How the Giants have stayed in contention without a superstar

LaMonte Wade Jr. celebrates in the dugout.

Staff Writer

Published Aug. 10, 2023 Updated Aug. 12, 2023 1:41 PM PT

Perhaps no game this season has better epitomized the 2023 San Francisco Giants, a legitimate playoff contender without looking the part, than the one they played Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.

While the Angels gave the ball to Shohei Ohtani, the sport’s preeminent superstar mesmerizing the baseball world with his two-way genius, the Giants opened the game with a reliever making his 29th career appearance. Ryan Walker, a 27-year-old rookie, did his job, tossing a scoreless first inning with three strikeouts before giving way to Sean Manaea for four innings.

The plan combusted in the sixth inning when Mike Moustakas blasted a go-ahead three-run homer in the Angels’ 4-1 win. The Giants hold the second of three National League wild-card spots with a 62-54 record. Two years removed from a shocking 107-win season, one year removed from a disappointing 81-win follow-up, they’re back in the playoff picture, surpassing expectations, with seven weeks remaining in the regular season.

The question is: How?

The Giants are a big-market club with a hefty payroll — their $186.6-million payroll ranks 11th in the majors, according to Spotrac — but they don’t boast star power.

The only Giant initially chosen for the NL All-Star team was closer Camilo Doval; starter Alex Cobb later joined him as a replacement. Their best position player this season — going by FanGraphs WAR — has been Patrick Bailey.

His 2.5 WAR entering Saturday was tied for 83rd in the majors among qualified position players. For reference, Max Muncy’s 2.3 WAR ranks fifth among Dodgers position players.

For pitcher Ross Stripling, a former Dodger who signed with San Francisco over the winter, the success comes down to one commonality.

“Everyone has bought into how we play baseball,” Stripling said.

How the Giants play baseball would peeve a purist. The Giants unflinchingly play the matchups, fielding almost completely different lineups depending on the opposing starter’s handedness. They’re using two conventional starting pitchers at the moment — Logan Webb and Cobb — and are utilizing openers for their other games. The metrics and eye tests indicate they’re a below average defensive team.

That said, the Giants don’t lack star power by design. They’ve tried to land high-profile players. They pursued Bryce Harper before the 2019 season. Over the winter, they nearly signed Aaron Judge, the reigning AL MVP, before Judge spurned them to re-sign with the New York Yankees. They then quickly pivoted to shortstop Carlos Correa, who agreed to a 13-year, $350 million contract before Correa’s physical raised enough concerns for the Giants to renege the deal.

So, the Giants have money to spend and the industry expects Farhan Zaidi, the club’s president of baseball operations, to spend plenty this winter.

“Farhan tried this offseason,” Stripling said. “I’m sure we’re going to try again.”

Ohtani, of course, is on their target list, according to multiple people familiar with the organization’s plans who are not authorized to speak publicly.

The Giants were on Ohtani’s short list of potential landing spots when he left Japan for the major leagues after the 2017 season. Ohtani met with the Giants four days before he signed with the Angels. Then-manager Bruce Bochy and catcher Buster Posey, then the franchise’s cornerstone, were among those in attendance for the meeting.

The team promised Ohtani a chance to pitch and be a regular hitter. Without the designated hitter in the NL at the time, the Giants told Ohtani they’d give him 300 to 400 at-bats as an outfielder when he wasn’t pitching. Ultimately, Ohtani chose the Angels partly because they were an American League club with the DH at their disposal.

After Wednesday’s game, Ohtani, who held the Giants to one unearned run over six innings on the mound and walked twice at the plate, declined to revisit the Giants’ pursuit.

Ohtani would give the organization a centerpiece two years after Posey’s sudden retirement. On the field, he would double as an ace and middle-of-order bat to compete with the league’s powers. Off the field, he would resonate with the region’s vast Japanese community.

The competition will be stiff. The Dodgers, Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, and Chicago Cubs are among the teams expected to court Ohtani. For now, the Giants are competing for a postseason spot against the odds.

Outfielder A.J. Pollock, another former Dodger, was sent to the Giants from the Seattle Mariners the day before the Aug. 1 trade deadline, less than two weeks ago. He played in just six games with the club before he was placed on the injured list Wednesday. He admittedly is still acclimating to his surroundings. But one aspect has stuck out in his short stint.

“They keep their guys involved,” Pollock said. “They use their pieces. They use the whole 26-man roster. They kind of know the skill sets. They know what you do well, what you don’t do well and they try to put you in the best situations possible, which seems simple but not many teams are doing that, to be honest with you.”

Another club that thoroughly uses its roster, Pollock noted, is the Dodgers. Pollock played three seasons in Los Angeles. Stripling spent his first four-and-a-half seasons with the Dodgers. The connections don’t end there. Joc Pederson, Alex Wood, and Scott Alexander are among the other former Dodgers on the roster. Manager Gabe Kapler was the Dodgers’ farm director for three years. Zaidi was the Dodgers’ general manager for four years.

The cross-pollination has spawned a similar blueprint.

“It’s the same from, like, everything a player could need, we have,” Stripling said. “We get all the information we need. We have a coach for everything. Like we have a coach that teaches us how to sauna and cold tub correctly. So if a player needs something, wants something, we have it.”

One major difference, Stripling pointed out, is expectations. The Dodgers, he said, expected to win every time they rolled up to the ballpark. With the Giants, it’s been different. Externally, the San Diego Padres, not the Giants, were expected to challenge the Dodgers in the NL West. Internally, confidence is growing the deeper they go into the season with a roster that is greater than the sum of its parts.

“This team doesn’t necessarily have that, but we’re kind of getting there,” Stripling said. “We feel like we belong and can compete with anyone.”