SF Giants: Three takeways from the first two series of the season

SF Giants: Three takeways from the first two series of the season

3. The defense looks rusty

The Giants are off to a promising 4-2 start on the year, but if not for a few defensive miscues, they could be 6-0. No team is perfect and the rough defense is likely a product of the shortened spring training.

This was an issue at the beginning of the 2020 campaign after a three-week camp. The circumstances are similar and so are the results. Through six games, the Giants have played in four one-run skirmishes with defense being a key factor.

That is a trend that could continue throughout this season. Teams that play in a lot of close games have very little margin for error, so an improvement in the defense will be key.

There have been some critical miscues. For instance, the Giants committed two errors on Opening Day against the Marlins. Neither one changed the outcome of the game, but it reduced the margin for error. However, on Saturday, the Giants allowed a run that scored due in part to a throwing error and a pair of wild pitches. Only one of those pitches was officially recorded as a wild pitch.

In a game against the Padres on Monday, Ha-Seong Kim singled on a soft ground ball to shortstop Brandon Crawford. It was ruled a base hit but is a play that Crawford typically makes. That play eventually resulted in a key run as the Padres eventually nabbed the 4-2 victory.

These issues are not likely to continue as San Francisco had one of the best defenses in baseball last year with many of the same faces returning. However, it has not been as clean as the Giants are capable of.