{"id":144214,"date":"2025-08-14T04:51:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T04:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/144214\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T04:51:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T04:51:22","slug":"its-time-for-the-giants-to-end-the-misery-and-let-the-kids-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/144214\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s time for the Giants to end the misery and let the kids play"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The inning, the game, and the season came tumbling down in one forgettable, regrettable, and laughable inning that was witnessed by another frustrated crowd at Oracle Park on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

If it wasn\u2019t time at the trade deadline when the Giants made some white-flag-raising deals to acquire a slew of prospects, it\u2019s time now. Time to move in a new direction and let younger players get regular playing time in preparation for 2026.<\/p>\n

One of the Giants\u2019 most embarrassing innings of the season, the lowlight of their humiliating 11-1 loss to the first-place Padres, spoke volumes about the state of the team and where it\u2019s headed if the status quo remains unchanged.<\/p>\n

The boos around Third and King were telling as well.<\/p>\n

Before the game, I asked manager Bob Melvin if management is close to trying new guys across the diamond, to put more emphasis on the future. I cited Wilmer Flores, who\u2019ll be a free agent after the season and continues to get at-bats that could be taken by others who\u2019ll be around next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot yet,\u201d he said. \u201cUnfortunately, every day that we go through something like this, especially here at home, it gets harder and harder on everybody, and everybody’s wearing it. So hopefully, today, we break out of it and start playing better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t happen. The second inning saw to that. After the latest ugly loss, this one far uglier than most, Melvin softened on the subject.<\/p>\n

\"AThe Giants have played young outfielder Grant McCray sparingly since he was promoted from Triple-A. | Source: Emilee Fails\/MLB Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might be at the point here pretty soon where we give some guys some days off and look at some other guys,\u201d he said postgame. \u201cI still hate to admit we\u2019re at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

That point has arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to get better defensively,\u201d he said, \u201cand we have to take a look down the road at maybe adding some defensive players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pivoting sooner rather than later with roster usage makes sense. The Giants are off Thursday and open their next series Friday against Tampa Bay, and changes could be coming. Chief executive Buster Posey undoubtedly will consider all angles, and eventually that would include the fate of the manager and coaches. For now, young players have been given cameos and ought to get longer looks.<\/p>\n

Even if it means sitting Jung Hoo Lee for a while to see what Grant McCray could do in center field. Even if it means trying someone else in left field \u2014 perhaps Marco Luciano or Luis Matos \u2014 because of Heliot Ramos\u2019 defensive struggles. Even if it means promoting Blade Tidwell, who arrived in the Tyler Rogers trade and has had two impressive outings in Triple-A. Even if it means taking another crack at Hayden Birdsong and Carson Whisenhunt, who was optioned to Sacramento after just three big-league starts, and let them piggyback each other in games by getting three or four innings apiece. Even if it means promoting left-handed reliever Helcris Oliv\u00e1rez to see deserves a shot at a bullpen role next year.<\/p>\n

Even if it means \u2013 and this is the biggie \u2013 calling up top prospect Bryce Eldridge. Why not? There\u2019s nothing to lose and everything to gain. He needs development, the Giants say. Let him develop up here so that he\u2019s somewhat seasoned as a big-leaguer entering 2026. It could energize the clubhouse and reward fans who keep attending games only to go home bummed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough spot to be in,\u201d shortstop Willy Adames said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to do something different. We\u2019ve got to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adames, who signed last winter to the biggest contract in franchise history, made other strong statements after the Giants lost 13 of their last 14 home games for the first time in their San Francisco era.<\/p>\n

\"ARookie Carson Whisenhunt was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento earlier this week. | Source: Eakin Howard\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like every day something else happens. It feels like in the dugout, I don\u2019t know, we lose the energy right away, and from that, it\u2019s hard to come back when you don\u2019t have it in the dugout. It\u2019s just tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

And \u2026 \u201cYou have ups and downs during a season, but it feels like we\u2019ve been down for two months.\u201d<\/p>\n

And \u2026 \u201cIt has been the hardest (season) for me mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fateful second inning started innocently with Ramos making a nice sliding catch for the first out. But pandemonium quickly ensued. Kai-Wei Teng walked Xander Bogaerts on four pitches, one of his three walks in the inning. Ryan O\u2019Hearn popped a single to left, and Teng walked Ram\u00f3n Laureano to load the bases.<\/p>\n

To help support the narrative from here, feel free to hum a few bars of circus music.<\/p>\n

Jake Cronenworth got jammed on a pitch and hit a soft liner over the mound, a possible double-play ball. Adames was behind the bag waiting to take it on an easy hop to begin an inning-ending double play, but the ball hit the front of the bag and bounced into left-center.<\/p>\n

Because of course it did.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like the last two months, it\u2019s the same story. It feels like nothing positive is coming,\u201d Adames said. \u201cJam shot hits the base, that\u2019s a double-play ball. Something negative is in the air, and we haven\u2019t been able to figure out how to beat it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cronenworth was credited with a two-run single. Teng walked the No. 9 hitter, Elias D\u00edaz, on five pitches. Fernando Tat\u00eds Jr. followed with a two-run single, and Luis Arr\u00e1ez hit a sacrifice fly. It was 5-0, and fans booed.<\/p>\n

\"AHeliot Ramos’ defense has been suspect in the outfield and the Giants could evaluate other players in left. | Source: Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

More nuttiness followed when Ramos barehanded Manny Machado\u2019s double off the wall and stunningly spiked the ball onto the outfield grass. Instead of throwing to a bag, Ramos threw the ball no more than 20 feet, and it rolled without purpose toward the infield.<\/p>\n

Melvin insisted it wasn\u2019t Ramos\u2019 fault, noting infielders didn\u2019t cover the play properly. While Adames put himself in position as the cutoff man to third base, second baseman Christian Koss went out to cut second. But nobody covered second. First baseman Dom Smith stayed home. Either way, it was another mishap.<\/p>\n

At that point, Melvin made a pitching change, Spencer Bivens replaced Teng, and it didn\u2019t take long for the Padres to score their seventh run \u2013 on a Patrick Bailey passed ball. A perfectly catchable ball flicked off the top of Bailey\u2019s mitt.<\/p>\n

More boos.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just looks bad,\u201d Melvin said. \u201cThe way we\u2019ve been playing, it looks horrible. Now all of a sudden it\u2019s 7-nothing, we\u2019re in the second inning, and the way we\u2019ve been playing, it\u2019s just a miserable feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

End the misery. Let the kids play.<\/p>\n