Locked On Giants – Daily Podcast On The San Francisco Giants

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick discusses three things we learned this weekend with the San Francisco Giants. The first thing we learned is that the Giants' offense is back. Despite a sluggish start, the Giants are now near the top of the MLB leaderboards in several key categories, including wRC+, isolated power, fWAR, BB/K, and Chase%. Buster Posey, who's leading the major leagues in wRC+, has been a huge reason why the offense has posted overall strong numbers. The second thing we learned is that the Giants' predicted struggles against the Padres were overstated. They've...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick is joined by Locked On Padres host Javier Reyes, and the two discuss the upcoming series between the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres. The Giants' offense has been off to a somewhat sluggish start, and it doesn't help that star outfielder Mike Yastrzemski started slow and then laded on the injured list, although he will likely be activated at some point during this series. The Padres' offense hasn't hit its stride yet either, but the pitching, led by Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Mark Melancon, Drew Pomeranz, and several others...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers questions from listeners about the state of the San Francisco Giants. Among the questions asked and answered are: What can the Giants do to improve this bullpen quickly? Is it too early to make a move for an established bullpen arm? Zack Littel is looking pretty good so far. Who could be the next non-roster guy to get a shot? And what would be the likely roster move to accommodate? Time to panic about Matt Wisler? Time to send Camilo Doval back to the minors? Was the Mike Tauchman trade...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about all three games the San Francisco Giants played against the Rockies in Denver over the last couple days. Things started out well, with the Giants scoring 10 first-inning runs in the first game, but things completely unraveled in the second game. The Giants had a four-run lead with two outs in the final inning, but the Rockies scored six times, winning on a Charlie Blackmon walk-off home run with two outs and two strikes. Camilo Doval served up the home run, but Jake McGee put the Giants in a precarious...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers questions from listeners about the state of the San Francisco Giants. Among the questions asked and answered are: Has Buster Posey shown enough to this point to start talks about extending him past this year? Renegotiate around the $22 million club option and lock him in for another couple years to help with the transition into the future at the catcher position? I’d love to see Posey and Bart working together. What does Matt Wisler have to do to pitch himself off the roster? Will Jake McGee get back to ho...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about three things we learned this weekend with the San Francisco Giants. The first thing we learned is that the Giants did what they needed to do in San Diego: win at least one game. While they obviously would have liked to do more, winning a series on the road against a team of the Padres' caliber should be more of a goal rather than the expectation. Behind Kevin Gausman and Mike Tauchman, the Giants won the finale, 7-1, which actually meant they outscored San Diego in the series. The...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers questions from listeners about the state of the San Francisco Giants. Among the questions asked and answered are: How sustainable do you think our chances of the playoffs are at this point? Of course being the best team in the NL about a month in enhances the chances, but it is only one month at the end of the day. You still see about an 86-76 finish? How will the acquisition of Mike Tauchman change the outfield mix? Could someone get DFA’d once Mike Yastrzemski comes back? It seems li...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the San Francsico Giants' 7-3 win over the Rockies on Wednesday night. Listen to The Ultimate Mock Draft 2021 presented by Audacy and the Locked On Podcast Network. April 19th-26th. Follow the feed today!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order. BetOnline AG There is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick discusses the San Francisco Giants' trade for Mike Tauchman, and their disappointing loss to the Rockies on Tuesday night. Tauchman was acquired for left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta and a player to be named later. He figures to play every day against right-handed pitching, and his presence should be a boost to the Giants' lineup and bench. Austin Slater has been starting in center against righties, and he has not done well in that role. Now that Tauchman is in the fold, the Giants can start Alex Dickerson, Tauchman, and Mike Yastrzemski...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick breaks down the San Francisco Giants' 12-0 drubbing of the Colorado Rockies, a win that vaulted them into a first-place tie with the Dodgers in the NL West. Anthony DeSclafani pitched a complete game shutout, lowering his ERA on the season to 1.50. The Giants' starting staff as a whole now has an MLB-best 2.11 ERA. DeSclafani seems to be the latest among a growing list of pitchers who have revitalized their careers since coming to the Giants. A ton of credit needs to go to the Giants' coaching staff, and Gabe Kapler...