SF Giants Show Signs of Life in May? An Evaluation of the Teams Performance
Written By: David Sisson
The San Francisco Giants have had a very rough start to the 2026 season, paling in comparison to the start they had last year, leading the MLB in power rankings as well as the NL West Division (arguably the hardest division in 2025, hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Colorado Rockies). This new season brings forth an entirely new baseball operation, with new coaches and some familiar faces being added to the clubhouse, likely causing some unfamiliarity and awkwardness in these first few months.
In May, the awkwardness is starting to wash away, the defense seems to be very comfortable making tough plays, and the offense is starting to make more hits. But, seemingly, the catalyst for losses now seems to be the pitching and batting not syncing up. More often than not, the pitching bombs any good lead that the batters have provided.
Games such as May 20 against the Diamondbacks (the most disappointing loss this season, eliciting an infamous call by Duane Kuiper, where he refused to call the walk off home run by Ketel Marte), where the Giants put up strong innings, but were ultimately burnt by their own pitching are examples of blown leads solely by pitching.
The worst part about this is that the team has some very strong pitchers in the rotation, such as Blade Tidwell, Erik Miller, Robbie Ray, & Landen Roupp, but none of them have had crazy good outings.
The idea now, since the hitting is in a comparatively much better spot than it was a month ago, is to keep pitchers in the strike zone. The Giants have had a huge problem giving out walks this season, specifically with pitchers like Ryan Walker, Robbie Ray, Tyler Mahle, and Adrian Houser. Keeping pitches in the zone instead of nibbling (the practice of trying to hit the edge of a batters strike zone to induce an easy strikeout by way of swinging or looking) will help exponentially, due to the vast arsenals and movement that pitchers on the Giants have.
Overall, this May has built a good foundation for the rest of the Giants season, and is a necessary struggle to make the team better.
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