It will take years to gain a holistic understanding of how the San Francisco Giants collapsed so quickly.
A year after finishing with an 87-75 record and nearly pushing the Chicago Cubs to a winner-take-all game five in the National League Division Series, the Giants narrowly avoided the embarrassment of a 100-loss season in what will go down as the most frustrating campaign in franchise history.
The Giants dealt with injuries, poor performances, a revolving door of left fielders and so much more during the 2017 season, and at long last, it’s finally over. While the playoffs are set to start on Tuesday, the Giants will obviously not be participating. Instead, they’ll have the chance to sit back and reflect on exactly how this season devolved in such an epic fashion.
If you would like the chance to do so as well, our timeline of the Giants’ season has every unforgettable, or in most cases, completely forgettable, moment from this year.
April 2: On Opening Day, Giants’ ace Madison Bumgarner slammed two home runs and the club entered the the ninth inning with a 5-4 lead against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After blowing 30 saves during the 2016 regular season, San Francisco signed Mark Melancon to the third-richest contract for a reliever in baseball history last offseason to shore up the club’s bullpen woes. In Melancon’s first game as a Giant, he gave up two runs, blew a save and allowed the Diamondbacks to capture a walkoff win.
April 8: In Bumgarner’s next start, the lefty pitched eight innings and gave up two runs to the San Diego Padres, but the Giants’ offense mustered just one run. The club lost 2-1, and dropped to 1-5. It marked their worst start since 2008.
April 11: The Giants placed catcher Buster Posey on the seven-day disabled list. On April 10, Posey took a 93-mile per hour fastball off of his helmet against the Diamondbacks.
April 15: The Giants suffered a 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Colorado Rockies, their first shutout loss of the season. In the fourth inning, starting left fielder Jarrett Parker crashed into the outfield wall and injured his clavicle, sidelining him until August 3. Parker won the starting job in left field during Spring Training after Mac Williamson suffered a hamstring injury that forced him to start the season on the disabled list. Parker’s replacement, Chris Marrero, registered one of the Giants’ only two hits against Rockies’ right-hander Tyler Chatwood. Chatwood finished the season with a 4.69 earned run average.
April 16: The Giants scored three runs in the first inning against Rockies’ rookie Antonio Senzatela. They did not score again and lost 4-3 to fall to 5-9 on the season.
April 21: Bumgarner is placed on the disabled list due to an injury he suffered to his ribs and pitching shoulder in a dirt bike crash. The trip to the disabled list is the first in Bumgarner’s career, and wiped the team’s top pitcher out of the rotation for nearly three months. On the same day, outfielder Gorkys Hernandez’s average dipped to a season-low .068 after an 0-for-1 effort dropped him to 2-for-31 on the year.
April 23: The Giants lose 8-0 to the Colorado Rockies in Denver, extending their losing streak to four games and their losing streak against Colorado to five games. With a three-game sweep, the Rockies swept the Giants at Coors Field for the first time since 2002. After starting 6-13, the Giants matched their worst record through 19 games in franchise history. The Giants finished the game with the worst record in the Major Leagues, and the worst rotation ERA in baseball at 5.02. San Francisco also placed starting center fielder Denard Span on the disabled list this day.
April 24: After a torrid start to the season with AAA Sacramento, 21-year-old Christian Arroyo earns his first Major League call-up. The Giants also called up veteran outfielder Drew Stubbs from AAA to replace Marrero, who hit .132 in 38 at-bats with the club during the month of April.
April 26: Michael Morse is recalled from AAA Sacramento after Morse began the year on the disabled list following a hamstring injury he suffered in Spring Training.
April 29: The Giants place shortstop Brandon Crawford on the 10-day disabled list with a groin injury.
April 30: After entering the ninth inning with a 2-0 lead, Melancon served up a two-run home run to Padres’ backup catcher Hector Sanchez. In the 12th inning, reliever George Kontos allowed three runs, and the Padres earned a 5-2 extra innings win to drop the Giants to 9-17. It was their worst April since 1984, when the club won just seven games. The loss marked the seventh time in 12 games that San Francisco scored just two runs or fewer. The Giants also designated reliever Neil Ramirez for assignment after Ramirez compiled an 8.71 ERA in nine games. To fill Ramirez’s roster spot, they added reliever Bryan Morris to the roster.
