How the Giants are wild-card contenders — without a single star
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David Schoenfield, ESPN Senior Writer
This week, the San Francisco Giants entered the third game of their series against the Philadelphia Phillies attempting to avoid a sweep. The Giants had swept the series the two teams played back in May, but the Phillies’ season had transformed since then — they have a 44-28 record since June 1 — and they won the first two games of this series. By all accounts, the Giants should have lost that final game, too — but instead, their 8-6 win in extra innings perfectly encapsulates their 2023 season.
Their starting center fielder was Wade Meckler, an eighth-round pick in last year’s draft who started the season in High-A and was recently called up. Their All-Star closer, Camilo Doval, blew the save in the bottom of the ninth — his fourth appearance in a row with a blown save. And yet Paul DeJong, playing shortstop in his first game for San Francisco since being released by the Toronto Blue Jays, where he went 3-for-44 with 18 strikeouts, matched that hit total in only five at-bats, including a home run and four RBIs. Two of those RBIs came on a single in the top of the 10th as the Giants scored three runs to take back the lead and held on for the victory, using two relievers to finish it out.
The victory helped keep the Giants in the thick of the wild-card race — the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks and Giants are separated by half a game for the final two spots, with the Miami Marlins a couple games behind and the Phillies a couple games ahead. Somehow, some way, despite a roster devoid of stars or even non-stars having surprise seasons, the Giants are in the hunt, baseball’s Houdini act.
Okay, it’s not quite as impressive as two years ago when they pulled an elephant out of a hat by winning 107 games, but this team has a chance to make the postseason. And when you look at the roster, it’s hard not to think, “How is that even possible?”
This is a team we predicted to win 80 games and ranked 22nd in baseball in our preseason rankings. Their top-ranked position player in Baseball-Reference wins above replacement is Wilmer Flores with 2.5 bWAR — tied for 69th in the majors. Their next two best are LaMonte Wade and Thairo Estrada, ranked 81st and 98th. A decent enough trio of ballplayers, but not to be confused with Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith.
At crucial up-the-middle positions, the Giants have started six different shortstops and nine different center fielders. They’re one of just four teams in MLB without a 20-home run hitter. They’ve used 12 different starting pitchers, with only Logan Webb and Alex Cobb managing to stay in the rotation all season long. And their starting pitchers have thrown the fewest innings in the majors (to be fair, in part because they’ve used an opener more than any other team).
This is not how you want to construct a team. But president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler are better at getting the most out of all 26 players on the roster than any other team. Flores is their top home run hitter with 18 — tied for 68th in the majors, but on pace for a career high. J.D. Davis leads the club with 57 RBIs — tied for 85th in the majors with, among others, Ezequiel Tovar and Whit Merrifield — but, again, already tying his career-best mark.
As we’ve watched rosters full of superstars — the San Diego Padres, New York Yankees and New York Mets — disappoint this year, the Giants have proven how depth helps cover for a lack of stars. They platoon, pinch hit and mix-and-match, which has helped them scrape across just enough runs despite the lack of any big individual threats. While they’re not really a good offensive team — they’re just 13th in the National League in runs scored, although Oracle Park decreases run scoring — they’ve hit well in high-leverage situations, increasing their OPS more than 40 points, which is one reason they’re 9-3 in extra-inning games.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Giants do this. San Francisco won a shocking NL West championship in 2021 deploying a similar depth-focused strategy. But that year, they did have some stars — or at least players who had big years. Buster Posey went out in a blaze of glory in his final season. Brandon Crawford had his last good season, finishing fourth in the MVP voting. Brandon Belt had a .975 OPS and 29 home runs in just 97 games. The rotation featured two aces in Webb and Kevin Gausman, plus Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood had healthy seasons.
But this year has proven how tough it is to grind through a season this way — and the lack of manpower is perhaps finally starting to show. The series loss to the Phillies was the Giants’ sixth consecutive losing series after beginning the month with three straight wins over Arizona, and the schedule doesn’t get much easier down the stretch. The Reds, San Diego Padres and Cubs are up next, and seven of San Francisco’s final 10 games are against their division rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
If the Giants want to turn 2021’s success and this year’s surprise contention into long-term success, they know that eventually they’ll need to add some star power to the roster; it’s hard to keep winning with platoon players and waiver-wire castoffs. They certainly tried to add stars in the offseason, first pursuing Aaron Judge and then agreeing to a 13-year, $350 million contract with Carlos Correa, only to pull out at the last minute over concerns with Correa’s physical. (Given Correa’s subpar performance this season back with the Minnesota Twins, it looks like they escaped an albatross of a contract.)