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about three things we learned this weekend with the San Francisco Giants. The first thing we learned is that the Giants are playing like one of the premier teams in the National League. They got three more excellent starts over the weekend, from Alex Wood, Kevin Gausman, and Logan Webb. Their starters now have the second-lowest ERA in the NL. The second thing we learned is that Mike Yastrzemski is hurt, and that's a big blow. He has left oblique tightness, which is a pretty serious baseball injury. The third...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the San Francisco Giants' 3-0 win against the Marlins, in which Curt Casali collected his fifth straight shutout when he was the starting catcher. Casali also had a big two-run single in the first inning. The Giants improved to 12-7 with the win, and Casali became just the fifth catcher in MLB history to accomplish the feat. Aaron Sanchez pitched beautifully despite diminished velocity, and Gregory Santos made his major league debut out of the bullpen and was electric. He was added to the roster after Donovan Solano was...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers listeners' questions about the state of the San Francisco Giants. Among the questions asked and answered are: Should Mike Yastrzemski be dropped in the order or given some days off? I see a lot of fans suggesting Gabe Kapler should give some of the struggling hitters like Yastrzemski or Mauricio Dubón a couple days rest as sort of a mental reset. What do you think of this strategy with hitters, or is it better to stay in nearly every day like those two players are now? Is there anything s...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick breaks down the last two games of the San Francisco Giants' 3-3 road trip through Miami and Philadelphia. The Giants got shaky starts by Logan Webb and Anthony DeSclafani in their latest two games, but the offense showed resilience and stormed back both times. In the first game, a six-run eighth inning propelled the Giants to victory. Buster Posey homered twice in the game, Alex Dickerson and Wilmer Flores each hit three-run homers in the inning, and Tommy La Stella hit a home run of his own. In the series finale...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the San Francisco Giants' 2-0 win over the Phillies in Philadelphia. It was the 200th win in Gabe Kapler's managerial career, which had to feel extra sweet coming against the Phillies. The Giants' manager was fired by the Phillies and treated poorly by Phillies fans and media. He's now 200-200 as a manager, and the man the Phillies hired to replace him is just 36-40. Kapler was 161-163 as Phillies manager—a superior winning percentage. Kevin Gausman started for the Giants, and he delivered another six shutout innings. The Gi...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about three things we learned this weekend with the San Francisco Giants. Listen to The Ultimate Mock Draft 2021 presented by Audacy and the Locked On Podcast Network. April 19th-26th. Follow the feed today!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order. BetOnline AG There is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a f...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers questions from listeners about the state of the San Francisco Giants. Among the questions asked and answered are: Are the Giants actually . . . good? Where do you think the Giants will end their playoff run? Even if they make it, since the NL west is so stacked. If Johnny Cueto ends up missing time with an injury, who do you think should be called into the rotation? Also, do you think a lengthy injury to a starter so soon in the season could derail the momentum that the team seems to...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick breaks down the San Francisco Giants' 3-0 win against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday afternoon, and recaps their 5-1 homestand and 8-4 overall start to the season. Johnny Cueto provided the Giants with yet another strong start, but he had to leave the game in the sixth inning with a lat injury. Austin Slater collected another big hit, and the bullpen, headlined by Jake McGee in the ninth, shut down the Reds offense. McGee now has an MLB-leading six saves in six chances. He has yet to allow a run. Ben...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the San Francisco Giants' dramatic comeback win against the Cincinnati Reds. Kevin Gausman surrendered a pair of two-run home runs in the first inning, but the Giants offense responded with a pair of two-run bombs in the bottom half of the inning. Tommy La Stella led off with his first of three hits, and Mike Yastrzemski hit one over the wall at 109 mph, the hardest hit ball of his major league career. Brandon Crawford later homered in the inning with Evan Longoria on base. Overall, the Giants are looking...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick analyzes the San Francisco Giants' starting pitching, position players, and bullen after 10 games and a 6-4 start. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order. BetOnline AG There is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKED15 for your 50% welcome bonus. Rock Auto Amazin...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about three things we learned this weekend with the San Francisco Giants. We learned that they're off to their best start since 2016, at 6-3. The Giants swept the Rockies over the weekend, with Johnny Cueto and Anthony DeSclafani pitching gems, and Brandon Crawford fueling an emerging offense. We learned that the starting pitching has been among the very best in baseball through nine games, and they've given the Giants a chance to win each and every game thus far. Finally, the third thing we learned this weekend is that the...