May 6: In the second game of a three-game series in Cincinnati, the Giants are blown out 14-2. Left-hander Ty Blach became the first Giants’ pitcher in a decade to give up 10 runs in a start, and managed to outdo right-hander Matt Cain, who allowed nine runs in a 13-3 loss the day before. Earlier in the week, Matt Moore gave up nine runs in his start. After the game, the Giants designated Stubbs for assignment. He hit .091 in 22 at-bats.
May 7: The Reds capped off a three-game sweep of the Giants with a 4-0 win. Scott Feldman threw a four-hit shutout against San Francisco after entering the game with a 1-5 career record against the Giants. Cincinnati outscored San Francisco 31-5 during the three-game set. The Reds will finish the year in last place in the National League Central.
May 9: The Giants placed Melancon on the disabled list for the first time in his career with a pronator injury. In the second game of a four-game set against the Mets, the Giants lost 4-3 after Josh Osich gave up a walkoff single to Neil Walker. The defeat extended San Francisco’s losing streak to four games, which marks the team’s third four-game losing streak of the season.
May 10: Thanks to a ninth inning bases loaded double from Arroyo, the Giants put an end to their streak with a 6-5 come-from-behind victory. The victory over the Mets marked the first time the Giants had come back from a ninth inning deficit in the past 133 games they trailed entering the final frame.
May 15: The Giants placed Hunter Pence on the 10-day disabled list with a hamstring injury. He becomes the team’s fifth Opening Day starter to go on the disabled list, joining Posey, Pence, Crawford and Parker.
May 16: San Francisco secured a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers thanks to seven innings of one-run ball from Blach. The victory extended the Giants’ win streak to four games, the team’s longest win streak of the season to date.
May 26: The Atlanta Braves shut out the Giants 2-0, spoiling seven innings of two-run ball from starter Matt Cain. Through 50 games, the Giants have the Major League’s least productive offense, with an average of 3.32 runs per game.
May 29: In the eighth inning of the Giants’ 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, reliever Hunter Strickland pelted outfielder Bryce Harper with a 97-mile per hour fastball in the hip. Harper charged the mound, and during a benches-clearing scuffle, Morse and starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija collided with one another. Morse was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list the next day, and did not play again this season. In all likelihood, the brawl ended Morse’s professional baseball career. Three weeks later, Strickland’s appeal of the six-game suspension he received was denied.
June 2: Pitching in Philadelphia against the Phillies, Blach became the first Giants’ starter to throw a shutout in 2017, leading his club to a 10-0 victory over what was at the time, the worst team in the Major Leagues. Blach became the first Giants’ rookie since Madison Bumgarner to earn four straight wins, and he was also the first Giants’ pitcher since 1969 to draw three walks in the same game. On the same day, San Francisco designated outfielder Justin Ruggiano for assignment. In 60 at-bats with the Giants, Ruggiano hit just .213. To replace Ruggiano, the Giants called up rookie Austin Slater from AAA Sacramento.
June 4: Two days after Blach’s heroics, the Giants suffered one of their most embarrassing defeats of the season, a 9-7 loss that clinched a series loss against the Phillies, who will finish the year as the worst team in the National League East. With a record of 23-35, the Giants decided to send a struggling Arroyo back to the Minor Leagues. Arroyo hit just .192 in 125 at-bats with the big league club.
June 6: Slater made his first career start in left field against the Milwaukee Brewers, becoming the 10th different player to start a game in left field for the Giants through their first 60 games. Slater was also the 12th different player to appear in left field for San Francisco this season. The Giants also announced they acquired reliever Sam Dyson from the Texas Rangers for cash considerations. The former Rangers’ closer had a 10.80 ERA through 17 games at the time he was traded from Texas. Also, the Giants lost again, falling to 24-36.
June 9: Ervin Santana of the Minnesota Twins tossed a complete game shutout against the Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco’s Major League-worst sixth shutout loss of the year.
June 14: The Kansas City Royals finish off a two-game sweep of the Giants with a 7-2 win. With the loss, the Giants fell to 26-41, a season-high 15 games below .500. The loss also dropped the Giants a game behind the Padres for last-place in the National League West for the first time since May 12. The Giants did not climb out of last place for the rest of the season.
June 15: After falling behind 9-1 in the sixth inning, the Giants staged an eight-run comeback to tie a game against the Rockies in the top half of the ninth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Strickland allowed a walkoff single and the Giants lost again.
