Five takeaways from Giants' excellent 2025 season-opening road trip

Five takeaways from Giants' excellent 2025 season-opening road trip originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — The Houston Astros run a promotion at Daikin Park that borrows from the old “steal a taco” campaign from the World Series. If an Astro steals a base, every fan will get a coupon for five free wings from Pluckers Wing Bar as they exit the park. There’s a funny graphic that flashes across the scoreboard when the wings are clinched, but they had to wait until the second inning of the final game of their series with the Giants to use it.

Jeremy Peña drew a one-out walk and successfully snagged second against backup catcher Sam Huff. What was so notable about it — aside from the free wings, of course — was the fact that it was the first attempt against the Giants all season. They’re the only team in the Majors with fewer than three attempts against them. 

While opponents aren’t running, the Giants are. Seemingly every year they talk in the offseason and spring of being more aggressive on the bases, and through six games they’ve finally gained an edge in an area where they’ve been thoroughly outmanned in recent seasons. 

The Giants allowed the third-most stolen bases in the big leagues last year and ranked 29th in the Majors on the offensive side. They were minus-78 on the bases, and you have to go back to 2021 for the last time they stole more bases than they allowed. They didn’t even run that much that season, but with Buster Posey in the squat, they allowed just 53 stolen bases. Two years later, that number ballooned to 124, and they stole just 57.

Last season, the Giants allowed 146 stolen bases, but that wasn’t on their catcher. Patrick Bailey won a Gold Glove Award despite working with a pitching staff that was generally slow to the plate and did a poor job of holding runners. Bailey has made four starts this season — including a pair against Elly De La Cruz and the Cincinnati Reds — and has yet to get a chance to test his arm. That’s a good thing.

“My shoulder is going to feel a lot better,” he said, laughing. 

Bailey said the credit goes to his pitchers. They are doing a better job of holding runners, led by Opening Day starter Logan Webb, who watched the opposition succeed in 21 of 26 attempts last year. Webb has spent years trying to patch that hole in his game and has dropped about 0.2 seconds off his times to the plate thanks to a mechanical change this spring. 

“I’m just trying to give him a chance,” Webb said of Bailey.

Given Bailey’s skill set, there’s no reason why the Giants shouldn’t excel at controlling the running game if their pitchers do their part. That would flip a deficiency into a huge strength for a team that’s 5-1 to start the season. 

“Something we put an emphasis on this spring is being quicker to the plate, and I think for the most part our guys have been good,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ve had some leads as well. But I think it’s the emphasis and understanding that especially with a staff that gets a lot of groundballs, if we can keep guys from going to second base, the groundball is always in play, too.”

The Giants also stole six bases on the trip, with Mike Yastrzemski leading the way with a pair. They attempted a double-steal Wednesday, and both runners scored when Heliot Ramos smoked a ball into the gap. Perhaps it’s time to come up with a wing-related promotion for Oracle Park? The running game was one area that really stood out on a successful trip that featured strong pitching and clean baseball. Here are four more:

Living Up To The Hype

Through five wins, Melvin still hasn’t gotten to use his preferred trio in the final three innings, but all that has done is show off the depth of the bullpen. 

When Ryan Walker’s back flared up, Camilo Doval stepped in and threw a 1-2-3 ninth. Walker looked like his normal self on Monday and Tuesday, but that workload sidelined him Wednesday. Doval again stepped in for the quick save. 

Randy Rodriguez was the hero earlier in the game by getting out of a jam, and he had a tantalizing first week. Erik Miller has three scoreless appearances and whipped 99 mph past Yordan Alvarez earlier this week. Tyler Rogers is doing what he does; he’s appeared in four of six games and hasn’t allowed a run. 

Melvin plans to have Doval and Rogers set up for Walker once everyone resets. If this version of Rodriguez is your fourth right-hander in the pen, you’re in tremendous shape, and so far the Giants haven’t paid for carrying just one lefty. 

The bullpen had a 1.74 ERA on the trip and allowed just 13 hits in 20 2/3 innings. It looks like it’s going to be one of the best and deepest groups in baseball. 

Get A Bigger Trophy Case

Jordan Hicks was painting the corners on Monday, and his catcher made sure that home plate umpire Todd Tichenor came along for the ride. During Hicks’ dominant second inning against the Astros, Bailey provided a reminder of why he’s known as the game’s best pitch-framer: 

A couple of times on the trip, Giants relievers made a face at the umpire after a close pitch was called a ball. Both times the call was correct, but Bailey had pulled the pitch into the zone, making it look better than it was. Nobody is better at it, and it’ll be a very, very easy Gold Glove case if runners continue to shy away from testing him.

The Giants have had four Gold Glove catchers in franchise history. None of the previous three — including Posey — won a second one, but Bailey entered the year as the heavy favorite in the National League and nothing has changed through six games.

Taking The Next Step? 

On April 4 last year, Heliot Ramos was in Reno, playing right field and batting fifth for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. On Friday, he will get a huge ovation at Oracle Park, where the home fans are hopeful that a superstar is developing before their eyes. 

With apologies to Wilmer Flores, the biggest offensive development on the trip was Ramos continuing to show that last season was no fluke — and that even better days might be ahead. Ramos had the best OPS in the NL last year against left-handed pitchers, and early on this season he has three homers against righties. He comes home with an even 1.000 OPS, and he has played strong defense in left field. 

It’s enough to make you wonder where this is headed. Will he break the 30-homer drought and keep going for 40? Will he graduate from All-Star to MVP candidate? 

It’s been six games, but Ramos has raised his ceiling.

“It’s huge,” Matt Chapman said. “I think you’re going to see him take another step forward this season. When he’s hitting the way he’s hitting and playing that great defense, it’s just another guy that’s going to help us win a ton of baseball games.”

Finding Their Fit

On Monday afternoon, Casey Schmitt stood near the bag at first and fielded some grounders as the Giants took batting practice. He did the same on Tuesday, and in the seventh, he jogged over to play the position in a game for the first time since summer ball six years ago. A day later, he was the starting first baseman against Cy Young candidate Framber Valdez. 

Without Jerar Encarnacion, the Giants have an odd bench. There’s a backup catcher, a right-handed-hitting outfielder, and two righty infielders who don’t have much exposure to first base. They also have a lineup full of true everyday players for the first time since the Bruce Bochy years, and that’s made it hard for Melvin to keep everyone involved. 

Playing first base against lefties is a way for Schmitt to get on the field, and he said he was thrilled about that. It will be harder to find reps for Christian Koss, who made just one appearance on the trip.

Hayden Birdsong was the last member of the Opening Day roster to play in 2025, and that will continue to be a puzzle for the staff. The Giants don’t want to harm his development as a starter, and they believed that they could find enough innings early on to keep him stretched out. Birdsong threw a bullpen session in Cincinnati to prepare to back up Hicks in Houston, but Hicks worked so quickly that he got through six innings the first time out, and the lead was turned over to Doval in the seventh. 

Birdsong did end up pitching Wednesday, but threw just two innings and 26 pitches. The staff wanted to reward young players who earned the Opening Day roster honor, but it has been difficult to find time for them all. It would be a surprise if the same 26 players are on the flight to New York in a week. 

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