As the SF Giants search for answers, former players are providing them elsewhere

The SF Giants probably aren't a few players removed from being an undeniable contender in the National League. Their latest series loss against the Colorado Rockies was yet more proof of why. There are some structural, communication, and even managerial issues that cannot be fixed by simply adding a handful of players to this flawed roster.

But let's be honest: it wouldn't hurt. The most frustrating part is that the Giants actually could have been better equipped to try to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2021 had they been more patient or done a better job evaluating former players who are now thriving on other teams.

Like I said, adding a few players to this roster wouldn't move mountains, not when this team is 15 games under .500 at the start of July.

Here are four players who either once played for the Giants or spent time in their farm system, including two who are currently donning the colors of the Giants' next opponent: the Toronto Blue Jays.

Kevin Gausman and Kyle Harrison

As the postseason picture currently stands, 11 of the 12 playoff teams have a starters' ERA that ranks at least in the upper half of the league, with the sole exception being the Chicago Cubs' 4.62 mark, which sits 24th. The Giants are 22nd in that category. Despite some phenomenal pitching from their ace, Logan Webb, in June (0.71 ERA in five starts) and from Robbie Ray (1.36 ERA in five starts), their group remains below average. Remove Webb and Ray, and the ERA jumps from 4.51 to 5.09.

The uncertainty has always been about those last three spots in the rotation. Webb and Ray have proven their reliability in the past. And while Landen Roupp flashed some potential when he posted a 2.55 ERA and a 5-1 record over his first six starts of the season, things have looked much grimmer ever since, as he's gone 0-7 over his last 11 starts while pitching to a 4.71 ERA. The team has lost its last 11 games with him on the mound.

That's why the departures of players such as Kevin Gausman and Kyle Harrison hurt even more, knowing that they could have been bridge guys between the top of the rotation and their No. 4 and 5 starters.

The former, who posted a 14-6 record and a 2.81 ERA in 33 starts in his one full season in the Bay Area in 2021, hit free agency in the winter of that same year after the Giants were unwilling to offer him a gaudy, multi-year contract. He ended up signing a five-year, $110 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, while the Giants elected to commit to three short-term deals, signing Anthony DeSclafani for three years, Alex Wood for two years, and Alex Cobb for two years on more modest contracts.

A one-time All-Star with the Giants, Gausman repeated the achievement with Toronto in 2023 and has been a dependable starter ever since. The 35-year-old returns to Oracle Park on Monday night for the second time since leaving San Francisco.

What makes Kyle Harrison's breakout year even more regrettable than Gausman's exit is that Harrison could have been a core piece of that rotation for a long time. After three unimpressive seasons in San Francisco and Boston, the 24-year-old has finally found his groove in Milwaukee, where he's posted a 2.82 ERA and recorded eight wins in 16 starts this season. In his first and, so far, only start against the team that drafted and the player they traded him for, Rafael Devers, Harrison allowed just one run in 5 2/3 innings and struck out 12 batters, including Devers three times.

Not getting strong innings from your starters is one thing, but not being able to capitalize on what has felt like the rare quality starts they've provided is another. Like this roster as a whole, this bullpen isn't one arm away from being good enough. But knowing that the Giants let a potential weapon slip away is frustrating.

Spencer Miles

Still with the Blue Jays, Spencer Miles — whom the Giants chose not to protect on their 40-man roster in 2025 — was selected by Toronto in the Rule 5 Draft and has been proving his former team wrong ever since.

To be fair, Miles wasn't an obvious choice back then. He had missed the entirety of the 2023 and 2025 regular seasons and had pitched just 14 2/3 innings of professional baseball, none of them above Low-A. But his high-velocity stuff attracted the Blue Jays, even though he had never tested it against Double-A or Triple-A hitters.

They gave him a chance in spring training. Miles finished his spring with a 3.73 ERA in seven appearances, and the Blue Jays deemed that he had earned a spot on the Opening Day roster. Since then, the 25-year-old has appeared in 24 games, started two, pitched multiple innings 13 times — including at least three innings eight times — and owns a 4-1 record along with a 2.83 ERA.

His sinker, which averages just over 96 mph, has basically been unhittable, as hitters are batting just .162 with a .243 slugging percentage against it, while the pitch owns a +11 run value, the second-highest for a sinker, trailing only Nolan McLean's +17 run value.

Meanwhile, the Giants' bullpen just blew its 11th save of the season against the Rockies on Sunday.

Tristan Peters

Lastly, one thing this team could really use is outfield defense. It has looked a bit better this season, though it couldn't really have been worse, as the Giants finished tied for last with the Orioles last season in Outs Above Average in the outfield at -18.

They're still tied with the Rockies for the third-lowest mark in the majors at -9, and given how the outfield is constructed now that Heliot Ramos is back, the worst could be coming, at least on the defensive side.

There is one player who was once in the Giants' system and is currently thriving defensively in center field with the surprising Chicago White Sox. His name is Tristan Peters.

Peters, drafted by the Brewers in 2021, played only 34 games with Double-A Richmond before being traded for Brett Wisely in 2022. In his first full major-league season, the 26-year-old is batting .295 with an .809 OPS and +9 OAA in center field, a mark that ranks fifth among all outfielders. He's also in the 97th percentile in Fielding Run Value.

His best comparison on the current Giants roster would be Drew Gilbert: a defensive-minded lefty who basically only hits right-handed pitchers. Peters is 3-for-24 against lefties, while Gilbert just collected his first hit against a southpaw after failing to do so in his 23 first at-bats.

Except that Peters is a much better defender, and his OPS against righties is 60 points better than Gilbert's, even after the 25-year-old put together the best game of his young career against the Rockies, going 4-for-4 and finishing just a triple shy of the cycle. Peters is also a really good baserunner, in the 87th percentile, to be precise. Gilbert is in the 48th. The Giants as a team are tied last with the Angels in the Baserunning Run Value leaderboard.

However, Peters could still very well end up as one of those one-year wonders. Like when Matt Duffy's rookie season turned into his career year after he failed to reach that level again over his next seven seasons in the big leagues. Or when Tyler Fitzgerald turned into the best hitter in baseball in July 2024 before eventually getting designated for assignment earlier this season.

We'll have to wait and see, but watching those players thrive elsewhere makes this already frustrating season even more demoralizing. A stellar performance from Gausman tonight would be the final twist of the knife.

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