June 18: Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hits a walkoff grand slam off Melancon to complete the cycle and lead Colorado to a three-game sweep of the Giants. After he allowed four runs in one-third of an inning, Melancon’s ERA climbed to 5.09, his highest mark since mid-April.
June 19: Braves’ right-hander R.A. Dickey thrrew seven innings of shutout ball against the Giants to lead Atlanta to a 9-0 win. The defeat extended San Francisco’s losing streak to a season-high seven games, and dropped the Giants 20 games out of first place. Reliever Derek Law allowed five hits and four runs in the loss without recording an out.
June 20: The Giants optioned Law to AAA Sacramento, and called up rookie Kyle Crick, the franchise’s first round draft choice in 2011.
June 23: The Giants placed third baseman Eduardo Nunez on the 10-day disabled list with a hamstring injury. Outside of Posey, Nunez was the Giants’ leading offensive player as he was hitting .299 at the time of his injury. San Francisco also designated Morris, who posted a 6.43 ERA in 20 games, for assignment.
June 24: San Francisco calls up rookie Ryder Jones, the team’s second round draft choice in 2013.
June 25: After logging just 4.1 innings in an 8-2 loss against the Mets, Moore’s ERA climbs to 6.04, its highest mark since the middle of May. The loss was the Giants’ 12th in their last 13 games, and dropped the team 24.5 games out of first place.
June 28: For the second time this season, the Giants placed Melancon on the disabled list with a pronator strain. San Francisco also released infielder Aaron Hill, who hit .132 in 68 at-bats with the club. To fill Hill’s spot on the roster, the Giants purchased the contract of infielder Jae-gyun Hwang from AAA Sacramento. In his first game with the Giants, Hwang hit a two-run home run and the Giants defeated the Rockies 5-3.
July 2: The Giants completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates, extending their win-streak to a season-high six games.
July 6: Right-hander Johnny Cueto was scratched 30 minutes before his scheduled start with an ear infection, and rookie Chris Stratton made the first start of his Major League career. Stratton lasted 6.2 innings, but gave up five earned runs in a 5-2 loss.
July 7: The Giants called up rookie Miguel Gomez from AA Richmond after Gomez hit over .300 during the first half of the year with the Flying Squirrels. Gomez was supposed to give the team an additional bat off the bench for the final weekend before the All-Star break, but manager Bruce Bochy thought Gomez deserved a longer stay at the Major League level.
July 8: After hitting .290 in his first 100 at-bats with the Giants, Slater is placed on the disabled list with a hip injury that is expected to sideline him until at least September. Slater is replaced on the active roster by Williamson, who Bochy indicated would play extensively during the second half of the month.
July 9: San Francisco closed out the first half of the year with a 10-8 loss against the Miami Marlins. After losing their final four games before the break, the Giants entered the All-Star break with a record of 34-55, a far cry from the 57-33 Major League-best mark they carried into last year’s second half.
July 10: The Giants optioned Williamson to AAA Sacramento. He did not play extensively.
July 14: The Giants activated Eduardo Nunez from the 10-day disabled list.
July 15: San Francisco placed Cueto on the disabled list with due to blisters that materialized on his pitching hand. Cueto was replaced on the Giants’ active roster by Bumgarner, who returned to the starting rotation for the first time since his April dirt-bike crash. In his first start back, Bumgarner lasted seven innings and allowed three runs in his team’s 5-3 loss to the Padres. Former Giants’ catcher Hector Sanchez hit a two-run walkoff home run off of Steven Okert to clinch the Padres’ win.
July 21: After taking a 6-2 lead in the fourth inning, the Giants surrendered seven runs to the Padres to fall behind 9-6. San Francisco rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning thanks to Conor Gillaspie’s game-tying two-run home run with two outs in the frame. However, the Giants wound up losing 12-9 following 11 innings after Kontos allowed three runs.
July 22: Eight days after he was designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox, infielder Pablo Sandoval signed a Minor League contract to return to the San Francisco Giants’ organization. Sandoval was hitting .212 for the Red Sox at the time he was designated. Earlier that morning, Hwang and Okert were optioned to AAA Sacramento. Okert had a 6.75 ERA while Hwang was hitting .167.
