3 SF Giants players fans should be concerned about early in the season

It is early in the season, but it is not too early to be concerned with the play of some SF Giants players thus far. Three players have started off a little bit sluggish out of the gates, but they have plenty of time to turn things around.

3 SF Giants players fans should be concerned about early in the season

1. Justin Verlander

Veteran pitcher and future member of the Hall of Fame Justin Verlander was the big addition made to the pitching staff in the offseason for San Francisco. At the age of 42 there was debate over how effective he would be at this stage in his career.

Thus far, it has been a struggle for the three-time Cy Young Award winner. In four starts he has a 6.75 ERA and has yet to record his first win in a Giants uniform. The beginning of his tenure with the Giants has been strikingly similar to another legend the team signed at the end of his career.

It is still early and thankfully Verlander has not had any physical issues. However, at the age of 42 it is only natural to wonder how much gas Verlander has left in the tank.

2. LaMonte Wade Jr.

First baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. began the year as the team's leadoff hitter against right-handed starters. After a slow start, he lost that role to Mike Yastrzemski and was dropped down lower in the order.

The veteran has still struggled to get going at the plate. In 49 at-bats, Wade is slashing .102/.224/.265 with one home run and seven runs batted in.

As of right now, there are no obvious options to supplant Wade at first base. Casey Schmitt is still learning the position and manager Bob Melvin seems to want Wilmer Flores to remain the designated hitter to protect him from injury.

Wade has plenty of time to turn things around, but the Giants are going to need him to get going sooner rather than later so they can get more production out of the first base position.

3. Camilo Doval

After the shaky 2024 that reliever Camilo Doval had, it was unclear which version of the hard-throwing pitcher we would see in 2025. He has shown us a little bit of everything, starting off very strong before having several rough outings in a row where he looked more like the Doval of 2024 rather than the All-Star we have seen in the past.

Thankfully, his last few outings have been better and his ERA is back down to 3.24 on the year. However, there are few Giants fans who would be wholly comfortable with Doval being on the mound in a high-leverage spot right now.

He can regain the trust of manager Bob Melvin, but it is going to take some more consistent appearances before that comes to pass.

As this article has made abundantly clear, it is still early. Things can change quickly in a big league season but fans have reason to be concerned about the shaky starts from these three players. One hopes they can get back on track soon.