Today on the Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers questions from listeners about the state of the San Francisco Giants as the 2021 season gets underway. Among the questions asked and answered are: If the offense keeps struggling, when do you think is a good time to start worrying about it? Should we be concerned about some of the struggling hitters (Brandon Belt, Mike Yastrzemski, etc.)? Small sample size but they’ve struck out a lot and haven’t hit it hard. Are we going to start to see an outfield shuffle if things don’t start going as planne...

Today on the Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick breaks down the San Francisco Giants' series-winning victory against the San Diego Padres. Kevin Gausman was on the mound for the Giants, and once against he pitched like an ace. Darin Ruf homered against Blake Snell—his second decicisive home run in the series—as the Giants continued their theme of hitting home runs but not scoring a lot of runs. Tyler Rogers gave up a game-tying solo home run in the eighth inning against Giants killer Wil Myers, but a couple of sacrifice hits pushed across a run in the...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick discusses the San Francisco Giants' nail-biting 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Monday night. Anthony DeSclafani made his Giants debut, and held the potent Padres to one run in five innings. The bullpen held strong, with Matt Wisler, Reyes Moronta, Tyler Rogers, and Jake McGee combining to pitch four innings with just one run allowed. Things got dicey in the ninth, but McGee got Tommy Pham to fly out with the tying and winning runs on base. Mike Yastrzemski was a late scratch from the lineup due to lingering...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about three things we learned this weekend with the San Francisco Giants. First and foremost, we learned that the Giants missed a big opportunity. They held a five-run lead in the eighth inning on Opening Day, and the bullpen collapsed. Johnny Cueto and Logan Webb pitched okay over the next two games, and the Giants were able to win Cueto's start, but the Giants came away with a series loss when they undoubtedly felt like they should've won two out of three. The next thing we learned was a bunch...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick reacts to the San Francisco Giants' crushing Opening Night loss to the Seattle Mariners. Kevin Gausman pitched like an ace and gave the team a great chance to win, but the bullpen couldn't hold a five-run eighth-inning lead. Evan Longoria, Buster Posey, and Austin Slater hit home runs for the Giants, as the offense exploded for seven runs. But relievers Matt Wisler, Jarlín García, and José Álvarez just could not find the strike zone as the Mariners came storming back in the late innings, helped in large part by nume...

Host Ben Kaspick gets you set for Opening Day on today's Locked On Giants podcast. The San Francisco Giants enter the 2021 season with a sense of cautious optimism, following a 2020 season in which they exceeded expectations by scoring the eight-most runs in baseball and falling just one win short of a playoff berth. Ben breaks down the recently announced 26-man roster and makes predictions about what's in store for the Giants in 2021. He follows that up by discussing the opening series in Seattle against the Mariners. The M's will feature three left-handed starters in this series, meaning the Giants will...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick is joined by special guest Jeff Snider from the Locked On Dodgers podcast. They discuss the rivalry, and the very different overall states of the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. Their first topic of conversation is about the fact that the Giants have played the Dodgers tougher than anyone over their stretch of dominance in the NL West beginning in 2013. The Dodgers have been about a .500 team against the Giants over that span, while the they're more than 200 games over .500 against everybody else. Ben and Jeff also discuss the...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick discusses the latest with the San Francisco Giants, as Spring Training has finally concluded for the club. In an extremely scary moment yesterday, Mike Yastrzemski was hit by a pitch on the left hand and went down in a heap. It was likely to be Yastrzemski's last at-bat of the spring. He came out of the game and went in for x-rays, but thankfully they came back negative and he is day-to-day. The injury scare immediately reminded fans of Madison Bumgarner breaking a bone in his hand in his final spring...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the latest with the San Francisco Giants, as Opening Day approaches. The Giants optioned LaMonte Wade Jr. on Sunday, which appeared to set their 13-man position player group. Notably, it would appear that Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt should be good to go for the opener. Their status was in doubt after dealing with injuries and illnesses for much of spring. Logan Webb earned the third spot in the Giants' rotation with his stellar spring. Webb struck out 17 and walked one through his first 11 innings in camp, with one...