Yours truly is probably going to be out of town the rest of this week, so here is the schedule for the entire homestand, against the 38-40 Athletics and the 48-28 Braves. The Athletics and Giants both had Monday off, while the Braves will be off on Thursday:
✽ Tuesday, 6:45, RHP Aaron Civale (5-3, 4.91) vs. Robbie Ray (5-6, 4.07)
✽ Wednesday, 6:45, LHP Gage Jump (3-1, 2.37) vs. Tyler Mahle (1-7, 6.04)
✽ Thursday, 12:45, LHP Jeffrey Springs (3-7, 5.55) vs. Landen Roupp (5-7, 4.15)
✽ Friday, 7:15, LHP Chris Sale (8-5, 2.14) vs. Trevor McDonald (2-5, 4.93)
✽ Saturday, 6:05, RHP Bryce Elder (5-5, 3.71) vs. Logan Webb (4-5, 3.35)
✽ Sunday, 1:05, RHP Grant Holmes (4-3, 4.33) vs. Robbie Ray
The pitching for the Braves series is not announced, but can be predicted by the people at Roster Resource, by just counting. Mahle (hamstring) made one 3 inning start for the River Cats as his rehab, giving up one earned run. It looks like McDonald gets the rotation slot opened up by shifting Adrian Houser to the bullpen. You’d have to think Carson Whisenhunt will be called up again pretty soon, depending on what happens this time through the rotation.
Are there any bright spots in a 31-46 season? Yes, indeed there are! Jung Hoo Lee is playing excellent defense in right field (just ask Logan Webb!), and recently has been hitting the snot out of the baseball. He was 4 for 11 with a walk and three doubles against the Marlins, but that didn’t get him the Picture of the Post. Luis Arraez worked his tail off to improve at second base, where he is now seen as one of the better 2Bmen in the majors. He went 2-12 against the Fish, including a double. That dropped Arraez into third place in the NL for batting average at 0.320, behind Lee’s second place average of 0.327.
Casey Schmitt, who was very hot in Miami has surged into 10th place in the league, with a 0.296 average. He fried the Fish to the tune of 7 for 12 with a homer and two doubles. That’s how you win a Picture of the Post.
Schmitt played all three games, which gave him the PotP edge over Logan Webb, who can only pitch once in a series. Webb has lasted 8 innings in each of his three starts since coming off the IL for a knee issue. He has scattered 12 hits and 1 walk over those 24 innings, which is simply stellar. But the 2026 Giants managed to lose two of those starts, by a single run, including the series ender in Miami. That’s on the three big money hitters, who went 3-32 with 3 walks and an HBP. Devers’ two hits did include a homer.
Some other team news:
• Heliot Ramos (quad strain) went out on rehab with the River Cats on 6/17, where he’s 6 for 15, with a homer. Schmitt is looking better and better out in LF, so Ramos might return only as the 4th OF?
• Harrison Bader (plantar fasciitis) got some stem cell injections recently, so he’s not likely to be back anytime soon.
• Gregory Santos (adductor strain) went on rehab in the ACL on 6/19, where he’s thrown only one inning. Pay attention when they move Santos to Sacramento, as the Giants need help in the pen.
• Jason Foley (shoulder surgery) was pulled from rehab on 6/8, because he was nearing the 20 days allowed for that, they also mention shoulder soreness. His rehab started up again on 6/15, and he has thrown 5.2 innings since then, allowing 3 hits and 0 walks. 5 strike outs, why not call him up soon?
And one last topic. We saw the very familiar faces of Mauricio Dubon, Mike Yastrzemski, and Dom Smith in Atlanta last week. They are now joined by Joey Bart, as the Braves made a trade with the Pirates for a new backup catcher. While Joey Bart should never have been an overall #2 draft pick, let’s give him credit for still being in the big leagues, for 7 seasons after his MLB debut in 2020. He batted 0.257 in 194 games for the Pirates, better than the 0.219 during his 4 years in San Francisco. Still only 30 career homers, but he is hanging in there, and is likely to be around quite a while as somebody’s backup C.