The Giants will also need to get younger, which means the farm system needs to produce some talent. Patrick Bailey has impressed, especially on defense, and looks like the solution at catcher that Joey Bart wasn’t. Luis Matos was called up and has shown some good contact ability but not much power, and his defensive metrics in center are poor. He might be more of a fourth outfielder. Highly-touted shortstop Marco Luciano has hit just .231 in the minors, losing some shine off his prospect luster. Lefty Kyle Harrison just made his debut a few days after turning 22 despite struggling with his control in Triple-A (48 walks in 67⅔ innings). Still, he has top-of-the-rotation potential. Meckler has come out of nowhere, although calling him up after such little time in the minors seems to be a sign of the team’s problems in center field.
Throw in Casey Schmitt and Blake Sabol and the Giants are transitioning from one of the oldest teams in baseball the past couple of seasons to one suddenly relying on a slew of rookies as it battles for the wild card. I’d bet against the Giants this year, given their youth and remaining schedule, but they have already surprised us just being in this position.
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Adam Rittenberg
Cincinnati freshman football player Jeremiah Kelly, an early enrollee who went through spring practice with the team, died unexpectedly Tuesday morning at his residence.
The school didn’t disclose a cause of death.
Kelly, an 18-year-old offensive lineman from Avon, Ohio, helped his high school team to a 16-0 record and a state championship last fall.
“The Bearcats football family is heartbroken by the sudden loss of this outstanding young man,” Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield said in a statement. “In the short time Jeremiah has spent with our team, he has made a real impact, both on the field and in our locker room. My prayers are with the Kelly family and those who had the pleasure of knowing Jeremiah.”
Cincinnati completed its spring practice session last week.
“We’ve suffered a heartbreaking loss today,” Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham said in a statement. “All of us at UC send our love and prayers to the Kelly family and we will do everything that we can to support them and our Bearcats student-athletes in the difficult days and weeks ahead.”
Seven of eight first-round series in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and No. 8 gets rolling on Tuesday.
The Battle of Florida between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers begins anew (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), with both clubs looking like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender if they can survive the intrastate showdown.
Cats-Bolts is the third game of four Tuesday on the ESPN family of networks, following New Jersey–Carolina (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Ottawa–Toronto (7:30 p.m., ESPN2), and preceding the nightcap, Minnesota–Vegas (11 p.m. ET, ESPN).
What are the key storylines heading into Tuesday’s games? Who are the key players to watch?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down Monday night, and the Three Stars of Monday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 2 (CAR leads 1-0) | 6 p.m. ET | ESPN
Game 1 sure did not go as planned for the Devils. A win at the legendarily loud Lenovo Center would’ve been stretching it, but losing Brenden Dillon, Cody Glass and Luke Hughes to injury was not an ideal outcome either.
They’ll hope to rebound Tuesday before the series shifts to Newark. Closing the shot attempt differential might help, as the famously possession-savvy Hurricanes held a 45-24 edge on shots on goal in Game 1.
For years, the knock on Carolina was that it lacked that one goal scorer who could get the Canes over the hump in the playoffs. Many observers thought the Canes had acquired such a player in Mikko Rantanen in January. Ironically, it was the player Carolina acquired in its subsequent trade of Rantanen to Dallas — Logan Stankoven — who scored two goals in Game 1. Will he add to that total in Game 2?
Of note heading into Tuesday’s game, the Devils have come back to win a playoff series after losing the first game 11 out of 26 times (42%); that figure drops to 20% if they fall behind 0-2. The Hurricanes have won six of their past seven series after winning Game 1.
Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 2 (TOR leads 1-0) | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2
The atmosphere was intense for Game 1, and the Maple Leafs’ “Core Four” led the way: Mitch Marner (one goal, two assists), William Nylander (one goal, one assist), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Auston Matthews (two assists) each filled up the scoresheet. A continuation of that output will obviously help Toronto overwhelm its provincial neighbor.
Slowing down the Maple Leafs could depend on discipline, according to Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. “We took too many penalties, they scored on [them] and that’s the game,” Tkachuk told reporters after Game 1. “So that’s on us. We’ve got to be more disciplined.”
The Sens will also need to capitalize on their chances. According to Stathletes, Ottawa had five high-danger scoring chances in this game, and produced only two goals.
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 1 | 8:30 p.m ET | ESPN
This is the fourth time that the two Sunshine State franchises have met in the postseason, and all four of the meetings have occurred since 2021.
