Giants ain’t off to a good start

Yes, only 10 games.

It’s becoming evident that San Francisco is where free agents/trades go to die. I’ve watched bits and pieces of most of the the games so far this season. I don’t think I’ve actually seen a Raffy Devers hit yet this year. Luis Arraez, who is a career .317 hitter, is batting .275 this season and I’ve seen all three of his strikeouts this season. He averages 34.

Willy Adames consistently is given a pass as a “slow starter.” Can’t afford that. Harrison Bader? Pretty purple arm sleeves and spikes, but that’s it.

A no-hitting right fielder in Jung Hoo Lee, a no-bat catcher in Patrick Bailey and a bullpen that can’t figure it out. A utility infielder, Casey Schmitt, playing way too much and a third baseman in Matt Chapman who suddenly can’t throw to first base.

Then add in a rookie manager with not a stitch of Major League Baseball experience and Giants fans are squirming.

Of all that, I think the hiring of Tony Vitello from University of Tennessee is the least of this team’s problems. I mean, he can only work with what he has and the lineup is doing nothing to help the new guy.

There is certainly time to turn things around, but early returns are not looking good. I asked my wife Friday if maybe she would be interested in going to the Giants-Mets game Easter Sunday instead of going to Santa Cruz.

She asked: “Do they suck?”

I said: “They’re less than 10 games in, we don’t know if they suck or not.”

So far through 10 games, the Giants do suck and we had a much better time at the beach than going crazy watching the Giants’ bullpen blow a lead Sunday.

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One thing is for certain: the Golden State Warriors are going to be boring once Steph Curry finally retires. After missing 27 games with knee tendonitis, Curry returned to the lineup Sunday night against the Houston Rockets.

It was like he was never gone. Just being on the bench, there was an electricity in Chase Center — and then he started knocking down shots. His first make? About three steps behind the 3-point line. He went on to finish with a team-high 29 points and was only two points behind game-high leader Kevin Durant’s 31.

And yet — the Warriors still couldn’t get it done, as Houston clipped them at the end, 117-116. Curry knocked down the go-ahead 3 with under a minute to play, but the Warriors could not get a stop at the other end. Curry had a chance to win it, but his shot was wide left.

And this is where the Warriors are right now. Energized with the return of one of the best player in NBA history, yet still can’t finish. So instead of worrying about if Curry can get another title, maybe just enjoy watching one of the best to ever do it.

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Meanwhile, in the South Bay, the San Jose Sharks are furiously trying to accumulate enough points to make the playoffs — which took a significant hit with Saturday night’s 6-3 loss to the Nashville Predators, the team directly ahead of the Sharks and currently the last team into the playoffs.

While it would be great to see the Sharks make the postseason, they’re not quite ready for primetime just yet. There are too many instances, still, of being overmatched at times during games. They’ll battle to get back into a game and then spend several minutes looking like they’re on power-play defense as the opposition is buzzing in the Sharks’ zone — with both teams at full strength.

The fact of the matter is, this is the normal progression of a team that had been torn down to the studs. This is the next step in the development of a team — it has to spend some time battling for a playoff spot so it knows what to expect in the future. A Sharks playoff berth this season would indicate, to me, that San Jose is a bit ahead of schedule.

But the fact that it seems the Sharks have turned the corner after several miserable years shows that the team has made significant progress. Will that equate into a playoff spot in 2026? Maybe not, but it will certainly help them to build to a postseason berth in 2027.

Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.