TortureCast (SF Giants Podcast)

After a sweep at the hands of the Cubs essentially eliminated any chance the Giants have of making the postseason, Evan Longoria had a great weekend against the A's, enabling the Giants to take the Bay Bridge trophy and climb back to 4 games out of the wild card. But, if they had just taken one game in that crazy series against the Cubs, they'd be 2 out right now. With precious little time remaini...

Eric said the Giants needed to go at least 4-2 this week, and well, they did. Although, we were hoping for a 5-1 week, Bum laid an egg in the last game vs Arizona. We recap a solid week of Giants baseball which saw Mike Yastrzemski hit 3, yes, 3 homeruns in a game. Last time that happened was Jarrett Parker...where is he now? We also saw the MLB debut for Logan Webb, Pillar light it up, Belt's gra...

It's been a wild two weeks of Giants baseball. The Giants went 5-8 since we last recorded, but they only dropped from 2.5 games back to 3.5 games back. Alas, their playoff chances keep plummeting (down to 3% per fivethirtyeight.com). In episode 175, we covered the trade deadline, the fact that both Bumgarner and Smith will be with this team through the end of this season, Panik getting DFA'd, the...

The Giants keep surprising everyone. 4-2 this week with all 4 wins by one run, and 2 were extra inning. Two games were single-handedly won by Pablo Sandoval, as he hit two game winning homeruns this week. As a part-time player, he leads the team with 13 bombs. They are 26-10 in one run games and 11-2 in extra inning games. They keep pushing the narrative that this team can win, and will win close...

From our friend Ryan Leong comes Joe Maddon's post game comments after the Giants beat the Cubs 5-4 in comeback fashion. Be sure to check out our latest episode 173!

Shaun Anderson pitched 5 innings against the Cubs tonight in the Giants' thrilling 5-4 comeback win against the Cubs. Here are some of his post game comments. Be sure to check out episode 173 that we recorded earlier today!

This is a quick audio byte of my thoughts as I drove home on the 101 after tonight's epic come from behind victory over the Cubs 5-4. I covered the game from the press box tonight and was treated to a 3 run eight, capped off by Joe Panik's game-winning RBI double. Giants are above .500 for the first time this season, with 6 games to go until the trade deadline. They've won 16 of 19, and the exuber...

This team continues to surprise everyone, including GM Farhan Zaidi. The men in black and orange have won 15 of 18 and find themselves only 2.5 games out of the wildcard and are now tied for second in the NL West at 50-50...they're at .500! Every win in July has increased their chances of making the playoffs and decreased the chance that Zaidi will trade anyone. The next 7 games will probably dict...

The Giants have won 9 of 11 and lead MLB in home runs for the month of July with 22. You read that right. They lead the league in home runs this month. Did this team find their true identity, or is this just a phase like a cranky teenager going through a growth spurt? Eric and Chad talk about the series win in Milwaukee and recorded this during the Giants' 19-2 demolition of the Rockies in the fir...

The Giants have won 6 of 7 and head into the All Star break just 5 1/2 games out of the second wild card spot. The problem is that they have seven teams in front of them, and that is why the oddsmakers give the Giants only a 0.7% chance of making the playoffs. That said, we can still enjoy some good baseball as of late with a tremendous week by Evan Longoria, who hit 5 homeruns, including 4 in San...

The title was just too sophomoric to pass up...sorry about that. But, we do want more production from Alex Dickerson, who knocked in 9 runs in the first two games in Arizona, including a grand slam, two doubles, and a triple. This performance prompted the chant, "Dick! Dick! Dick!" from the Giants' dugout. Truly an awesome sight and sound. We had a small break because of Chad's vacation, but it wa...

The Giants just can't seem to push through in any particular week, and last week was no exception. Although they did win the first game of each series against the Mets and Dodgers, they proceeded to lose the next two games and each series. They also mustered a horrendous 2 for 24 with runners in scoring position against the Dodgers, glaringly one time unable to score with the bases loaded and no o...

The Giants went 3-3 since our last podcast, but after losing the first two in Miami, I think most Giants fans will be quite pleased with winning 3 of 4 since then. But, let's be honest: going 3-3 against two of the worst teams in the league is disappointing, but also a barometer of where this Giants team is amongst the 30 clubs. We talk about the great performances of Shaun Anderson, Tyler Beede,...