In each instance, the winner of the series has gone on to reach the Stanley Cup Final — Lightning in 2021 and 2022; Panthers in 2024 — while the 2021 Lightning and 2024 Panthers won it all.
Unsurprisingly, Nikita Kucherov is Tampa Bay’s leading scorer against Florida, with 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) in 15 games. Aleksander Barkov is the Panthers’ leading scorer against the Lightning, with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 15 games.
The two teams split their meetings in the regular season, with the Lightning winning the most recent, 5-1 on April 15.
Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 2 (VGK leads 1-0) | 11 p.m. ET | ESPN
The underdog Wild set a physical tone to the series in Game 1, outhitting the Golden Knights 54-29, but the hosts emerged with a 4-2 victory. Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden (two) were the goal scorers for Vegas, and Matt Boldy was responsible for both Minnesota goals.
Howden, who had never scored double-digit goals until his 23 this season, earned praise from coach Bruce Cassidy after Game 1. “He didn’t change his game,” Cassidy told reporters. “He played physical. He’s part of our penalty kill. He’s always out when the goalie’s out, typically one of the six guys we use a lot because of his versatility. He can play wing. He can take draws as a center. He’s been real good for us all year and good again tonight.”
Sunday’s game was the NHL debut for 2024 first-round pick Zeev Buium, who just finished his season with the University of Denver. He played 13 minutes, 37 seconds and finished with one shot on goal.
Arda’s Three Stars of Monday
The greatest goal scorer in NHL history just keeps finding the back of the net. He had two goals, including the overtime winner, as the Caps take Game 1 3-2 despite a valiant third period effort from Montreal to send it to the extra frame.
Connor had the game-winning goal in the third period for the second straight game, as Winnipeg takes both games at home for the 2-0 series lead on the Blues.
Further proof that the Oilers are never out of the game, McDavid helped erase a 4-0 deficit with a goal and three assists, despite the Oilers falling 6-5 late in a thrilling Game 1.
Monday’s scores
Capitals 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)
Washington leads 1-0
Much of the regular season was spent focused on Alex Ovechkin‘s “Gr8 Chase” of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record, and he scored historic goal No. 895 on Sunday, April 6. It turns out, Ovi likes the spotlight. The Capitals superstar opened the scoring in the game, and bookended it with the overtime winner — his first ever, believe it or not — as the Caps survived a thriller in Game 1, following Nick Suzuki‘s tying goal with 4:15 remaining. Full recap.
1:51
Alex Ovechkin’s OT goal wins Game 1 for Capitals
Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the game is an overtime winner that gives the Capitals a 1-0 series lead vs. the Canadiens.
Jets 2, Blues 1
Winnipeg leads 2-0
Game 1 between the two clubs was tightly contested until the Jets took over in the third period. That trend took hold again on Monday — the score remained tied into 1-1 the third period, when Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor scored at the 1:43 mark, and the Jets were able to hold the Blues off the scoreboard for the duration. Connor’s linemate Mark Scheifele assisted on the game-winner and opened the scoring, giving him a league-leading five points this postseason. Full recap.
0:40
Kyle Connor scores clutch goal to put Jets ahead in 3rd period
Kyle Connor extends Winnipeg’s lead after a clutch goal early in the 3rd period vs. St. Louis.
Stars 4, Avalanche 3 (OT)
Series tied 1-1
The series that every observer thought would be the closest in the first round didn’t look that way in Game 1, as the Avs ran over the Stars en route to a 5-1 win. Game 2 was much more in line with expectations, as the two Western powerhouses needed OT to settle things. Colin Blackwell was the hero for Dallas, scoring with 2:14 remaining in the first OT period. Full recap.
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Colin Blackwell comes up with big OT winner for Stars
Colin Blackwell sends the Stars faithful into jubilation with a great overtime winner to tie the series at 1-1 vs. the Avalanche.
Kings 6, Oilers 5
Los Angeles leads 1-0
Monday’s nightcap was a delight to those who like offensive hockey and were willing to stay up late. The Kings roared out to a four-goal lead late in the second period before Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored to pull within three with six seconds remaining. The two teams traded goals to start the third, before the Oilers notched three in a row to tie up the festivities with 1:28 remaining on Connor McDavid‘s first of the 2025 playoffs. L.A.’s Phillip Danault sent his club’s fans home happy, scoring the pivotal goal with 42 seconds left. Full recap.
0:46
Kings retake lead on Phillip Danault’s goal in final minute
Phillip Danault restores the lead for the Kings with a goal vs. the Oilers in the closing moments.
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