Inside Giants' worst start in franchise history: Tony Vitello 'searching for any positives' amid 13-21 record

The Giants moved to San Francisco for the 1958 season, but the franchise itself dates back to 1883. It is one of baseball's oldest ballclubs. The Giants first won the World Series in 1888. The list of all-time great players goes from Christy Mathewson to Mel Ott to Willie Mays to Willie McCovey to Barry Bonds. 

The 2026 Giants have their place in history now too: their 13-21 record ties the worst start in franchise history. No Giants team has ever been worse at this point in the season, while the 1950 and 1984 clubs opened with the same record. These Giants are already eight games out of first place. They recently won seven of 10 games, moving to within two games of .500. But then they went on a six-game road trip to Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. They lost all six games. 

It was the first winless trip of at least six games since 2022. As if the losses weren't enough, there were extra gut punches in the form of three walk-off losses. 

As things stand, the Giants are only one game away from the worst record in baseball. They have the second-worst run differential at -34 (the Phillies are worse at -43, but have won five of their last six games since firing Rob Thomson). 

"We literally have nothing to show for the road trip," manager Tony Vitello said after Sunday's 2-1 extra-innings loss (via the San Francisco Chronicle). "You end the day searching for any positives."

Speaking of Vitello, there's plenty of heat around the first-year manager. Buster Posey this past offseason made the bold move of hiring Vitello from the college ranks, as the University of Tennessee head coach became the first to make the leap from college directly to an MLB dugout. There have been growing pains, to say the least. 

Not that this mess is entirely Vitello's fault. He can't hit for his players. Even if he deserves to shoulder some of the blame, he's not saddled with all of it.

The offense is a big problem. The Giants rank dead last in runs scored this season with 106 in 34 games, an average of 3.12 per game. They also rank last in on-base percentage and are 27th in slugging. They are among the worst teams in baseball in the value they've gotten from first base, shortstop, left field and center field. Even in adjusting for their pitcher-friendly ballpark, the team as a whole has an 84 OPS+. They've struck out 268 times, compared to 69 walks. That's the type of gulf that might be forgiven as long as it was accompanied by some serious power, but the Giants are dead last in the majors with only 19 home runs. 

What's worse, the Giants' upcoming schedule looks pretty difficult. They don't play a team that is currently below .500 until May 18. They host the Padres (20-13) and Pirates (19-16) before heading back to the road to face the Dodgers (21-13) and Athletics (18-16). 

The Giants won the World Series three times between 2010 and 2014. They've only made the playoffs twice since then and haven't gotten past the NLDS. Since their division title in 2021, mediocrity has been the calling card. The way this season is going, returning to mediocrity would be a blessing.