 and his 2.9 BB/9 is up to 4.4. Still, he throws 96.
Wade Meckler: Okay, but like, the former Giant has a .798 OPS in 147 plate appearances. He’s 9-for-his-last-19 and has just 3 strikeouts. He’s like their own Luis Arraez!
Giants
Logan Webb: For his career, he has a 2.92 ERA at Oracle Park, but this season it’s 3.74 thanks to three notable blowups: Opening Night against the Yankees, against the Padres, and against the Blue Jays. The Angels don’t hit a lot of groundballs and strikeout a lot, but they have such an eclectic mix of power and free swingers that one bad defensive inning could lead to an easy win for them/loss for the Giants.
Robbie Ray: Will this be his final start in a Giants uniform?
Luis Arraez: The Angels have a pretty funny split against left-handed hitting. They have a .747 OPS against them, compared to .684 from righties. I expect him to feast, boosting his trade value.
Willy Adames: He was just 4-for-22 on this road trip, but 3 of those hits were homers. Then again, on the last homestand, he was just 5-for-25. Is he good? Is he actually heating up in the second half as he usually does, or are we all drunk off dingers?
