SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants failed to sign Aaron Judge. They couldn’t coax Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto to join them. They came up short in their bid for Bryce Harper. They could not convince Giancarlo Stanton to waive his no-trade clause to come to San Francisco, either. The one time in recent years that an elite free agent agreed to take their money, Carlos Correa’s megadeal fell apart over a failed physical.
The Giants’ three World Series titles defined the 2010s. But if there’s a franchise-defining narrative in this decade, it has been their disappointment at missing out on elite free-agent targets — or their inability to develop a star hitter of their own.
If the Giants wish to realign their sights and try again next winter, then there’s no questioning which elite hitter will represent the biggest prize. Juan Soto gave them the roughest possible reminder Sunday afternoon.
Soto hit a home run off left-hander Blake Snell in the first inning, and when the Yankees required his intercession again in the ninth, he tagged a two-run home run off closer Camilo Doval that erased New York’s one-run deficit. Soto scampered around the bases, enlivening the pro-Yankees contingent in the stands, and Doval yielded a career high-tying four runs in the ninth inning as the Giants absorbed a stunning, 7-5 loss and were swept out of their own ballpark by the team with the best record in the American League.
If these three games reinforced anything to the Giants, it’s the notion that star players truly are difference makers.
The Yankees used interstellar power to beat the Giants in all three games. Judge’s two home runs on Friday and his 464-foot shot on Saturday against the team from his boyhood fueled the Yankees to the first two victories in the series. It was Soto’s turn on Sunday, going deep against the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner and then flipping his bat like a rotor blade after his two-run shot against an All-Star closer rattled the top of the right field arcade in the ninth.
Stop and Stare. #RepBX pic.twitter.com/ag0b3axZPY
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 2, 2024
If the Giants seek to shoot the free-agent moon this winter, then Soto and Chiba Lotte Marines ace Roki Sasaki figure to be the most luminous players on the open market. At this point, after so many failed attempts to lure a big-name slugger to a ballpark where 70 degrees at first pitch qualifies as a heat wave, any hopes of landing either player would have to be manufactured.
A prime aspect of last winter’s Plan B isn’t working out so well, either.
Snell was on the verge of completing five innings for the first time this season when he reinjured his left groin while throwing a pitch to Alex Verdugo. The 31-year-old left-hander walked off the mound following a short discussion with trainers. He will go for an MRI exam on Monday with the hope that any strain will be milder than the one that sent him to the IL on April 19 and forced him to miss a month.
But Snell is certain to miss a minimum of two starts. And every turn through the rotation he misses is another 1/30th of his season that the Giants will get zero return on their $32 million investment in him. Even extreme second-half performers like Snell need a little runway to generate momentum. Now it’ll be hard to imagine Snell gathering that momentum prior to the All-Star break. And his absence won’t help the Giants preserve a talented but taxed bullpen that has thrown the most relief innings in the National League.
“I felt confident,” said Snell, who struck out seven in 4 2/3 innings and departed with a 3-2 lead before Erik Miller relieved him and gave up a two-run double to Verdugo. “The stuff’s there. It was all coming together. It’s definitely a bummer, frustrating.
“Changeup, I was battling it but made it competitive. Curveball was good. Fastball command was probably its best. A lot was getting better. I was really excited at what was to come. We’ll get there. There’s been a lot I’ve learned this year that will help me get back quicker and start dominating. It sucks that this happened but it happened. Face it head on and get back.”
The Giants will have to piece together the back end of their rotation beginning with a potential bullpen game Monday at Arizona. Even when they have a day off, it won’t be as simple as moving up the rotation to pitch guys on regular rest. Neither rookie Kyle Harrison nor converted reliever Jordan Hicks are expected to throw much more than 150 innings this season. Right-hander Keaton Winn, whose forearm wasn’t an issue in two full-go side sessions, might be an option to return soon but not immediately. He’s scheduled to make a rehab start on Tuesday for Triple-A Sacramento.
Alex Cobb won’t be an option any earlier than July after he’s endured repeated setbacks stemming from nerve issues in his shoulder that became so pronounced that some days he couldn’t lift his arm more than a few inches. Cobb began taking gabapentin, a nerve medication, and said he started to turn a corner this past week. He has resumed his throwing progression. But the 36-year-old acknowledged that he is “running out of time” because of the buildup process to start games and cannot afford to go back to square one again.
The Giants continue to have positive hopes for rehabbing left-hander Robbie Ray to impact their rotation, but the former AL Cy Young Award winner won’t be a candidate in the near term, either. Ray has completed his bullpen progression in his return from Tommy John surgery and will throw an inning in the Arizona Complex League on Tuesday.
The Giants have played 11 games behind Snell or a fill-in for Snell. They have not received five innings from a starter or bulk reliever in any of those games. Those kinds of demands usually have a cumulative impact on a team’s season eventually.
With the Giants’ rotation depth continually tested, they will have to keep leaning on their bullpen and hope to get even more spirited offensive contributions from their young position players. They had enough of those to win on Sunday. Heliot Ramos, getting his first major-league start in the leadoff spot, hit a solo homer in the third and lined a tie-breaking, two-run single in the sixth. Casey Schmitt hit an RBI single along with his second home run of the series.
“We played well today,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “Just didn’t shut it down in the ninth.”
Doval got in an immediate jam, allowing a leadoff single to Gleyber Torres and a one-out triple to Anthony Volpe. With the tying run at third base, Doval had every reason to pitch carefully to Soto — except for the fact that Judge, the major league’s leading home run hitter, stood behind him in the on-deck circle. Doval’s 1-0 pitch was a 98-mph two-seamer that tailed over the middle of the plate. Soto was strong enough to turn on it and send it flying into the arcade.
The Yankees added on when Judge walked and scored on Stanton’s double. It was the first time in Doval’s career that he gave up four hits in an appearance.
“There’s always a first time for everything,” Doval said through Spanish interpreter Erwin Higueros. “Today was not my day. You’ve just got to accept it and move on. … He’s a great hitter. I missed my spot. And when you miss against a great hitter, that is the result you will see.”
The blown save prevented the Giants from salvaging a game in the series and splitting a six-game homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies and Yankees, the teams that own the best records in their respective leagues.
“I felt good with Doval,” said Melvin, after his closer blew just his second save in 11 attempts. “Any time he’s in the game you feel good. He’s had a couple tough ones this year, but especially those save situations, those are the ones that really inspire him. I’ll take him against anybody. They just got him today.”
Sometimes that’s just what superstars do.
(Photo of Soto and Judge celebrating Soto’s homer: Brandon Vallance / Getty Images)