July 26: The Giants complete a trade with the Red Sox to send Nunez to Boston in exchange for two Minor League prospects. By the time he was traded, Nunez had raised his average to .308 and led the Giants with 18 stolen bases. To replace Nunez on the active roster, the Giants purchased the contract of outfielder Carlos Moncrief from AAA Sacramento. San Francisco also placed Stratton on the disabled list, and recalled Hwang from AAA.
July 30: Bumgarner logged seven innings of shutout ball against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, and Gillaspie hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. After the Dodgers tied the game in the ninth when Dyson blew his first save with the club, rookie Kyle Farmer stroked a two-run double in the bottom of the 11th in his first career at-bat to give the Dodgers a 3-2 win. A sweep in Los Angeles dropped San Francisco 34.5 games out of first place the day before the trade deadline.
July 31: Cueto exited a rehab start with A San Jose after just 34 pitches due to forearm tightness. His return to the Giants is pushed back by a full month.
August 3: The Giants activated Parker from the 60-day disabled list and he went 3-for-4 with three RBIs in his first game back with the club. Blach hit his first career home run to dead center field at AT&T Park to lead the Giants to a blowout 11-2 win over the A’s. San Francisco also designated Gillaspie for assignment, and optioned Hwang to AAA. Gillaspie was hitting .163.
August 4: Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitcher Anthony Banda plunks Giants’ first baseman Brandon Belt in the helmet with a curveball in the Giants’ 2-1 loss. Belt is removed from the game and diagnosed with the fourth concussion of his career. Belt did not play again this season, but he did finish the year with a team-high 18 home runs, which matched his career-high.
August 5: The Giants officially placed Belt on the disabled list, and called up Sandoval from AAA Sacramento. In his first game back with the Giants, Sandoval hit a seventh inning double and the Giants rallied from a 4-0 deficit to win on a walkoff single by Parker in the 10th inning. The four-run comeback was the Giants’ largest this season. On the same day, Kontos was awarded to the Pittsburgh Pirates on a waiver claim.
August 12: The Giants activated Melancon from the disabled list and he pitched for the first time since June 27, throwing a scoreless inning in San Francisco’s 3-1 loss to the Nationals. The Giants also placed Gomez on the 10-day disabled list with right knee discomfort. Gomez did not play again this season.
August 13: In the second game of a double-header, Suarez surrendered a walkoff grand slam to Nationals’ pinch hitter Howie Kendrick.
August 15: Two days after second baseman Joe Panik is hit in the face by a relay throw, the Giants placed Panik on the seven-day concussion disabled list. It’s the second time in two seasons Panik missed time due to a concussion.
August 18: The Giants defeated the Phillies 10-2 and earn their 10th win of the month. It marked just the second time in five months the Giants have reached a double-digit win total after claiming just nine victories in April, June and July.
August 19: San Francisco lost its 75th game of the season. The Giants lost 75 games all of last year.
August 20: The Phillies beat the Giants 5-2, meaning Philadelphia won the season series 4-3 against San Francisco. The loss also eliminated the Giants from contention in the National League West. In the eighth inning of the series finale, Phillies’ closer Hector Neris hit Posey with a pitch, and after the game, Posey said he thought Neris hit him intentionally.
August 25: Panik is activated from the concussion disabled list after missing just 10 days.
August 27: Stratton threw six innings while allowing just two runs against the Diamondbacks, but the Giants lost 11-0 after Cain surrendered eight runs in relief. The 11-0 loss capped off an Arizona sweep.
September 1: The Giants activated Cueto from the disabled list, and he tossed 5.1 innings of two-run ball against the St. Louis Cardinals. San Francisco lost 11-6 after Dyson allowed five runs over 0.1 inning. As MLB rosters expanded to 40 players, the Giants added Okert, Law and catcher Tim Federowicz.
September 3: San Francisco called up Williamson and infielder Orlando Calixte from AAA Sacramento.
September 5: The Giants activated Slater from the disabled list and designated Moncrief for assignment. Moncrief was hitting .211 at the time. San Francisco also called up pitchers Reyes Moronta and Roberto Gomez to round out its September call-ups. The franchise did not call up top prospects Arroyo, Tyler Beede or Chris Shaw. Arroyo and Beede both suffered injuries with AAA Sacramento in July that forced them to miss the rest of the year.
September 9: In a 13-1 loss to the White Sox, the Giants tied their franchise record for home runs allowed in a game as the team surrendered six. Chicago first baseman Jose Abreu became the second player to hit for the cycle against the Giants this season, joining the Rockies’ Arenado. The Giants were also outhit 18-3 in the loss.
