I asked ChatGPT to produce this. I didn’t dare use a real picture of the real team that won. Not sure why they all look like brothers with the same facial hair.
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The MLB season is officially over, and it ended in agonizing fashion with the Dodgers squeaking out their second consecutive championship over a Toronto Blue Jays team that just couldn’t put the nail in the coffin. We beat the dead horse that should have been a ring for Toronto, but before that, we break down Tony Vitello’s presser at Oracle, Gold Glove wins for Bailey and Webb, and some new coaching hires. We’ll be back periodically throughout the offseason as news breaks, but thank you for your continued support as we close out season 15 of the TortureCast.
Tony Vitello is the 40th manager in Giants’ franchise history
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Today, the Giants announced that University of Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello will be their new manager. Vitello becomes the first college coach to move directly to MLB manager without previous professional coaching experience. He turned a Volunteers team around, accruing a .722 winning percentage, and winning the 2024 College World Series and was named Coach of the Year. This could be exactly what the Giants need, or it could flame out in horrible disaster, but they had to try something, and this is Buster Posey’s first crack at “his guy” to helm the ship. The whole gang is back together (Willie, Eric, and Chad) to talk about Vitello and to preview the World Series, which unfortunately has that team in blue in it…again.
Willy Adames smiles as he rounds the bases after hitting his 30th homerun of the season on the last day of the season, becoming the first Giant to hit 30 homers since Barry Bonds in 2004. Adames also won the Willie Mac award on Friday night.
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Chad and Eric conduct a partial autopsy on the corpse of the 2025 San Francisco Giants, but before that, there’s a long conversation about who the Giants are going to replace Bob Melvin with. That’s right, after signing Melvin to an extension on July 1, the Giants parted ways with Melvin and now will search for their next skipper. No, it won’t be Bruce Bochy, who just ended his tenure as manager with the Rangers. So much went wrong for the Giants this year, but in the end, they missed the playoffs by just 3 games (they were 2 games back, but Mets held the tiebreaker over Giants). Heck, Ryan Walker blew three saves (all losses) in the last two weeks of the season alone! There are many other games to point to. The Giants are close, tantalizingly close, but they need more. Buster Posey said in this morning’s interview that they can’t keep doing the same thing and expecting different results, thus the Melvin dismissal. Hey, Willy Adames became the first Giant to hit 30 homers since Bonds in 2004, and we talk about the playoffs and give our predictions. Anyone but the Dodgers, right?
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We strung out this episode because during the recording, the Giants blew a 5-run lead they had in the 7th against the Cardinals, then Ryan Walker came in and failed to close out a 1-run lead, allowing 2 runs in the 9th. We waited out the episode to watch Wilmer Flores feebly strike out with the tying run on second to end the game and their official and mathematical hopes for the playoffs as they were eliminated. But, before coughing up their largest lead of the season, Eric and I break down what went wrong in the last two weeks that saw their once bright and resuscitated playoff hopes get extinguished in such a quick fashion. They’ve now lost 9 of 11 and can only achieve a .500 season by winning their remaining four games. They are likely headed to another losing season. This also means that the Giants have only made the playoffs ONCE in the last nine seasons. That is just one more than the Pirates. Will Melvin be fired? Who will win the Willie Mac? Will Adames reach 30 homers when it seemed like a lock when he hit his 28th 13 games ago? We review the playoff races and talk a bit about the ABS coming to MLB next season. Next episode will record on Monday, the night before the playoffs start when we’ll give our playoff predictions. Alas, a Giants postseason will have to wait until at least next year.
Bryce Eldridge in his first MLB AB. Photo by Chad King.
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Chad and Eric were hopeful that their trip to Arizona would bear witness to the Giants leapfrogging the Mets into the third wild card position, but instead were witness to the final nail in the coffin to their postseason hopes. Although we did get to see Bryce Eldridge’s Major League debut, we also witnessed an 8-1 drubbing followed by a walk-off win for the Diamondbacks on a game which the Giants led by four runs. It was a frustrating experience, but it does give clarity to the fact that this team is not ready for the playoffs. We chat about the season that could have been and our experience at Chase Field.
Patrick Bailey walked off the Dodgers with a 10th inning grand slam that put the Giants within 1/2 game of the Mets.
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Chad traveled down to Arizona to meet Eric for a couple of Giants games, but we wrapped up the last 10 games in a special live and in-person episode! We thank the Mets for their 8-games losing streak that enabled the Giants to get to within 1 1/2 games, despite the Giants going 4-5. And, our timing couldn’t be better because Bryce Eldridge has been called up and we should be seeing him the next two nights at Chase Field. Join us for a fun and rare episode!
