Likes and Dislikes for the Giants on Opening Day vs the Padres

Today marked Opening Day across the MLB. It's the wonderful time of year where every fanbase is high on optimism for their team, even when they shouldn't. After an exciting offseason that completely changed the look and feel of the San Francisco Giants, we got to see them in action taking on the Padres in San Diego.

Here are things that I liked and disliked about game number 1/162 in the Giants season.

Like: Nick Ahmed. Causing some spur among a fanbase who wants Marco Luciano, one of their top prospects, to finally flourish at the big league level. While Luciano tries to improve defensively in Sacramento, Ahmed performed best in the Giants opening lineup. 

Ahmed opened the scoring on a double down the left field line in the 3rd inning and tied the game on a single through the 5 ½ hole in the 7th in his Giants debut. 

Dislike: Bullpen. After Webb’s departure following Lee giving the Giants a 3-2 edge going to the bottom of the 7th, Luke Jackson gave up singles to the first two batters he faced before leaving the game with an injury. Ryan Walker came in and gave up a big double to Jake Cronenworth to extend the Padres lead to 6-3. It’s early, the bullpen has some talent, but it is disappointing to give up three in the first relief inning of the season. 

Like: Logan Webb. Webb battled some unfortunate bounces on a lot of soft contact in the 5th, but battled through to limit the damage giving the Giants a chance. He finished with 6.0 innings, 5 hits, 5 K’s while giving up 2 ER. He pitched well enough to win, but sometimes luck isn’t on your side. 

Dislike: Baserunning. Overall, not a particularly memorable baserunning day besides from when Jung Hoo Lee got picked off after collecting his first major league hit in the 5th. 

Like: Small Ball. With runners on first and second, Patrick Bailey bunted, moving the runners over, eliminating the ground out double play option and moving the runners for Ahmed to tie the game. Lee then gave the Giants a brief lead with a sacrifice fly to center. 

Under Gabe Kapler, small ball went practically extinct. It was nice to see under old school Bob Melvin, the Giants embrace a classic style of baseball that is straying from what didn’t work last season. Again, it’s early, but hopefully this points to the Giants employing a different philosophy for this season.

Dislike: Errors. The Giants had the most errors in baseball last season, so cleaning up the defensive is imperative for San Francisco to compete this season.

Bailey essentially won the starting catcher job in 2023 due to his stellar, borderline Gold Glove play. In the 7th, Tyler Wade tried stealing with Luis Campusano on third base. Bailey fired a nasty short hop that bounced off Ahmed’s chest, allowing San Diego to tie the game for free and have the go-ahead run on third with nobody out. 

I love Bailey and what he brings, especially defensively, so look to the young catcher cleaning it up following a rare defensive foible. 

Like: Michael Conforto. After a banged up 2023, Conforto changed his swing and had a solid day at the plate. His 9th inning home run capped a 3 for 4 afternoon, scoring 3 R and an RBI.

Hate: The Giants lost the opening game of their season due to some bad luck on softly hit balls and a disappointing 7th inning that they couldn't overcome.

The Giants are on pace to go 0-162, but what I saw from the micro sample size is that San Francisco can compete if they clean some stuff up.