TortureCast (SF Giants Podcast)

Chad sat down for an extended exclusive interview with Giants' starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija at Media Day at AT&T Park. Topics include his offseason training regimen, the World Baseball Classic, AT&T Park, the origin of his last name, and an analysis of getting more consistent results in his starts compared to a year ago. Enjoy the other video and audio interviews with Buster Posey, Bru...

The TortureCast has awakened from its long winter slumber to bring you thoughts on the Super Bowl and the Giants' offseason. We say goodbye to Romo (Dodgers), Lopez (FA), Peavy (FA), Pagan (FA), Blanco (D'backs), Casilla (A's), and welcome Melancon, Morse, Rollins, Hundley, and a lot of familiar faces. The starting rotation is almost set, but there are questions in the outfield, except for Gorkys!

Willie, Chad and Eric soak in the post-wild card game glory of another legendary performance by Madison Bumgarner and another unlikely postseason hero as Conor Gillaspie hits a 3-run homer in the 9th to defeat the Mets 3-0 and move on to face the best team in the majors, the Chicago Cubs. The Giants have now won 11 consecutive postseason series, tying the Yankees, and Bum has 23 scoreless innings...

Despite the second half collapse, the Giants have done what we thought wasn't going to happen. The whole gang is back to talk about the Giants making the playoffs. We talk about the starting pitching, the timely hitting, and what MadBum might do to the Mets. Sorry for Chad's reverb, but it was worth it for the Donald Trump sound bytes.

The Giants went 5-9 since we recorded two weeks ago, just when we thought they were turning the corner. Those 9 losses included 3 in which they led going into the 9th, including vs. STL and LA. Not gonna lie. Those losses hurt, A LOT. And now, they're having a direct impact on the Giants' chances of making the playoffs, but here they sit, 1/2 game back of NY and 1 game up on STL. Eric and Chad tal...

Ok, Matt Cain doesn't explain why they lost, but he has a message for Giants fans: they signed up for criticism, and they do deserve some right now, but they are in control of their own destiny. I talked with Matt Cain after the Giants lost 3-0 to the Cardinals. The Giants now trail the Mets by 1 game and lead the Cardinals by only 1 game. Their playoff hopes hang in the balance. Chad

Hey, the Giants have won 4 out of their last 5 and turned a 1-4 roadtrip into a 5-5 with great starting pitching and Hunter Pence playing like frickin' Hunter Pence, wildly flailing appendages, hair and all! The Giants still have a slim shot at the division and hold a lead on a wild card spot. Chad and Eric talk about their chances, Santiago Casilla, and if Bochy has developed dementia all in epis...

After a failed recording (no, seriously, we did a WHOLE podcast and forgot to hit the record button last week!), and serious schedule challenges, we finally got 3 out of 4 of us to record episode 110 of the TortureCast! Of course, we last recorded when the Giants were up by 6.5, but now they are trailing by a full game to the Dodgers. We talk at length about what went wrong, how bad every facet of...

For at least 24 hours, the San Francisco Giants have the best record in all of baseball at 54-33, yes, even better than the Chicago Cubs that are starting their entire infield in the All Star game, plus Dexter Fowler (which is a complete joke). We focus on what the keys have been to their success, and what keys lie forward in the second half to ensure that they win the NL West. The All Star snub o...

Just a quick summary of thoughts and quotes from Bruce Bochy's pre-game presser from the dugout.

Chad and Eric talk about the Giants’ second 8 game winning streak of the season, the incredible pitching they have been benefitting from, All-Star voting, Duffy’s injury, who’s hot, and Timmy’s great performance in his first start with the Angels. And, if you’re not a Warriors fan, don’t listen to the first part of the podcast as Chad laments on what could have been the completion to a historic se...

Chad and Eric discuss the weekend series against the Dodgers, which saw the Giants take 2 out of 3 very close, fun and competitive games. Other topics include splash hit #69, Belt's offensive surge, Posey's recent struggles, Timmy's AAA starts for the Angels, and the Giants' interest in a trade for Ryan Braun now that Pence is on the shelf until August.

