San Francisco Giants: Offensive Futility Continues

On a day when the Los Angeles Dodgers slammed five home runs against Arizona ace Zack Greinke, the San Francisco Giants got shut out on Monday. In Colorado. By Chad Bettis—who carried a 5.19 ERA into the game.

It’s not fair to say the Giants have given up on the season. But it’s probably safe to say they’ve lost their mojo and they have no idea where to find it.

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The Rockies rocked Giants starter Matt Moore for six runs in the third inning, which was all the scoring in the game and all the home team needed to chase Moore from the game in the third inning. To be fair to Moore, having spent his entire career in the American League prior to being traded to the Giants in July, Monday marked his second career start at Coors Field. His other start there—an interleague game in 2013—didn’t go so well, either. Nor have most starts by visiting pitchers.

The Rockies scoring runs in their mile-high stadium is, of course, expected. The Giants tallying two total hits in a game at Coors? That’s embarrassing. Even as much as they’ve struggled in the season’s second half, they should be able to manage more than two hits at the most hitter-friendly park in MLB history. In fact, according to the Denver Post, Bettis’ performance was the first two-hit shutout at Coors in a decade. It was the Rockies’ first home shutout of any kind in 2016.

Of course, no team would have been more likely than the Giants to be the victim, considering it was the fifth time they’ve been shut out since Aug. 7—five in the past month! If they were to maintain that pace for a full season, they’d be shut out 30 times. Which would be historically bad: The 1963 Mets hold the modern-day record for times being shut out in a season—with 30.

Next: A Tough September Stretch Awaits

There are other ways to measure offensive futility, but a high frequency of shutouts is a strong indicator of multiple ills in the lineup. To avoid boring you with a novel, I summarize it like this: Brandon Belt isn’t hitting, Hunter Pence is hitting much, and Buster Posey isn’t hitting with any power.