SF Giants embarrassed by Reds as defensive deficiencies pile up

Just when you thought it couldn't get any uglier... The San Francisco Giants played defense like a little league team in the third inning on Sunday against the Reds. Evan Longoria couldn't make a throw across the diamond to lead off the inning. Mike Yastrzemski threw to the wrong base. Austin Slater broke in on a ball that ended up bouncing off the warning track. And they weren't done for the day.

Later in the Giants' embarrassing 10-3 loss to the Reds, their second series loss to the league's worst team, there was a ground ball to Brandon Belt. Pitcher Jarlín García was late covering the bag, and Belt threw behind him. The ball went then sat near the Reds dugout for far too much time while no one in a Giants jersey went to pick it up. A high school team would've probably played a better game defensively than the SF Giants did on Sunday.

What is causing them to play so poorly defensively? What's staggering is that their defense was much better last year with basically the same players. Brandon Crawford, Darin Ruf, Yastrzemski, Thairo Estrada, and Belt have had the biggest drop-offs.

Have the Giants taken their fans for granted? They could've done more in the offseason to bolster their team, but didn't. Is the experience stale at Oracle Park? These questions, written about today in The Athletic by Andrew Baggarly, are addressed on today's show.

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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.

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