September 10: Over five innings, Bumgarner allows 10 hits and six runs and the Giants end up losing to the White Sox 8-1. At the time, the White Sox owned the worst record in the American League, and outscored the Giants 21-2 over the final two games of the series.
September 12: Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw outdueled Cueto, and Los Angeles secured a 5-3 win over San Francisco that officially eliminated the Giants from playoff contention.
September 20: In his first start since learning the Giants planned to exercise his $9 million option for the 2018 season, Moore threw six innings of shutout ball in a 4-0 win over the Rockies. Moore’s efforts dropped his ERA to 5.20, which at the time, was the highest mark in the National League by nearly three tenths of a point.
September 23: In his final outing of the season, Bumgarner threw 7.2 innings of one-run ball against the Dodgers to lead the Giants to a victory a day after Los Angeles clinched the National League West. The win brought the Giants within 37 games in the standings, and snapped a personal four-game losing streak for Bumgarner. After a tumultuous season, the Giants’ ace finished the year with a record of 4-9 and an ERA of 3.32. The Giants lost all four of Bumgarner’s no-decisions.
September 26: In his final start of the year, Moore lasted 1.1 innings and gave up seven earned runs against the Diamondbacks to finish the year with an ERA of 5.52. His final ERA is the highest for a qualifying pitcher in the National League since Edinson Volquez’s 5.73 mark in 2013. Moore joined Volquez and Houston Astros’ righty Brandon Backe (2008) as the only National League pitchers in the last decade to qualify and finish the year with an ERA above 5.50.
September 27: Prior to the Giants’ 4-3 walkoff loss to the Diamondbacks, Cain announced that he planned to retire at the end of the season. After 13 years in a Giants’ uniform, Cain said he couldn’t imagine wearing a different one, and said that his September 30 start against the Padres would be his last outing.
September 29: The Giants earned their all-important 63rd win of the season, which guaranteed San Francisco would avoid losing 100 games for the second time in franchise history. Stratton threw 6.2 innings of shutout ball, and ended the year with a 2.27 ERA in his final eight starts.
September 30: Cain took the mound at AT&T Park for the final time in his career, and recorded five shutout innings in a gritty effort against the Padres. After going four weeks without pitching, Cain turned in the most memorable outing of the Giants’ season, and was rewarded with thunderous applause from the AT&T Park crowd. Before exiting the playing field, the always-stoic Cain launched his cap into the crowd. The Giants couldn’t send out Cain a winner, though, as the team managed just two runs of support and Dyson blew his second save in as many chances when Padres’ catcher Austin Hedges clubbed a two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning. Can you say, “Cain’d?”
October 1: On the final day of the regular season, Sandoval smashes a walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Giants to a 5-4 win, and their first series win of the year over the Padres. San Francisco finishes the regular season with a 64-98 record. Minutes later, the Detroit Tigers fell to the Minnesota Twins, meaning the Tigers will select first overall in the 2018 MLB Draft. Even though both teams finished with a 64-98 record, the Tigers will pick ahead of the Giants by virtue of finishing 86-75 last season, a half game worse than the Giants’ 87-75 record.
Season notes
Opening Day starting lineup, and the date each player went on the disabled list
Span-April 23
Belt-August 5
Pence-May 15
Posey-April 11
Crawford-April 29
Nunez-June 23
Parker-April 15
Panik-August 15
Bumgarner-April 21
- The Giants’ 98 losses tie for the second most in franchise history with the 1943 New York Giants. The 1985 Giants are the only team in franchise history to lose 100 games.
- The Giants’ .395 winning percentage is the fifth-worst mark in franchise history. Only the 1902, 1943, 1901 and 1985 teams finished with worse winning percentages.
- The 40.0 games back the Giants finished in their division is the fourth-worst mark in franchise history.
- The Giants’ last place finish in 2017 marks the 10th time the team has finished in last place, and the first time since 2007.
- The 3.94 runs scored per game is the Giants’ lowest mark since scoring 3.88 runs per game in 2013. The Giants’ 639 runs ranked 29th out of 30 MLB teams.
- The Giants’ 128 home runs were the fewest in baseball. The Pittsburgh Pirates finished 29th with 151 home runs.
- The Giants’ .380 slugging percentage was the worst in baseball.