The 2024 San Francisco Giants are a hot mess, a maelstrom of injuries, disappointments and tantalizing hints of something better that’s just out of reach. It’s not the worst team you’ve ever seen. Just one of the more frustrating teams.
I know how to get them back on track. Not so back that they’re guaranteed a postseason slot. Goodness, no.
But it would be nice if they were pointed in a direction that seems better than the current one, both for the rest of this season and the future. Here’s my second-half plan if I were running the Giants. Advertisement Trade Thairo Estrada It’s an election year, so let me quote the catchphrase of Dave Wasserman : I’ve seen enough.
Estrada might be young enough to be a part of a team’s future, but that team should not be the Giants. As an early Estrada booster, I take no pleasure in coming to this conclusion. The reasons aren’t complicated.
Estrada has abysmal pitch recognition, and he makes a lot of contact when he swings at bad pitchers. That is, perhaps, the most poisonous combination a hitter can have. When Estrada has been ahead in the count this season, he’s swung at 65 of the 116 pitches thrown in the “shadow” of the plate.
Here’s how pitchers are attacking him when they should be scared about falling further behind. This is when Estrada is supposed to have the advantage: Estrada is hitting .133 with a .
167 slugging percentage when he swings at those pitches, and he’s hitting .229 with a .329 slugging perce.