Zaidi’s plan has the Giants in first place

Gabe Kapler to replace Bruce Bochy?

“He’s a muscle-head robot who goes strictly by the numbers and had a losing record in Philadelphia!” fans railed.

“Who is Mike Yastrzemski, other than the grandson of the Boston Red Sox hall of famer? Who is Donovan Solano? Who is this Kevin Gausman character? Tyler Rogers?”

Well, how you like these Giants now? With a day off Thursday, the Giants find themselves sitting atop the National League West standings with a record of 22-14, tied for the top record in the MLB with the St. Louis Cardinals.

More importantly, the Giants have a 1 ½-game lead over the Padres and a three-game lead over the defending World Series champion Dodgers.

So how did they get here? It’s a common recipe that has been used by successful baseball teams for decades: strong pitching, error-free defense and clutch hitting.

And whether you like Zaidi’s math-based approach to the game or not, you can’t argue with the results.

Making the Giants’ fast start even more fun for fans is the fact that ol’ favorites — Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt — have been rejuvenated this season.

Posey, especially, seems to have really benefited from his year off in 2020. It finally allowed him to fully heal and he is driving the ball like he did during the championship years. The way he’s playing right now, he certainly is in the running for a second Comeback Player of the Year award and, if he stays hot, could be in the MVP conversation.

Other than a couple hiccups from the backend of the bullpen, the Giants’ pitching has been really solid this season. Gausman, who was one of the biggest surprises last season, has shown so far that last season was not a fluke. Johnny Cueto was dealing before he went down with injury and is just now getting back in the rotation.

Meanwhile, Kapler is starting to settle in and is getting to know his players. So far, other than maybe sticking with a rookie pitcher for a pitch too long, Kapler seems to be pushing all the right buttons. The Giants are among the league leaders in pinch hits and the platoon system being used appears to be paying dividends as well.

If nothing else, the Giants are proving you don’t need superstar names to win baseball games.

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Meanwhile, the stadium situation for the Oakland A’s home is starting to get dicey as Major League Baseball told the A’s to expand their search for a new ballpark site —implying they are being given the green light to seek a move.

The proposed stadium along the estuary appears to be on an indefinite hold and with MLB saying the current Oakland Coliseum site is no longer a “viable option,” local options are really beginning to look limited.

The A’s, however, are in a tough place because to stay in the Bay Area, it will take a lot of private money to get something done. Considering owner John Fisher seems disinclined to do any sort of campaigning to do anything to make the team better — he has yet to weigh in on Tuesdays’ reports — it leaves many A’s fans wondering if the ownership group even cares about the team or the city.

Because let’s make one thing clear: it’s going to take private money to build a stadium because the city of Oakland and Alameda County, which paid the Raiders to move back to Oakland from Los Angeles, have drawn a line in the sand when it comes to public funds. When those entities refused to pony up for a new Raiders’ stadium, owner Mark Davis was more than willing to take the three-quarters of a billion dollars the state of Nevada threw at him to move the team to Las Vegas.

No, Fisher is going to have to dig into his own pockets if something is to get done in Oakland and given the seeming reluctance of the A’s to do anything to find a solution here, it appears it’s only matter of time before Oakland is left without any teams.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: Nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 650-344-5200 ext. 117. Results and statistics can be emailed to: sports@smdailyjournal.com.