Sinopsis
A podcast about the San Francisco Giants. For fans, by fans.
Episodios
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327: Eliminated
24/09/2025 Duración: 55minWe strung out this episode because during the recording, the Giants blew a 5-run lead they had in the 7th against the Cardinals, then Ryan Walker came in and failed to close out a 1-run lead, allowing 2 runs in the 9th. We waited out the episode to watch Wilmer Flores feebly strike out with the tying run on second to end the game and their official and mathematical hopes for the playoffs as they were eliminated. But, before coughing up their largest lead of the season, Eric and I break down what went wrong in the last two weeks that saw their once bright and resuscitated playoff hopes get extinguished in such a quick fashion. They've now lost 9 of 11 and can only achieve a .500 season by winning their remaining four games. They are likely headed to another losing season. This also means that the Giants have only made the playoffs ONCE in the last nine seasons. That is just one more than the Pirates. Will Melvin be fired? Who will win the Willie Mac? Will Adames reach 30 homers when it seemed like a lock when
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326: Another Eulogy
17/09/2025 Duración: 41minChad and Eric were hopeful that their trip to Arizona would bear witness to the Giants leapfrogging the Mets into the third wild card position, but instead were witness to the final nail in the coffin to their postseason hopes. Although we did get to see Bryce Eldridge's Major League debut, we also witnessed an 8-1 drubbing followed by a walk-off win for the Diamondbacks on a game which the Giants led by four runs. It was a frustrating experience, but it does give clarity to the fact that this team is not ready for the playoffs. We chat about the season that could have been and our experience at Chase Field. www.torturecast.com@torturecastfacebook.com/torturecastinstagram.com/torturecast
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325: TortureCast Live from Arizona!!
15/09/2025 Duración: 43minChad traveled down to Arizona to meet Eric for a couple of Giants games, but we wrapped up the last 10 games in a special live and in-person episode! We thank the Mets for their 8-games losing streak that enabled the Giants to get to within 1 1/2 games, despite the Giants going 4-5. And, our timing couldn’t be better because Bryce Eldridge has been called up and we should be seeing him the next two nights at Chase Field. Join us for a fun and rare episode!
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324: Just When We Thought We Were Out....
04/09/2025 Duración: 01h13min...they pull us back in. Yes, we are all Al Pacino. The Giants have suddenly forgotten how to lose. In fact, they've only lost one of their last 11 games and suddenly find themselves two games above .500 and four games back of the Mets for the third wild card with 22 games to play. We are still in snowball's-chance-in-hell territory, but it's better than last week and the week before that. This remarkable surge has been powered by the long ball with the Giants homering in 17 straight games (and counting), breaking the SF record. The NY Giants record is 19. During that streak, they've hit 36 of their 150 homers which is 24%...in just over two weeks! Willie Adames hit four bombs this week and is only four away from 30 and would become the first Giant to do so since Barry Bonds. Devers hit five this week (including a HR trot that technically lasted an MLB-record 8+ minutes!) and has 30, 15 with each Boston and SF. Chad and Eric chat about this surge, talk about their realistic chances for making the playoffs, an
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323: Beat Good Teams, Lose To Bad?
