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For one of the weirdest season openers in Giants history, 40,856 showed up at Oracle Park Wednesday night to serve as extras in a global production hosted by Netflix. The early reviews were not good.
Especially for Giants fans.
Fans who like to watch games the traditional way were a bit ticked off, but Major League Baseball is all about making the sport available to all ages, and if Netflix was going to fork over many millions of dollars for the exclusive rights to stream the season’s first game, so be it.
The Giants showcased a new manager, Tony Vitello, and new lineup with Luis Arráez and Harrison Bader along with Rafael Devers, who appeared in his first opener after he was acquired in June.
But there was no celebration on Day One. Just negative vibes for several reasons. The defense wasn’t sharp. The offense collected all of three hits against Max Fried and three relievers. And ace Logan Webb tossed a rare clunker, coughing up seven runs for the first time since July 10, 2024.
It was Yankees 7, Giants 0, and the game didn’t appear as close as the score indicated.
“A more competitive effort would’ve been better,” Vitello said. “They were more aggressive on the bases. They had more opportunities. Pitching-wise, it just so happened their guy was better than our guy tonight. Couple guys out of the bullpen did OK. Then the bats, just better at-bats, too.”
Luckily for the Giants, they’re planning another opener on Friday. This one, they’re calling their “traditional opener” because it’ll be a day game and they’ll be in charge of the festivities. Netflix will be long gone.
Netflix filled McCovey Cove with red kayaks, and in an awkward pregame scene arranged, Giants players entered the field after walking through a cable car – “We had that big old thing in front of our dugout to begin with,” Vitello said – and the Yankees entered between a couple of supposed NYC yellow cabs.
Perhaps the best moment of the evening was former Giants managers Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker tossing ceremonial first pitches before the game, to coaches Jayce Tingler and Ron Washington, former managers themselves.
However, fans on social media complained that Netflix didn’t broadcast the moment. On that front, they weren’t pleased that the first challenge in ABS (automated balls and strikes) history also wasn’t shown because Vitello was being interviewed at the time.
“I only used the restroom one time tonight,” Vitello said, “and it happened to be the time I was supposed to be doing the Netflix interview. I was a little more concerned with the score being 5-0 at the time than being at that spot, with all due respect.”
For the record, New York’s José Caballero put his hand atop his helmet to notify plate umpire Bill Miller he was challenging his strike call on Webb’s high and inside pitch to open the fourth inning. ABS technology showed on the scoreboard that indeed it was a strike, leaving the Yankees with one remaining challenge. It hardly mattered. They hit and pitched their way to a lopsided win.
Webb retired his first four batters, but the next six reached base: single, plunking, double, single, single, triple. Suddenly it was 5-zip, an early downer for the Vitello-led team that went 19-9 in Cactus League play. The streak finally ended when Webb slipped a changeup past WBC teammate Aaron Judge, the reigning American League MVP who struck out four times on the night and went 0-for-5, the only Yankee not to get a hit.
It didn’t help that the defense wasn’t as crisp as it had been in spring training. At one point, left fielder Heliot Ramos threw to third rather than second, enabling Caballero to leg out a double. Willy Adames took the cut and thought he had a play at second anyway – his throw would have sailed into right field if the ball hadn’t hit the runner.
“The one you’d like to have back is the throw to second on the ball down the line,” Vitelo said. “You get an out there, maybe it makes a difference.”
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Also in the inning, Arráez didn’t show much range on Ryan McMahon’s slow grounder up the middle, a two-run single.
“He hit it in a good spot,” Arráez said. “I was playing him to pull a little, and he hit it to the middle. I couldn’t do anything.”
President of baseball operations Buster Posey has stressed pitching and defense, and there was little in the second inning. Ditto for the fifth inning.
Webb surrendered consecutive singles, and when Chisholm bounced into a fielder’s choice, Adames one-hopped his throw to first base. Casey Schmitt, playing first for Devers (his hamstring ailment allows him to hit but not field), failed to make the play.
“Similar to the offense,” Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman said when asked about the out-of-sync defense. “First game of the year, everybody’s excited. Lot more intensity and emotions going on than in spring training. I fully expect everybody to settle in and get back to exactly what we were seeing in the spring.”
When the Giants announced their Opening Day roster early Wednesday, an obvious imbalance stood out. Not necessarily that the Giants kept three relievers – “I just came from college. I’d take eight lefties. That’s kind of how it works down there,” Vitello said – but that they’ve got zero lefty hitters off the bench.
Wednesday, the bench options all swung right-handed: Jerar Encarnación, Jared Oliva, and Christian Koss, along with backup catcher Daniel Susac. None were used.
In the clubhouse before the game, Susac and Oliva were downright giddy, having performed well enough in spring training to earn roster spots. Susac is the kid brother of Andrew Susac, also a catcher, who won a ring on the 2014 World Series championship team. In fact, the younger Susac was in the Giants’ clubhouse for the first time since Oct. 16, 2014, the day Travis Ishikawa hit his pennant-winning homer, after which families were allowed in to celebrate.
“My brother was especially pumped up,” Susac said of making the team.
Unlike Susac, Oliva had some big-league experience with Pittsburgh. The 30-year-old did everything right in training camp and led all major-leaguers in stolen bases with 14. For years, the Giants have wanted a more aggressive running game, and Oliva has flashed exceptional speed on the bases and in the gaps.
Oliva is one of the great baseball names. Cuban-born Tony Oliva was a Twins legend with a different pronunciation: oh-LEE-vuh. The Giants’ Oliva is pronounced more like AH-li-vuh. He has Czech roots and has heard people mispronounce his name throughout his entire career.
“Oh, yeah, probably about 95 percent of the time,” he said. “I don’t blame them.”
Oliva won a job over long-time prospect Luis Matos, who never consistently lived up to expectations and was designated for assignment. If he clears waivers, Posey said, “We’d be happy to have him back.”
Except for the usual dose of Yankee fans in the house, there was little to root for. The positive momentum built by Vitello and the players in spring training hit a road block, but it’s one day, and the schedule shows 161 more.
None with Netflix at the helm.
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