I’ve spent a lot of time this season comparing the 2026 Giants’ record to the records of bad teams throughout franchise history, but as it becomes clearer and clearer that this team, though fun, is tacking to the 2017 team’s record or thereabouts, I don’t see the point in continuing to belabor the point. So, instead, let’s look at how this is some of the worst pitching ever seen by fans of the San Francisco Giants in the long history of the franchise.
Hey, wait, come back. I’m not trying to make you
feel bad or trick you. I’m trying to validate your feelings. A recent post to The Feed by a member of the McCovey Chronicles community wondered if this year’s squad featured the worst bullpen in franchise history. It’s perhaps a little difficult to quantify bullpen innings versus rotation innings over time just because of how much pitcher usage has changed, and sorting data gets tricky in these recent years because of what the opener has done, but generally speaking, the 2026 team is not (yet) the worst bullpen ever assembled by the Orange & Black. It is merely among the worst.
10. 1999, 4.21 ERA
9. 2020, 4.24
8. 2026, 4.27
7. 2017, 4.34
6. 2008, 4.45
5. 2004, 4.68
4. 1997, 4.75
3. 1996, 4.77
2. 2006, 4.77
1. 1995, 5.35
But that’s not the point of this piece! It’s not just the bullpen that stinks, it’s the rotation, too. The entire pitching staff is just a huge liability. The current staff ERA of 4.55 might go down, sure, but through the first 69 games of a season, only 12 Giants teams have run up a team ERA of 4.50 or worse:
Okay, now, if I’ve validated your feelings and you’re now mad at me instead of the Giants and have taken to tut-tutting me for bringing up a 69-game sample instead of focusing on there still being plenty of season left, I ask you to consider the following:
- Robbie Ray is either going to be this bad or be traded
- Logan Webb might be back to his old form and won’t be traded, but the Giants will still have innings to cover…
- Which might mean resorting to Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle even more down the stretch.
- Ryan Walker is back.
- Any prospects they’ll call up down the stretch will be susceptible to fatigue for pitching past their previous innings limits and pace of the season.
And I’ll add this final wrinkle, I suppose in order to suggest that things won’t get much better, which means that the Giants are on an unavoidable clash with history. Just 11 Giants teams in the history of the franchise have ended the season with a 4.50 or worse ERA. Not even the 100-loss 1985 team did that (3.61 team ERA). Here they are, the worst pitching staffs in Giants history:
So, as you can see, the Giants have had some really bad staffs in our lifetime. 7 of 11 seasons in living memory have been among the worst pitching performances ever seen by fans, so why couldn’t this year become #8?
Well, if I had to pitch a path for a turnaround, I suppose it would start with walking fewer batters. Pitchers shouldn’t walk hitters. This year’s team has a walk rate 4.04 BB/9 that would be the worst of this century were it not for the 2008 team (4.07). Still a chance to improve upon that, sure, but can they? In the past 6 weeks or so, things have only gotten worse:
May 1st-June 11th: 7.7 K/9, 4.11 BB/9
May 29th-June 11th: 7.85 K/9, 4.79 BB/9
A reminder that Tyler Mahle hasn’t pitched since May 26th. But also, Robbie Ray has the second-worst walk rate in the sport (4.42 per 9). Oh, but wait! Landen Roupp’s 3.88 is 7th-worst. So, it’s not just a bad apple spoiling the bunch. There are no apples here. Just walks. A bunch of walks.
So, the Giants have some work to do. The lineup is surging but Justin Meccage’s side of the ledger has been a real mecc. The front office had a publicly stated plan for the lineup that is making the naysayers like me eat crow. They did not have a publicly stated plan on the pitching side and it seems like all of our worst fears have come true, which is why it’s so difficult to envision, imagine, or even hope for a turnaround.