28/08/2025 Duración: 01h03minJust when they had us down, they sweep us back into their arms. Well, maybe not quite yet, but the Giants have quietly put together a 4 game winning streak and are 3 games under .500. Their offense is finally clicking, and they've even homered in 10 straight games. Devers went off tonight in game 2 of their series against the Cubs, going 4-4 with 2 bombs, a double, and 5 RBI....right after I put in the notes about his poor splits in SF vs BOS. He raised his OPS by 50 points with the Giants in ONE game! Eric and Chad chat about the good week in Giants baseball, and look towards a favorable September schedule, where the Giants will play 6 games against the Dodgers, the only winning team in their last 29 games. Now, we're not saying they are going to sneak back into playoff relevance, but we are saying if you were to line up the possibility, this would be the way to do it. We review who's hot and not, injuries, and even talk about Big Dumper and the Freak for a spell.www.torturecast.com@torturecastfacebook.com/t
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322: Two Old Men Talk About Things They Hate
21/08/2025 Duración: 01h01minWe came up with this title at the end of this episode. If you're brave enough to listen to the end, you'll understand why. But seriously, the Giants have lost 15 of 17 at home and are no where close to orbiting the playoffs. They would have been if they had just played 7-10 in that stretch. They went 2-4 for the week and are now a solid 5 games under .500. So, what are we looking for? Good coaching, quality ABs, playing time for the younger players and prospects, less mental mistakes on the field, anything to give us a glimmer of hope for surging back to .500 and something to build upon for 2026. We also discuss the minor controversy of Heliot Ramos' statement about fans, and wonder if players really tell the truth about things that happen out of the view of reporters and fans alike. One thing is clear, the players have Bob Melvin's back, despite the ire that he has drawn from some of the fan base. We also talk about who's hot, who's not, and that we really don't miss Camilo Doval, and you're welcome, Yankees
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321: Home Field Disadvantage
15/08/2025 Duración: 58minThe Giants may be a bad team after all. They followed up a historic winless six game homestand with a 4-2 roadtrip, and came right back home and lost five of six, meaning the Giants have lost 13 of their last 14 at home. They last time the franchise did that was 1940 in New York. They are below .500 for the season, on the road, and at home. Their only winning month is April. Their second half is atrocious, and they are 18-33 since being tied for first with the Dodgers on June 13. This is their fourth consecutive season of having a winning record in the first half, followed by a second half collapse. Visions of the postseason snatched away by ineptitude of the summer. But why? What is happening? The players don't know, BoMel doesn't know, but we all know that they stink and they have for quite some time. Their hitting is near the league bottom, they can't hit with runners in scoring position, and they are striking out at a prodigious rate. And don't get us started on the physical and mental errors on the field
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320: Trade Deadline Review: Was it Worth it?
07/08/2025 Duración: 01h02minWe last recorded in between trades, but we break down the Yaz and Doval trades from last week. All in all, the Giants received eight players for the three they traded away, and with Yaz and Rogers being free agents of the end of the year, it made sense to exchange rentals for potential future talent. But, it is weird seeing Yaz in Royal Blue, Rogers in the throwback Mets unis, and Doval in Yankee grey. Posey also played with all three, and he admitted it was tough making that phone call to his former teammates. As far as their performance on the field, they followed up a horrible 0-6 homestand with a 4-2 road record against the same Mets and Pirates. With the focus on the future seasons, no one is holding their breath that the Giants will make a run at the wildcard, a position they solidly held for the entire season until a few weeks ago. That said, it will be a good opportunity to showcase new blood in the majors and minors. Bryce Eldridge is HOT in Sacramento, blasting four bombs in his last three games, bu
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319: Coming Apart at the Seams
31/07/2025 Duración: 01h02minAfter the Giants defeated the Dodgers on June 13, they were tied for first place in the NL West with LA and held the 4th best record in baseball. Since that time, they have been the worst team in baseball (yes, even worse than the Colorado Rockies), going 13-26 and plummeting out of the playoff race. They had an 0-6 homestand, something the Giants haven't done since 1898! They've lost 12 of 14. They are nine games out of the west and six behind in the wild card. They also have the worst record since the Devers trade. So, what went wrong? How did one of the best teams in baseball in mid-June suddenly implode? You can certainly point to situational hitting. The Giants went 0-22 with runners in scoring position during the Mets sweep at home. Untimely bullpen moves seems to be Melvin's calling card, yet he was signed to a one year extension in the middle of this slump. Pitching has gotten worse with a 4.35 team ERA during this stretch, and they've been outscored 4.9 to 3.7 on average. The silver lining to this is
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318: Almost Break Time
11/07/2025 Duración: 01h11minPatrick Bailey's walk-off inside-the-park homerun on Tuesday night is something that will be burned into Giants' lore for decades to come. Pagan's similar feat happened 12 years ago, and we still talk about it. This one was better. We open the episode discussing Bailey's round-tripper and how the Giants have picked themselves up after a horrific streak to end June. Getting swept at home by the Marlins and losing two of three to the lowly White Sox put them 9 games behind their rivals, but since then, they have won 6 of 8 and the Dodgers have lost 6 in a row, closing the gap to 5 games. Three Giants pitchers were selected to the All Star Game (Webb, Ray, Rodriguez) and the mid-summer classic will feature the ABS challenge system, which is eventually coming to the big leagues. Although Devers has been meddling in mediocrity since coming to SF (.225/2/9), Adames seems to be waking up, hitting .313 with a .910 OPS over the last 2 weeks. Justin Verlander is flummoxed, and although he isn't having a great year, it'
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317: The Trade of the Decade?
