Suddenly, the San Francisco Giants have become an exciting team. Many described last year's SF Giants—and even the 107-win 2021 Giants—as "boring." These 2023 Giants are not boring, and that's largely due to the emergence of young talent like Casey Schmitt and Patrick Bailey, who were a big part of the Giants' second offensive eruption in their last four games. Five Giants hitters had three hits as the SF Giants won 14-4.

Austin Slater was activated from the IL, and there was some Twitter drama about it. A local radio personality said that he looked forward to not seeing Slater on the team anymore, and tons of people pounced. Indeed, Slater has been one of the very best hitters in baseball against left-handed pitching over an extended period of time, and even Clayton Kershaw—just the other day—named Slater among the five toughest hitters he's faced. He had three hits including a home run in yesterday's return.

The Giants have a roster crunch. A serious roster crunch. Reliever Luke Jackson is about to be activated, and that will require not only a 26-man corresponding move but also a corresponding 40-man move (likely someone being DFA'd). The SF Giants also have Thairo Estrada, Joc Pederson, and Joey Bart getting relatively close to returns and it's especially unclear how Bart will fit assuming Bailey and Blake Sabol have secured roles.

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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.

Follow Ben Kaspick on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the San Francisco Giants and talking with fans.

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenKaspick

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