What we learned in SF Giants’ first month of season

SAN DIEGO Throughout spring training the Giants were adamant in their belief that they could compete They understood that prognosticators did not hold them in the same esteem as the Dodgers or the Padres or the Diamondbacks but they repeatedly expressed confidence in the talent they possessed One month in they ve proven themselves right Despite losing twice in San Diego to end the month the Giants enter May with a record of - They rank third in the stacked NL West behind the Dodgers - and Padres - but are tied with the Detroit Tigers for the fourth-best record in all of baseball Here are five things we learned from this month Kings of the dramatic The Giants began their season with a thrilling win in Cincinnati as Wilmer Flores hit a go-ahead three-run ninth-inning homer to stun the Reds In retrospect that swing set the tone for the month Of San Francisco s victories have come in games where they ve trailed by at least two runs Beginning with Willy Adames heroics in the home opener five of their wins have been of the walk-off variety With the exception of one blowout loss to the Milwaukee Brewers they ve been in every match they ve played Even as they were swept by the Padres their offense kept the games close There s inevitably kind of a late-game fight or a fight when we re behind in the encounter noted manager Bob Melvin I think that bodes well for us Adames big early concern The Giants new -million man finished his first month in San Francisco with two homers RBIs and a OPS Adames has invariably been a slow starter his career OPS entering Wednesday is the lowest of any month and finished April by reaching base in each of his last eight games The true early concern lies in his defense In Adames minus- defensive runs saved were the second-worst mark in baseball Entering Wednesday Adames minus- defensive runs saved are tied for the second-worst in all of baseball His four errors are the preponderance on the Giants and his minus- outs above average are the fewest of any shortstop Bullpen shutting it down Aside from trading Taylor Rogers to the Cincinnati Reds the Giants barely touched their bullpen this offseason So far San Francisco s relievers have rewarded the front office s faith by posting a ERA the second-lowest mark in all of baseball Ryan Walker owns an inflated ERA after his poor outings against the Angels and Brewers but he finished the month with back-to-back scoreless outings Camilo Doval endured his own rough stretch but hasn t allowed a run in his last eight outings Walker remains the closer and Melvin has the luxury of Doval as a backup in that role should Walker be unavailable Tyler Rogers ERA and Randy Rodr guez ERA have been just about automatic and Hayden Birdsong has posted a ERA with strikeouts with no walks over innings Birdsong will remain in the bullpen for now but his long-term future remains as a starter When he ll get that chance remains to be seen Despite concerns of Erik Miller being the bullpen s only left-handed reliever the bullpen has held left-handed hitters to a slash line of entering Wednesday Top-heavy offense The Giants runs scored rank th in baseball It s a better place to be than where they finished in th or th but their offense isn t exactly humming either Following Wednesday s loss San Francisco ranks th in on-base percentage nd in slugging percentage and th in batting average Here s the unit s collective OPS over the last four seasons Jung Hoo Lee is emerging as a prospective star OPS and Mike Yastrzemski has hit his way into the leadoff spot OPS but four regulars Adames Flores Patrick Bailey LaMonte Wade Jr are below-average hitters according to wRC Matt Chapman is drawing walks nearly percent of the time but has three hits in his last games Flores Verlander bouncing back Wilmer Flores and Justin Verlander grinded through injuries last season and their production suffered as a development Healthy again they ve shown themselves capable of contributing Related Articles SF Giants Fitzgerald loses both torpedo bats on back-to-back singles at Petco Park SF Giants swept by Padres in first showdown against NL West rival SF Giants fall to Padres in first battle vs NL West opponent this season SF Giants Wade maintaining confidence despite ice cold April SF Giants prepare for first-place showdown against Tatis-led Padres Flores only hit four home runs last season over injury-riddled games but the -year-old has already hit seven homers over games in His RBIs not only lead the squad but are tied with the Mets Pete Alonso for the third-most in all of baseball Verlander finished the month with a ERA over his first six outings and remains searching for his first win as a Giant but ended the month with back-to-back quality starts On April Verlander allowed one earned run over six innings On April he went six more innings and allowed two earned runs