19/06/2025 Duración: 40minIn a truly stunning, out-of-left-field event, the Giants traded for slugger Rafael Devers. It really did come out of nowhere, but it's genesis was the discontent that was brewing in Boston after Devers was not being treated like a franchise player, being promised third base, only to have Alex Bregman usurp it. The Giants gave up relatively little as a price for securing Devers for the next 8 1/2 years. This was not a rental, and often 2 month rentals end up costing teams a LOT more than what the Giants gave up. All told, the Giants traded away Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, and two prospects. Even the AAV for Devers is under what the market would bear now and certainly what it will bear in several years. Devers is in the prime of his career at age 28. Buster Posey made this happen, and he is the man right now. Eric, Willie, and Chad discuss this blockbuster and can't find a comp to it in recent Giants history. We are all excited, but if the Giants would just actually perform on the field. After briefly tying th
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316: They've Won Every Game Since 315
12/06/2025 Duración: 54minIt's in the title. The Giants are on a 7-game winning streak, bookended with our recording of 315 during game 1 of the streak and tonight's recording of 316 during the 7th game of the streak. They're just 1/2 game back of LA and if they complete the sweep of the Rockies tomorrow, the Giants will go into Chavez Ravine tied for first. This incredible streak started with six consecutive one-run wins and eight consecutive one-run games overall, both franchise records. They haven't lost since Buster Posey shook up the roster, DFA'ing LaMonte Wade Jr. and calling in some journeymen. Although the new guys haven't contributed much statistically speaking, something has happened to their ability to come back and hold on to tight games, get knocks in clutch situations in between droughts of hits. Some may call it a lucky streak, but it also shows the strength of the pitching staff and their resolve. Either way, wins are wins, and the Giants are hot. Let's hope it continues. Oh, and the pope was seen today wearing a Whit
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315: LaMonting Their Bats
05/06/2025 Duración: 50minIt must have been somewhat depressing or bittersweet for Buster Posey to make the decision to DFA LaMonte Wade Jr., a consistent player in this lineup that suited up with Posey for the 2021 season when they both performed well and won the NL West as teammates. Yet, it was a move they had to make. The Giants ranked last or near last in all offensive categories at first base. It also serves as a wake-up call for other players that are underperforming this year. The Giants also DFA catcher Sam Huff, which is a little puzzling considering he was the NL Pitcher of the Month's (Robbie Ray) main backstop and brought up two journeymen from Sacramento and signed another free agent journeyman. The Giants were in an incredible streak of 16 games of scoring 4 runs or less, averaging only 2 during that streak, yet their team ERA was an unbelievable 1.77, making them a competitive 7-9. The moves worked, at least for game one, as the Giants roared back from a 5-0 deficit to clip the Padres 6-5 after two heart-wrenching extr
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314: One-Third of the Pi
30/05/2025 Duración: 37minWe are one-third of the way through the season, and it's episode 314. So, pi. Anyhoo...we are beginning to fear that the Giants are whom they've been the last few years, aside from the outlier of the 8-1 start. Since then, they've been mediocre. They're bullpen is the best in baseball, by a lot, but starting has been middle of the pack (aside from Ray and Webb), and their biggest problem is their anemic offense. Only five Giants are hitting above .250, and the rest of the team is below .225. They are in the lower quarter in most offensive stats. The spunk they showed with comeback wins earlier in the year seems to have vacated the bench. The Giants have re-settled on Doval as their closer, Birdsong is in for Hicks, and Harrison is temporarily in for Verlander as he nurses his right pec. Posey said they will mix in more at first base to help the struggling Wade, but Bailey IS their catcher, and Adames is "a dude," so don't expect any changes there.www.torturecast.com@torturecastfacebook.com/torturecast
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313: Hicks and Misses
16/05/2025 Duración: 01h01minAfter an impressive 8-1 start to the season, the Giants have come back to Earth, going 17-18 since and have lost 5 of their last 6. That said, they are only 4 games out of first and hold the final wild card spot, the path that seems most likely for their entry into the postseason. They lost 4 of those 5 games by just one run, and the other by two. They are not getting crushed...just missing. One of the reasons is Jordan Hicks, who has compiled a 6.55 ERA this year and a .293 batting avg against. It's not just this year...over his last 9 starts last year, he had a 6.44 ERA and his BAA was over .300. We think those 18 starts is a sufficient sample size, and maybe his time as a starter should end. Options? Birdsong first, Harrison next. We also critique LaMonte Wade, Jr. and his anemic offensive stats and hitting metrics. He's just cold. And his defense ain't cutting it, unlike Patrick Bailey's. We chat about how to potentially solve these issues, and Eric has some important and heartfelt words at the end of the
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312: Are They Good?
