The Giants have a payroll of nearly $200 million, yet all it has gotten them is the fifth-worst record in baseball. They will look to move some of their bigger contracts at the trade deadline if they can find any takers. They had a terrible May, dropping 18 of 28, but have played near .500 since then.
San Francisco Giants (42-57) vs. Kansas City Royals (40-60) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Giants: 4.12 runs scored/game (25th in MLB), 4.74 runs allowed/game (21st)
Royals: 4.19 runs scored/game
(21st), 5.25 runs allowed/game (27th)
The Giants scored just one run in their first three games of the season, and have struggled offensively most of the season. They are dead last in walk rate at just 6.6 percent, and despite having the fifth-best batting average, they have the sixth-worst on-base percentage. Casey Schmitt and Jung Ho Lee are both in the bottom five among all hitters in walk rate.
Luis Arraez is enjoying a career season in his first year with the Giants. He is second in baseball in batting average (.326) with the lowest strikeout rate at 4.3 percent. Rafael Devers is hitting .272/.340/.563 against right-handers. Heliot Ramos is hitting .315/.351/.556 against lefties. Bryce Eldridge is hitting .294/.366/.495 on the road.
Lee is hitting just .188/.211/.217 in his last 19 games. Schmitt has a 50 percent flyball rate. Arraez has had a remarkable transformation on defense and has been among the league leaders in Outs Above Average. Willy Adames has been one of the worst defenders in baseball. Only three teams have stolen fewer bases than the Giants.
Rookie Trevor McDonald allowed just one run on three hits in seven innings against the Rockies his last time out, but gave up eight runs in less than three innings in his start before that. Lefties are hitting .296/.37/.493 against him. He has been much better on the road this year with a 3.19 ERA in six starts. He throws a sinker 57 percent of the time that yields a 55.1 percent groundball rate.
Mahle allowed just one run in seven innings his last time out, his first start since April 22 in which he had gone at least 6+ plus innings. He has a reverse split with righties hitting .323/.405/.496 against him. In seven road starts, he has given up 32 runs in 33 innings and has yet to win a game. Opponents are hitting .361 against his slider.
Landen Roupp has allowed just one run in 15 innings over his last two starts. He has the second-lowest home run rate among qualified starters. His 51.2 percent groundball rate is seventh-highest among starters. Opponents are hitting just .194 against his curve with a 34.6 percent whiff rate.
Giants relievers have a 4.43 ERA, ninth-worst in baseball. They have the fourth-lowest strikeout rate and seventh-highest walk rate. Caleb Killian has taken over closing duties, saving 8 of 11 opportunities. He has given up nine runs and 13 hits in 5.2 innings over his last seven games. Sam Hentges has a weird reverse split where he has been unhittable to righties (.086 average) but has been drilled by lefties (.324). Erik Miller has a 16 percent walk rate.
The Giants have had a miserable season, and miserly loves company. These two teams are a far cry from the 2014 models that met in the World Series. At least the Royals can get a top pick in the draft, the Giants can’t pick higher than #10 due to their large market status.