Al Pacino can’t believe the Giants are drawing us back in…
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…they pull us back in. Yes, we are all Al Pacino. The Giants have suddenly forgotten how to lose. In fact, they’ve only lost one of their last 11 games and suddenly find themselves two games above .500 and four games back of the Mets for the third wild card with 22 games to play. We are still in snowball’s-chance-in-hell territory, but it’s better than last week and the week before that. This remarkable surge has been powered by the long ball with the Giants homering in 17 straight games (and counting), breaking the SF record. The NY Giants record is 19. During that streak, they’ve hit 36 of their 150 homers which is 24%…in just over two weeks! Willie Adames hit four bombs this week and is only four away from 30 and would become the first Giant to do so since Barry Bonds. Devers hit five this week (including a HR trot that technically lasted an MLB-record 8+ minutes!) and has 30, 15 with each Boston and SF. Chad and Eric chat about this surge, talk about their realistic chances for making the playoffs, and reveal that they will be at Chase Field on September 15 and 16 to watch the Giants take on the Diamondbacks. We’ll even resurrect the bonusode!
Rafael Devers hits his second homerun of the night vs the Cubs on Wednesday night (Photo by Jeff Chui, AP)
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Just when they had us down, they sweep us back into their arms. Well, maybe not quite yet, but the Giants have quietly put together a 4 game winning streak and are 3 games under .500. Their offense is finally clicking, and they’ve even homered in 10 straight games. Devers went off tonight in game 2 of their series against the Cubs, going 4-4 with 2 bombs, a double, and 5 RBI….right after I put in the notes about his poor splits in SF vs BOS. He raised his OPS by 50 points with the Giants in ONE game! Eric and Chad chat about the good week in Giants baseball, and look towards a favorable September schedule, where the Giants will play 6 games against the Dodgers, the only winning team in their last 29 games. Now, we’re not saying they are going to sneak back into playoff relevance, but we are saying if you were to line up the possibility, this would be the way to do it. We review who’s hot and not, injuries, and even talk about Big Dumper and the Freak for a spell.
Actual photo of Chad and Eric talking about the Giants.
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We came up with this title at the end of this episode. If you’re brave enough to listen to the end, you’ll understand why. But seriously, the Giants have lost 15 of 17 at home and are no where close to orbiting the playoffs. They would have been if they had just played 7-10 in that stretch. They went 2-4 for the week and are now a solid 5 games under .500. So, what are we looking for? Good coaching, quality ABs, playing time for the younger players and prospects, less mental mistakes on the field, anything to give us a glimmer of hope for surging back to .500 and something to build upon for 2026. We also discuss the minor controversy of Heliot Ramos’ statement about fans, and wonder if players really tell the truth about things that happen out of the view of reporters and fans alike. One thing is clear, the players have Bob Melvin’s back, despite the ire that he has drawn from some of the fan base. We also talk about who’s hot, who’s not, and that we really don’t miss Camilo Doval, and you’re welcome, Yankees fans. Have fun with him!
Probably a photo of Heliot Ramos watching a video replay of his unexplainable throw into the left field grass at Oracle Park on Wednesday vs the Padres. (Darren Yamashita/Imagn Images)
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The Giants may be a bad team after all. They followed up a historic winless six game homestand with a 4-2 roadtrip, and came right back home and lost five of six, meaning the Giants have lost 13 of their last 14 at home. They last time the franchise did that was 1940 in New York. They are below .500 for the season, on the road, and at home. Their only winning month is April. Their second half is atrocious, and they are 18-33 since being tied for first with the Dodgers on June 13. This is their fourth consecutive season of having a winning record in the first half, followed by a second half collapse. Visions of the postseason snatched away by ineptitude of the summer.
But why? What is happening? The players don’t know, BoMel doesn’t know, but we all know that they stink and they have for quite some time. Their hitting is near the league bottom, they can’t hit with runners in scoring position, and they are striking out at a prodigious rate. And don’t get us started on the physical and mental errors on the field and basepaths (we’re talking about you, Ramos!)
With 41 games left, the Giants’ postseason chances are essentially zero. What can we look forward to? An Eldrige call up? For Logan Webb to regain his composure? For Melvin to stop being so passive with his coaching and maybe light a fire under their collective asses? At least the anxiety of watching the Giants in the postseason won’t be a reality, but when we look back, we realize that we’ve only experienced that anxiety one time in the last nine seasons. Their glory days are far behind them and may not be getting any closer to rekindling them if management doesn’t find a solution soon.
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