This time it was worse. Down 6-3 to the Dodgers, the Giants slowly climbed back into the game. Of course it was the oft injured Matt Kemp who tracked down a well hit ball from Scutaro to end the game.
If there's any truth to the World Series hangover effect, you are seeing it right here. The team that had come back largely intact from the World Series last year has begun to pay the price for a short offseason, especially one where it saw many of its players play in the WBC.
Of the 9 Giants who played in the WBC, 6 of them (Vogelsong, Scutaro, Sandoval, Affeldt, Casilla, and Pagan) have spent some time either injured, on the DL or are still on the DL. In the case of Pagan, He may have lost the entire season to a torn hamstring which he just got surgery for. It's impossible not to think about the fact that the short offseason and playing of high level baseball so early has hurt the Giants who attended the WBC.
The current situation has gotten so dire that Brian Sabean has actually been entertaining trade possibilities more than a month before the trade deadline to see if there is any way to help these ailing Giants. Which is why the Giants have been connected to oh-so-boring names like Ricky Nolasco or Matt Garza in the past week.
In an irony of all ironies, the starting pitching has actually been pretty good for the last few weeks. But as the Giants has been on a recent run of quality starts, the lineup has been just futile enough to make those good starts go for losses.
Having Sandoval back has definitely helped to solidify the lineup, but the loss of Pagan will hurt for the rest of the year. Blanco and Torres were supposed to be an adequate platoon to cover left field in lieu of an everyday left fielder. Instead the Giants have been forced to make them both everyday outfielders regardless of the pitching match up.
I wont even add the fact that Vogelsong is out, and his replacement, Gaudin, was injured in his last start as well so the Giants resorted to sending Mike Kickham back out for his second career major league start. This is the 5th spot in the rotation, and if the Giants have to rely on the 5th spot in the rotation for more than it's share of wins, then there's no hope anyway.
If there's one way to describe the plight of this team, it's that they are way too hurt right now, and the players who remain are trying hard to pull more than their share of weight, and the rookie players are trying to be veterans overnight so they can help this team win. Every single player on the Giants is playing outside of their comfort zone and that is not a recipe for success.
It's a recipe for more torture.
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