06/05/2025 Duración: 01h29minThe Giants have gone 14-13 since their 8-1 explosive start. That doesn't sound amazing, but it's still good for the 4th best record in all of baseball. Unfortunately, the NL West has the two best teams in baseball with the Dodgers having won 8 of 9 games and the Padres have won 6 in a row. That said, the Giants are in the best shape at this point in the season since 2021. But...there are concerns. Many hitters are at or below .200. Their offense is average at best, and their starters are also around the average mark. So, why are they "overperforming?" Some of it has to do with their torrid start, but defense and other metrics creep in to alter a few losses to wins. Their expected W/L is only off by one. However, this could catch up in time. Chad and Willie discuss this and review the first quarter of the season and grade all facets of the Giants' game. We also go off on a tangent about Buster Posey's chances for the Hall of Fame in 2027...mostly inspired by Chad's recent visit to Cooperstown.www.torturecast.c
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311: Best record in baseball!
07/04/2025 Duración: 01h09minSo, the title of this episode is not lying. As of the evening of April 6, the Giants do indeed have the best record in baseball. No matter that it's only been nine games. Hey, it's one of the best starts in franchise history, with most great starts ending in the postseason, so there may be something to glean from that. Clearly, this team is exceeding our expectations, even after a great spring. There is an energy about this club. There is a feeling amongst the fans. Something may be different this year. Is it the new guys? Is it Bustermonium? Who knows, but the fellas are gellin' with a 8-1 record, two walk-offs during the home opening series, and they are in first place. Might this come crashing down on their next road trip through Yankee Stadium, Philly, and Anaheim? Maybe, but let's enjoy great baseball while we can, and Willie, Eric, and Chad have a great time just being giddy about this team. Oh, and don't forget to check out Chad's Oracle Park food review on YouTube!www.torturecast.comfacebook.com/tortu
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310: 2025 Season Preview!
26/03/2025 Duración: 01h24minThe gang gets back together to preview the San Francisco Giants' 2025 season. We break down the roster and speculate on the remaining spots and share our season predictions, including wins, playoff hopes, team leaders, and more. Plus, we had a great response on social media in responding to our question to YOU, how many wins? As promised, we read all of your responses. Let's just say that the hopes are high among Giants fans, I mean they did win the "Cactus League Championship." The last time they did that?...2010...just sayin'. We're back, baby, and so is Giants baseball with the season opener in Cincinnati on Thursday afternoon. www.torturecast.com@torturecastfacebook.com/torturecast
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309: Willie likes our Willy
14/12/2024 Duración: 58minNOTE: We had some audio issues that we tried to clean up and since uploaded a new version on 12/16/24.Chad and Willie "Dills" talk about the impact that newly signed Giants' shortstop, Willy Adames will have on this team. The left side of the infield is pretty strong right now and the outfield is set. Second and first may have a little work, but we have assumed starters there and at catcher. Most of the discussion revolves around starting pitching and the DH. After Snell signed with the Dodgers, it's apparent that the Dodgers are probably already better on paper than they were last year when they won the whole thing. The Giants really are relegated to shooting for the wild card at this point, but that's all it takes. Brandon Crawford officially called it a career and we reflect for a few minutes on his contributions to the franchise and imagine all of the upcoming Wall of Fame and statue ceremonies.www.torturecast.com@torturecastfacebook.com/torturecast
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308: There's a new GM in Town
15/11/2024 Duración: 45minBuster Posey and the Giants hired a general manager! Zack Minasian (his brother is also the GM of the Angles, btw) has spent six years with the Giants and prior to that, was with the Brewers organization for 15 years. He grew up in the Rangers' clubhouse, as his dad was a clubhouse attendant. In his teens, Zack realized that he wasn't going to make it as baseball player and set his sights on the front office. Well, he's arrived. Randy Winn was also named VP of player development. We'll see if positions come up for JT Snow and Rich Aurilia. Patrick Bailey and Matt Chapman won Gold Gloves. It's Bailey's first, Chapman's fifth, and it's the first time the Giants have had two or more Gold Glove winners since Crawford, Panik, and Posey in 2016. Notice how we didn't mention the Dodgers? Wait, what?www.torturecast.com@torturecast