Are the Dodgers something less than invincible? Giants fans, you better believe it!

San Francisco Chronicle​

27-04-2025

It is our pleasure to address the Los Angeles Dodgers' rotation, although none of these guys really need an introduction:
Ben Casparius, Bobby Miller, Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski …
Wait, what?
It was speculated in this column last month that the Dodgers' vaunted pitching staff could be vulnerable, and that has become fact. All of those pitchers have been given an emergency start so far, and only one teammate, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, could be considered a reliable mainstay in the rotation.
In comparison, the San Francisco Giants look decidedly superior, fashioning a brand of stability that has eluded the Dodgers once again. Remember, this is a team that needed to use at least six pitchers in seven different postseason games last year — and recently got shelled for 38 runs in four straight losses to the Cubs.
Shohei Ohtani has yet to throw a pitch. As his timetable for a return to the mound grows increasingly mysterious, some have wondered whether he'll take the mound at all this season.
Blake Snell is out with a shoulder injury. Problems have arisen with two starters who always seem to be hurt, Tyler Glasnow (who left a start with a leg issue) and Dustin May (shelled in his last outing). Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki has shown an unhittable split-fingered fastball, but he is very young and, so far, very wild.
And Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin are forever on the injured list. That's also where we find two of the Dodgers' most respected relievers, Blake Treinen and Michael Kopech.
The Giants' rotation looks a bit shaky at times, but there have been no injuries, no changes of heart, no panic moves toward other options. With Justin Verlander preaching the value of extended starts — facing the opponents' batting order a third time, for that's how you develop body and mind — manager Bob Melvin dreams of a rotation leaning into satisfying, more traditional turns.
It's a healthy group of five with a ton of depth in reserve: Hayden Birdsong looks as if he could step into the role right now; Kyle Harrison, impressively working his way back to the big leagues; and Carson Whisenhunt, mowing down hitters in Triple-A Sacramento. With much more, perhaps, on the way.
Firm conviction seems to accompany every Dodgers forecast — don't worry, they'll win the division by 15 games — but don't count on that. The Giants look very much like a team that will hang around all season, not to mention San Diego and Arizona. It's quite a reversal from a Giants-Dodgers dynamic that plagued San Francisco fans for years.
In the prime of Willie Mays, the Giants had one of the most feared lineups in major league history. It wasn't a matter of winning a world title — just how many. Yet it never happened, largely because the Dodgers had superior pitching. It's something that never goes out of style. Now it's San Francisco with all that pitching and L.A. hoping to win that 7-5 thriller.
Maybe you're not buying any of this, locked into the resignation that has plagued this organization in recent years. But you can't deny that you're having some fun. The 2025 Giants insist on it.
Buster knows best
• This column spent the past three seasons arguing for a new Giants right fielder, having watched too many fruitless Mike Yastrzemski at-bats. It appeared he might depart in the offseason, but president of baseball operations Buster Posey was determined to keep this high-character guy who plays a great right field and comes naturally upon leadership.
At the age of 34 — generally an age to resist major adjustments — Yaz has significantly altered his swing. He's finally squaring up the high fastball, he's driving the ball to the opposite field, and he still has that very timely power. The social media critics are off his back, and it's quite the pleasant development.
• Another cool Yaz thing: Watching him turn his back and face the right-field wall at Oracle when he knows he'll have to play a carom — and then handle it perfectly. That was his grandfather, Carl, in harmony with the left field Green Monster at Fenway Park years ago.
• Turns out it wasn't a necessarily life-changing trend when the new 'torpedo' bats produced absurdly big numbers during the season's opening week. Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe got the nickname 'Volpedo' after he hit four homers in the first five games, but as of Friday, he hadn't hit one since. The Giants have placed orders, as have many players around the majors, but the headline-grabbing news seems to have completely disappeared. At least for now.
• This new-bat innovation reminded Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow of old teammate Matt Williams, now the team's third-base coach.They called him 'The Big Marine' because of his tough, no-nonsense nature. When maple bats became the rage in the late '90s, 'everyone wanted it,' Krukow said in a telephone conversation. 'But not Matt. He loved his Louisville Sluggers. To him, it was sacrilege that someone would suggest any wood other than white ash. He just wouldn't hear of it.'
• It's always discouraging to hear that an NFL team 'wasted' a first-round draft pick on a running back, because you can't put a price on star quality. That was the Raiders taking the unstoppable Ashton Jeanty out of Boise State and the Chargers, having already acquired former Antioch High sensation Najee Harris, delighting a 'fired-up' coach Jim Harbaugh by selecting breakaway threat Omarion Hampton from North Carolina. Here's to all of them running wild.
• The Warriors backcourt wing who got away: Not Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schröder or Donte DiVincenzo (although he is sorely missed), but Ty Jerome. Thought to be too slow to succeed in the early stages of his career, he had a quiet but effective 2022-23 season with the Warriors before heading to Cleveland as a free agent. All of a sudden he's an outright star off the Cavs' bench, having scored 25-plus points six times during the season and nearly beating Miami by himself (28 points in 26 minutes) during Game 1 of the first round. He's got a bit of trash-talking swagger as well. 'This is who Ty is,' said superstar teammate Donovan Mitchell. 'I know everybody's going to react like this is a shock, but he's been doing this for us all year.'
• Considering that Draymond Green revolutionized all-court defense at power forward, and earned four championship rings along the way, it's a crime that he's won Defensive Player of the Year just once (2016-17). Understand that this year's choice, Cleveland center Evan Mobley, is fully deserving. He defends all positions, ranks high in blocks/contests/steals, and averages fewer than two personal fouls per game, while becoming a force on the offensive end. Ex-Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson (this season's Coach of the Year) says he took the Cleveland job largely to savor Mobley's potential. But for Green to finish third, with 15 first-place votes among a panel of 100 media members — that's just plain wrong.