The Giants went 1-6 since our last podcast, and have completely taken the season in a different direction, being outscored 55-19 in the process. In addition, they gave up 15 unearned runs this week, which is almost half of the season total of 32. They are dead last in hitting and fielding percentage, and 3rd worst in the NL in ERA, a spot they were third in just a few weeks ago. They've lost 5 in...

The Giants went 3-1 after our last podcast, and have exceeded expectations (sadly) with a 17-17 record over their last 34 games. They took 2 or 3 from Arizona and their regulars have been performing well. Crawford won 2 games by himself with a game-saving play and a homerun. Panda hit 2 pinch hit HRs and won a game. Zaidi keeps the roster rotating with some shrewd trades and moves. Listen to this...

We review the last week in Giants' baseball, including a 2-4 record, using Nick Vincent as an opener after being outscored 42-5 in the first inning through 40 games, Derek Holland's comments about a "fake" injury and Zaidi's response, injuries, the revolving door that is the roster (36 on the 25 man and counting), who's hot and not, Hunter Pence's renaissance, and much more. Although the Giants si...

The Giants could have had a much worse week if it weren't for the fact that they came back from 8 runs and 4 runs down in two games in Cincinnati. They took 2 of 3 against the Dodgers and split 4 in Cincy. The Giants lead the league with a 9-2 record in one run games...that's good but not good considering their lack of ability to put teams away. Their win after an 8 run deficit is the 5th time the...

The Giants started off this week with a 2-game sweep in Toronto and finished a 4-4 road trip before heading back to San Francisco to face a depleted New York Yankees team that had 15 players on the injured list. That didn't matter, as the Yanks swept the Giants at Oracle thanks to bad starting pitching, poor defense, and getting behind early. Despite going 2-3 this week, the Giants sit at 11-17, l...

The Giants raised their team batting average over the last 6 games from .199 to .209. The bad news is that the Giants' pitching staff ERA went from 2.75 to 3.22. Christian Yelich hit 8 homeruns...this week. The Giants have 13 homeruns...as a team....all season. Eric and Chad talk about a 2-4 week during this road trip, dropping 2 of 3 each to the Nats and Pirates. But, in almost every game, a sing...

Where would the Giants be without Kevin Pillar? He dominated the week, hitting 4 homeruns with 12 RBI. In fact, no other Giant had more than 1 RBI for the week! The Giants sit at 7-10, 4 games back of the Padres, but it would be much worse without Pillar's contribution. That said, he's only hitting .155 on the season, so he's getting timely hits. How long will this last? We talk about Pillar and t...

In episode #160, Chad and Eric have a lot to discuss. The Giants are 10 games into the 2019 season, and although they haven't been swept, they also haven't won a series, going 3-7 in that span and dwelling in the cellar in the NL West. The pitching has been excellent, in fact, 2nd best in the NL, but their offense is non-existent. They have averaged only 2.5 runs per game and are hitting .207 over...

Chad and Eric host our annual season preview episode a little bit late...well, after 4 games into the season, but there is a good reason for that. Chad had the flu one week, then was traveling for work, then last week was having the experience of a lifetime, diving 2 miles under the ocean in the historic Alvin submarine, exploring a recently discovered "octopus garden" near an extinct underwater v...

Chad and Eric reconvene after the #Harperwatch ended last week. The Giants were once again the bridesmaid after Harper said no and took the rose from the Phillies. But, we talk about the reasons why he stayed in the NL East, and why it could have been a prohibitive contract for the Giants, especially if they aren't going to be competitive for a few years. We also talk about the start of spring, th...

This is the second time we recorded episode #157 (first version in November was eaten by my dog...I think), but we are back to get you ready for the upcoming season. Eric and I talk about what moves have occurred with the Giants' new head of baseball operations (not much), the passing of two Giants greats, the current outfield market, potential trades, the Hall of Fame results, and our Super Bowl...

Chad and Eric wrap up the Giants' poor season in episode 156 discussing their worst month in franchise history, going 5-21 and plunging 16 games below .500 after they were at .500 on August 31. Hunter Pence's lasting speech was uplifting after the Giants got trounced 15-0 by LA. We also lament about the fact that the Giants could have forced LA into a wild card game if they could've won one stinki...