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick takes a stab at predicting the San Francisco Giants' 26-man Opening Day roster. First, he dives into the position player mix. As Farhan Zaidi said when he met with the media on Thursday, there isn't very much drama on the position player side if Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria are healthy enough to make the team. Up and down the roster, the Giants have quality depth, and they even have some really good options in the upper minors. One area where they're thin, however, is at shortstop. Zaidi said the team...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick catches you up on all the latest with the San Francisco Giants. Manager Gabe Kapler finally named an opening day starter, and it was the right choice. Kevin Gausman will take the mound next Thursday night against the Mariners, one week from today. Johnny Cueto will start the second game. Ben also dives into last night's televised game against the San Diego Padres. Anthony DeSclafani was on the mound for the Giants, and he pitched beautifully. He ended up with eight strikeouts in four-plus innings, featuring three really good pitches: a...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the latest with the San Francisco Giants. Logan Webb continued his stellar spring, pitching another five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. On the whole this camp, Webb has pitched 11 innings and has 17 strikeouts against just one walk, and he has yet to allow a run. He's making a very strong case to open the year in the Giants' starting rotation, and his development is another testament to the team's newfound ability under Gabe Kapler and his staff to get the most out of their players. Another example of that...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers questions from listeners about the state of the San Francisco Giants. Among the questions asked and answered are: I know we think Farhan Zaidi is a brilliant President of Baseball Operations here on this podcast. But surely there’s a move he did that you didn’t like as much, or a move that you thought should have happened that did not (free agent signing, etc). What would you say is one criticism that you have of Farhan as of right now? Your odds for the Giants going over .500? What do y...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the latest with the San Francisco Giants. On Saturday, Steven Duggar was optioned and Heliot Ramos was among four who were reassigned to minor league camp. Duggar's future with the organization has to be in doubt, as he once again won't be given a major league opportunity to start the season. This is Duggar's last year with minor league options. Ramos was never going to make the opening day roster, so it's not surprising that he was reassigned to minor league camp. Also, the bullpen competition heated up over...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick answers questions from listeners about the state of the San Francisco Giants. In a special bonus, he shares an audio clip from his Q&A session from Thursday on the Locker Room app. Among the questions asked and answered on today's show are: How concerned are you about the Giants' defense? What is the identity and direction of this team? Are they a possible underdog for the last NL Wild Card spot? Looking ahead to next offseason, is the expected number of "holes to fill" a legit concern? What is your...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick is joined by special guest Millard Thomas in Part Two of their conversation about the state of the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks. On today's show, Millard asks Ben questions about the Giants. He asks Ben to grade the Giants' offseason, tell the backstory of Giants breakout star Mike Yastrzemski, and dive into Kevin Gausman's dominant 2020 season. The two also discuss how both the Giants and the D-backs could be better than people expect, and that these two teams look like they're in a battle for third place in a...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick is joined by special guest Millard Thomas of Locked On Diamondbacks in the latest Division Day. Ben and Millard discuss Madison Bumgarner's alarming first year in Arizona, what went wrong for a D-backs team that entered 2020 with high expectations, and what to expect from Bumgarner and the team in 2021. They also discuss the division as a whole, including weighing in on whether the San Diego Padres' stellar offseason was enough to perhaps unseat the Los Angeles Dodgers atop the NL West. Finally, they discuss which of their two teams is better...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the latest with the San Francisco Giants. Starter Alex Wood is going to see a spine specialist to evaluate his injured back. While not entirely surprising, this is not good news for the Giants, whose starting rotation consists of a number of high injury risk players. However, the Giants are deep enough to withstand multiple injuries, and first in line appears to be Logan Webb, who has pitched beautifully this spring. Gabe Kapler said Webb and Aaron Sanchez are on track to be in the Giants rotation to start...

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about three things we learned this weekend with the San Francisco Giants. The first thing we learned is that Logan Webb is making a very strong case that he belongs in a major league rotation. In his outing on Saturday, he struck out six Cleveland Indians in three innings of work, allowing just one hit, one walk, and zero runs. He's struck out 10 and walked one in six innings of work this spring. Webb looks to be on the outside looking in to the Giants' starting rotation, but Alex Wood...