When the Giants left The City for three games in Boston at Fenway Park to start a 10-game road trip over a 10-day span, they were 14-15 as a team that hadn’t lost a series in two-and-a-half weeks and were on the verge of being .500 again for the first time since sitting at 2-2.
They haven’t been .500 or above since then, and now come home four games under .500 at 17-21 after going 3-7 in their longest road trip of the season. The Giants were outscored 13-3 in their three-game series against the Boston Red Sox where they dropped two of three. The Phillies outscored them by 18 runs while sweeping the Giants, and though the Giants won two of three against the Colorado Rockies, their final stats were worse in many ways throughout a series with the worst team in the big leagues.
The Giants scored 14 runs in three games at Coors Field, and the Rockies scored 15. The Giants had a .291 team batting average, the Rockies had a .283 team batting average and each team hit two home runs. The Giants had a 5.19 team ERA, and the Rockies’ team ERA was 4.39.
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“Not good, it wasn’t a good road trip,” Giants manager Bob Melvin told reporters Thursday when asked to give his assessment of the 10 games. “We left one game under .500 and we come back a lot worse.”
Here are three stats that stood out from a time away from home the Giants wish they could forget.
.196
That was the collective batting average on the road trip between the Giants’ three big bats the front office signed in the offseason – Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman and Jorge Soler.
San Francisco Giants
Lee was the best of the group, going 10-for-41 (.244). The Giants’ leadoff hitter struck out only three times, but also didn’t walk once on his way to a .244 on-base percentage. While he’s had some tough BAbip luck this season, Lee also isn’t hitting the ball particularly hard and ranks as a poor hitter in barrel percentage.
Chapman had an 0-for-11 three-game stretch on the road trip and finished hitting .177 (6-for-34). All six of Chapman’s hits were singles. He struck out 11 times and had the same amount of walks (three) as times he grounded into a double play.
Soler’s road trip ended after five games. The Giants on Wednesday placed Soler on the 10-day injured list with a right shoulder strain, retroactive to May 5. It has to be said, Soler did have three lineouts against the Red Sox that had exit velocities of 110.7, 107.6 and 101.2 mph, but he also went 2-for-17 in the five games he did play.
.531
That was LaMonte Wade Jr.’s on-base percentage on the road trip, one where he played in nine of 10 games and started eight.
For the shortcomings of an offensive trio that’s making nearly a combined $36 million this season, LaMonte Wade Jr. at $3.5 million continues to be one of baseball’s best bargains. Wade already proved his unique ability to reach base in previous seasons. His .372 on-base percentage last season was impressive enough.
Wade this season has reached a new level in all aspects of his game, including his superpower of advancing 90 feet and beyond. He reached base in seven of the nine games he played, recording a hit in six of them and a walk in seven – including a three-walk game Tuesday. He walked nine times in nine games, and had only seven strikeouts.
Wade squared line drives up the middle and invited every opportunity to jog down the first-base line.
There’s no arguing Wade has been the Giants’ best offensive player this season, and his .472 on-base percentage would top all hitters in the majors if he were to qualify.
4
That’s the average innings pitched by a Giants starter on the road trip.
As a side note, for this exercise, I didn’t include the one inning Erik Miller pitched as an opener and instead added Daulton Jefferies’ 2 2/3 innings following Miller.
In the 10 games the Giants played, their starting pitcher went five or more innings only three times. Two of the occasions were by 22-year-old Kyle Harrison, who is sure to have his innings monitored at some point, and the other was when converted reliever Jordan Hicks – another pitcher whose innings will be closely watched as the season goes on – pitched five innings Wednesday.
And in three other games, Giants starters (including Jefferies) threw fewer than four innings. Keaton Winn didn’t even make it out of the first inning in Philadelphia, before ending the Giants’ road trip Thursday tossing only 3 2/3 innings in Colorado.
Logan Webb made it through the fourth inning Sunday, and lasted just 3 2/3 innings in his first start of the trip after a stretch where he threw seven innings in three straight starts and eight against the New York Mets in San Francisco.
Webb is the Giants’ ace and horse of the starting staff. Melvin will hand him the ball Friday to begin a nine-game homestand, and there isn’t a better arm suited to knock off his own rust to lead by example and create some much-needed momentum in a comforting environment.