{"id":856324,"date":"2026-08-13T07:40:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T07:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/856324\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T07:40:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T07:40:22","slug":"giants-arent-lacking-for-effort-for-willy-adames-thats-been-part-of-the-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/856324\/","title":{"rendered":"Giants aren\u2019t lacking for effort; for Willy Adames, that\u2019s been part of the problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 There was no questioning Christian Koss\u2019 effort Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The evidence was all over both sides of the utility infielder\u2019s dirt-splotched uniform. He singled twice. He stole second base. While manning third base, he made a smart baseball decision to start a double play and an even smarter decision to finish another twofer. He nearly played the hero, too.<\/p>\n

In the ninth inning, with the Giants down a run, Koss connected off Houston Astros closer Josh Hader. Left fielder Taylor Trammell\u2019s back was against the wall when he caught Koss\u2019 fly ball on the warning track.<\/p>\n

The Giants lost 2-1 to the Astros on Wednesday. Once again, they dropped two of three in a series they could have swept<\/a>. And results like these have become more apropos than apoplectic.<\/p>\n

The Giants’ Buster Posey put his legacy on the line. Will it work?<\/p>\n

Brittany Ghiroli and more<\/p>\n

Former Giants GM Brian Sabean used to say that the best teams he constructed hated losing more than they liked winning. But at this point, what difference would it make to get mad after a loss? There is no redefining this Giants season. That book was slammed on their fingers long ago. You tend to get better at something the more you practice it, and by now, the Giants have spent what feels like 10,000 hours learning to live with one-run losses.<\/p>\n

They are 10-21 in one-run games this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about it before \u2014 not getting comfortable with losing,\u201d Koss said. \u201cTo repeat that feeling isn\u2019t great, but the guys here are doing everything they can to win every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all the close games we haven\u2019t been winning, I think there was a point where it was, \u2018Aw man, here we go again,’\u201d Koss added. \u201cThe last couple weeks or so, it hasn\u2019t felt like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, the tide still hasn\u2019t turned in our favor, right? But the preparation hasn\u2019t wavered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some teams in some seasons might view a 10-21 record in one-run games as a source of hope, a reason to believe that they aren\u2019t as bad as the standings might indicate, and that things might improve with a few fortunate breaks or some subtle adjustments.<\/p>\n

The Giants are not having one of those seasons. Most of the time, when they lose by a run, it\u2019s because they\u2019ve been outplayed, outpitched or outmaneuvered in the late innings \u2014 usually with a side of self-sabotage.<\/p>\n

That was the case Wednesday, when the Giants received six solid innings from starter Adrian Houser but gifted the Astros the tying run in the seventh. Shortstop Willy Adames fielded a grounder and threw a lollipop to second base that prevented second baseman Osleivis Basabe from turning a double play. Then left fielder Victor Bericoto clanked a fly ball that should\u2019ve been the third out. With two runners in scoring position, Keaton Winn replaced Sam Hentges and did well to reduce the damage to a sacrifice fly.<\/p>\n

But Winn left a pitch over the middle that Trammell hit for a leadoff triple in the eighth, Nick Allen\u2019s sacrifice fly gave the Astros the lead, and in the ninth, Koss\u2019 fly ball needed one more puff of breeze.<\/p>\n

The Giants are on pace for a 95-loss season. They\u2019ll have to win 13 of their final 41 games to avoid matching the 1985 Giants (62-100) for the worst record in the franchise\u2019s San Francisco era. Given how depleted they are in several areas, how short the lineup has become and how easily opponents can game plan for their few remaining threats, the struggle to avoid 100 losses is shaping up to be another close contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs bad as it looks on paper, we know we\u2019re not that bad,\u201d said Koss, whose alert cover of second base during a rundown allowed the Giants to get a second out and escape the sixth inning. \u201cYou can definitely see a turn in the past month or so, and then it\u2019ll get sloppy at times. But it\u2019s an opportunity to play, and you have to be excited about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Giants manager Tony Vitello, keeping his players motivated hasn\u2019t been an issue. It might be the leadership quality that comes most naturally to Vitello and the one that has translated most seamlessly as he\u2019s jumped from the University of Tennessee to the pro ranks. It\u2019s a problem when players arrive at the ballpark unmotivated. By all accounts, the Giants haven\u2019t had that problem.<\/p>\n

But motivated players also need to be managed. They have to be told when it\u2019s in their and the team\u2019s best interests to take a step back or a day off. And clearly, that part of the job has been much tougher for Vitello, especially when it comes to his veteran players<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Adames made that poor double-play throw in the seventh because his lower back tightened up again. Giants trainer Anthony Reyes checked on him during a pitching change, but Adames remained in the game, led off the bottom of the inning, and popped up. In the top of the eighth, Buddy Kennedy replaced him on the infield.<\/p>\n

The Giants probably should have placed Adames on the injured list at the end of June when he missed a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Instead, Adames returned to the lineup for their next series against the Colorado Rockies and has started 35 consecutive games since \u2014 all while continuing to manage his back issue. His determination to play might have done him a disservice, as he endures the worst offensive season of his career while also grading out as the second-worst shortstop in the league in outs above average.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Vitello has finally decided to be assertive with one of his veterans. Even with a day off Thursday, Vitello said it\u2019s unlikely that Adames will play on Friday, when the Giants begin a home series with the Rockies.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad to fight him tooth and nail to come out of the game,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cAnyone who saw him moving around obviously knew he wasn\u2019t \u2026 at full speed. The biggest thing (in taking him out) was \u2026 to prevent anything from getting any worse than it is. I think his frustration is there\u2019s symptoms there lingering for, to be honest, I don\u2019t know how long. \u2026 So again, you got kind of some internal stuff \u2014 whatever fancy word they used in there. It\u2019s not a fracture or anything like that, and then you got his willingness and want-to to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the bottom line is: We\u2019re at a pretty distinct point here where he needs to get back to get some treatment on that thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the important question isn\u2019t whether the effort is there. It\u2019s how that effort is being directed.<\/p>\n

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