Farhan Al-Zaidi addresses the giants’ ongoing offensive problems: “No excuses”
CHICAGO – Farhan Al-Zaidi has witnessed the continued failures and inefficiencies in the San Francisco Giants offense, and although he doesn’t like what he sees, he remains optimistic that he will produce enough in recent weeks to give his team a chance to make the playoffs.
“Looking back at the last few years, I can’t remember a stretch like this offensively, maybe even since 2019,” Wrigley Field’s president of baseball operations said before the Giants-Cubs game Tuesday. “It’s been tough, but I think we have the people. It was the same group of players who were a good attacking team in the first half of the season.
And the offense was particularly meager on the road. In 22 road games from July 19 through Monday, the Giants hit just . 203 with a . 284 on-base ratio and 222 strikeouts. They won only four of those games and were outscored 115-65.
It’s not just road games. In general, the exit speeds and energy numbers have decreased along with several other offensive metrics. Over their last 68 games through Monday, the Giants have finished last in the major leagues in terms of batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
“You can see that it’s difficult for the staff because they kind of feel like they have to be perfect, and that makes it even more important to get off to a good start in these games and keep playing from the front,” Al-Zaidi said. instead of behind. I think some of that is a degree of burnout with the team.
On the other hand, al-Zaidi keeps the faith. He said the batters maintain their “identity” of trying to get good batters and mixing in big innings to tire out the pitchers, although it hasn’t been very noticeable in recent games. In the first four games of September, the Giants were 2-for-20 with the Racers in the scoring position.
Al-Zaidi noted that two of the losses this month were to Cy Young nominees Blake Snell in San Diego and Justin Steele in Chicago.
“No excuses,” al-Zaidi said. “We know we have to be a more productive attacking team to do what we wanted to do last month, but we also know we’ve had some tough competition.”
The Giants kick off their week-long home game Friday against the Rockies and probably won’t have to wait long to upgrade Triple-A players Heliot Ramos and Luis Matos, who are eligible for Friday and Saturday call-ups, respectively, after a 10-day window in the league. Minors expire.
“We will look for an opportunity to bring these players back here, and maybe they can give us a spark,” said Zaidi, who pointed to another potential player, Marco Luciano, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury. infection.
The Giants did not consolidate at the trade deadline or the waiver claim deadline. Al-Zaidi spoke on the day Giants trade deadline outfielder AJ Pollock was placed on unrestricted waivers. He only appeared in five games and went 0-for-6, then went on the injury list.
As for the waiver claims, Al-Zaidi said: “We submitted multiple claims. We’ve been very active.” The Giants weren’t given any players they claimed because those players went to teams with lower records, including the Reds and Guardians.
Are there any regrets about not doing more to supplement the list?
“I think it’s a fair question, I think, but when I look at our team now, we still have guys batting and we want to see them batting,” Zaidi said. “Every day we put together a team with players we believe in. It’s easy to express confidence and praise the team when things are going well.” And I think for the players and the mentality of the club, the most important thing is that they hear, feel and feel that confidence when things are not going well.
The Giants started Tuesday trailing the Diamondbacks, Reds and Marlins for last wild card spot in the National League, and Zaidi said, “When you have that many teams competing, you’re going to have to get really hot. … Despite some disappointments we had the month the past, we know we are still in this phase and we know we can still change it.
Contact John Shea: jshea@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @JohnSheaHey
