SF Giants-Nationals series preview: Offensive mismatch, but chance to flip the script

The SF Giants have not played very well this season, but a fiery victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday could help get them turned around as they begin a three-game series against the Washington Nationals on Friday.

Off to a very sluggish start, the Giants needed something to kick into gear. What better for that than a (brief) dugouts-clearing incident? Erik Miller had some words with rookie Sal Stewart following his game-ending strikeout, prompting both benches to storm the field, but the situation quickly diffused itself.

The tension stemmed from two beanball incidents, with both Spencer Steer and Willy Adames getting drilled. Reds reliever Connor Phillips got ejected, probably because he actually missed his initial attempt at hitting the Giants shortstop. Landen Roupp, who hit Steer in the second inning but stayed in the game, had this to say about his pitch: "It slipped".

After losing their second straight series, the Giants will need some of that fire in their matchup against the Nationals this weekend. The capital’s team has gotten off to an odd start, boasting one of the league’s best offenses while simultaneously having one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball. Despite getting more contributions from up and down the roster, San Francisco continues to have a hard time putting up runs. And while the starting rotation has again shown cracks, the bullpen was really solid in the team’s latest series.

Let’s take a look at how both teams are trending entering this series.

Washington brings a red-hot offense into the series

The last two teams the Giants matched up against — the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles — had similar offensive firepower to them, but the Nationals have been on another level.

They enter the series with the second-most runs scored in baseball at 107, along with 20 home runs, 65 walks, 20 stolen bases, and the fourth-highest team OPS at .749. To show the contrast, less than 20 games into the season, Washington already has more than twice as many home runs, nearly twice as many walks and runs scored, four times as many stolen bases, and an OPS more than 100 points higher than the Giants’.

A fairer comparison might be to stack the Nationals’ two most productive players — James Wood and CJ Abrams — up against the Giants’ entire roster. The pair has combined for 34 RBI, 11 home runs, eight stolen bases, and 23 walks.

The 25-year-old shortstop, whom the Nationals acquired alongside Wood in the Juan Soto blockbuster trade, and who the Giants were connected to in the offseason, has been among the league’s top producers this season. He’s slashing .371/.481/.710 with a 1.191 OPS. The good news for San Francisco is that he’ll have to face Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, both of whom have kept him in check so far, holding him to just two hits in 19 at-bats.

Jung Hoo Lee is heating up, and Daniel Susac has earned more playing time

Given how the young outfielder looked out of the gate, things had nowhere to go but up. With fans undoubtedly questioning the amount of money the front office allocated to him, Lee’s bat is finally starting to heat up. Six games into the Giants’ nine-game East Coast road trip, Lee has gone 10-for-23 (.435) with three doubles, one home run, three RBI, and only two strikeouts. His 1.154 OPS is the highest on the team by more than 200 points, and he's collected two or more hits in four of those six games.

Meanwhile, Daniel Susac continues to hit the ball — and hit it well. Following his two-knock, two-RBI night in Game 2 of the series, the young catcher has now gone 9-for-16 (.563) with two extra-base hits, five RBI, and just one strikeout to begin his MLB career. Tony Vitello is growing comfortable with the idea of playing the former Rule 5 pick more often:

“I think involving (Susac) as much as possible. See if we get into an every other day situation or whatever that might be.”

The pitching could be the deciding factor.

Projected starters

Friday: Logan Webb (RHP 1-2, 5.25 ERA) vs. Zack Littell (RHP 0-1, 4.20 ERA)

Saturday: Adrian Houser (RHP 0-2, 5.06 ERA) vs. Cade Cavalli (RHP 0-1, 4.60 ERA)

Sunday: Robbie Ray (LHP 2-2, 2.42 ERA) vs. Miles Mikolas (RHP 0-3, 11.49 ERA)

As mentionned above, it's been night and day between the offense and defense for the Nationals this season. Their rotations owns the league's second-highest ERA and their bullpen isn’t doing much to offset it, posting the worst ERA in baseball at 6.15.

The third and final starting pitcher the Giants are expected to face is responsible for most of this mess. Miles Mikolas, a 37-year-old veteran with 216 starts under his belt, has had trouble getting runners out in his first four starts. He's given up three or more runs in three of those starts and has reached the fifth inning just once. His 11.49 ERA is an ugly sight and is largely due to the 11 runs he surrendered to the star-studded Dodgers before finally being pulled in the fourth inning.

The bullpen was fans’ main concern coming into the season, and so far it’s been quite the rollercoaster. The last two series sum that up pretty well. In Baltimore, the relief unit posted a 6.48 ERA, giving up two runs in each of the three games, including two homers, while also issuing six walks.

A different version of the bullpen flew from Ohio to the nation's capital, though. Out of the thirty-five Reds batters that faced the Giants' bullpen, only three managed a hit, and none of them drove in a run. In season where the offense has been scarce and the rotation has been fragile, the Giants would rather not hang their hat on this bullpen, even though it's proven capable of being effective in spurts.

The Giants will try to salvage a road trip that hasn’t gone as planned so far. Logan Webb will get things started tonight against infamous former Giant Zack Littell at Nationals Park. This offense is going to have to find a way to put up runs, because if it doesn’t, this already frustrating road trip could turn into an outright debacle.

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