Hey, look at that. Brandon Belt getting hit on by a giraffe. Chad and Eric are giddy about the Giants’ 6-game winning streak that is buoyed by the team’s pitching, with an ERA of 1.86 over that stretch. Cain has two consecutive great starts, and even Peavy wasn’t bad. The top three continue to dominate, all with sub-3 ERAs, and the 3 run homeruns by Peavy and Crawford were huge game-deciders. Of c...

Eric and Chad record episode 104 to discuss the recent series split against Colorado, and the first loss of the 3 game series against Toronto. The fact that we're HAPPY that Peavy ONLY gave up 3 runs in 5 innings tonight is a bit sad. The back end of the rotation is now 1-8, while the first three are 12-5. Timmy isn't necessarily the answer, but we're not sure the Giants have many other options. O...

Chad goes solo in this short 103rd episode to talk about the latest homestand and road trip, who's hot, and who's not (*cough* Jake Peavy *cough*), and what to do about the struggles from the back end of the rotation.

In our 102nd podcast, Eric and Chad break down the second week of the 2016 season that saw the Giants go 2-4 while our livers broke down even more. Our G-men dropped 2 of 3 in each city of Denver and LA, but not all is lost as we look at the positives of Samardzija’s and Cueto’s starts. Posey snapped his 18 AB hitless streak, Romo and Adrianza went on the DL, Duffy’s slump, Derek Law made his dad...

The Giants started the season 5-2, taking 2 of 3 in Milwaukee and 3 of 4 from LA. All 5 wins were from the comeback variety. The Giants also hit 14 homeruns and for the first time since 2003, hit homeruns in their first 7 games. Chad and Eric discuss the details of the week in episode 101 of the TortureCast!

Although this is audio recording 145 (or thereabouts), we’re celebrating the 100th episode of the TortureCast! No big cake. No confetti. Just us. Ben, Eric and Chad gather around the proverbial campfire to talk about their expectations for the 2016 season, including their predictions for the number of wins for the Giants. Now, Chad has something at stake, as he’s predicted the EXACT number of wins...

TortureCast's Chad King and Veronica Belmont interviewed Matt Duffy at "Media Day" at AT&T Park. In our longest interview of the day, a pleasurable Matt Duffy talks about his rocket ride to success, who is the smartest on the team, and his time travel destination being the 2014 World Series Parade. Duffman, indeed.

TortureCast's Chad King and Veronica Belmont interviewed Giants' second baseman Kelby Tomlinson at "Media Day" at AT&T Park. Veronica asks Kelby about why glasses instead of contacts, Kelby talks about his offseason conditioning routine, and he gets stumped by our time travel question.

TortureCast's Chad King and Veronica Belmont interviewed Hunter Pence at "Media Day" at AT&T Park. Hunter is in love with the new additions to the rotation, Veronica and Hunter talk guide dogs and if he and his fiancee should get a puppy (Veronica says yes), and we talk time travel. Yep, this is a Hunter Pence interview.

TortureCast's Chad King and Veronica Belmont interviewed Buster Posey at "Media Day" at AT&T Park. Buster talks about his career high in games and plate appearances last year and if that had anything to do with playing first base more often, starters potentially eating more innings this year, and although he's not a "fan" of the DH, he'd like to see a poll of baseball fans on the topic.

TortureCast's Chad King and Veronica Belmont interviewed Brandon Crawford at "Media Day" at AT&T Park. Brandon talks about how have three kids changes parental defense from "one on one" to "zone." We also talk about his surging power numbers, his gold glove and how freak injuries and conditioning contributed to his ups and downs last year. Also, the Giants commercials and how they had to modif...

TortureCast's Chad King and Veronica Belmont interviewed Brandon Belt at "Media Day" at AT&T Park. Belt talks about his lack of concussion symptoms, the latest giraffe commercial, how him and Crawford are "rebranding" themselves, and his impressions of the offseason moves.

TortureCast's Chad King and Veronica Belmont caught up with Giants second baseman Joe Panik at Media Day at AT&T Park. Joe says his back is cleared by the doctors, his wedding date is set, and he's looking forward to playing the Yankees this year, and destroying the Red Sox.