This week, Bryan and Doug escape from the suck vortex that was the past week of Giants Baseball (1-4) to rank the trustworthiness of the bullpen arms after their middling June performances. Last month, the lists were split on who was number one -- does that trend continue? Do you agree with the rankings? Login and comment below!

Also, Doug gives some insight into the Giants' secretly lackluster offense while Bryan wonders if this 2022 team is a more logical follow-up to the other most recent Buster Posey-less season, 2020, than whatever miracle fate hiccup last season was.

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When last the McCovey Chroncast covered the Major League Giants (check out our minor league episode with Roger Munter last week), the Giants had just swept the Dodgers. Did they carry that moment into the past two weeks of games? They did not! The defense has been unflinchingly terrible for a pitching staff designed around having an at least average defense, and Doug suggests exactly what the problem is.

With the Giants leaking oil five and a half weeks before the trade deadline, Bryan and Doug try their hand at finding one player who might make the team a little bit better this year, because oh baby, do they have some things to work out on the defensive side of their game.

We also revisit trades of Giants Past and figure out which of six famous trades was actually most regrettable, with Doug pointing out a key factual error in Bryan's reasoning to call into question the reasonableness of one of the Giants' most famous trades ever. Do you agree? You'll just have to listen.

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For years, Roger Munter paired with your morning cup of coffee through Minor Lines on McCovey Chronicles, covering every game in the team's minor league system the night before. Now, he's writing and podcasting about the team's system in his newsletter, There R Giants. He joins Bryan and Doug on this week's special episode to talk about the Giants' system in general as well as some potential breakout contributors who don't necessarily get all the dazzling prospect coverage. If you're a fan of minor league baseball or just want to know who might be among the next generation of San Francisco Giants, this is one you won't want to miss!

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Doug returns from vacation just in time to witness the Giants pitch their first shutout of the season: a game that secured a weekend sweep of the loathsome Dodgers. What was the best part of it besides everything? Bryan and Doug break it down. They also answer your Twitter questions.

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The Giants finished off their 10-game road trip with a 4-3 week. A couple of bullpen meltdowns cost them a more successful trip. To talk about that "mid" week is guest co-host Kenny Kelly, formerly of Beyond the Box Score and McCovey Chronicles! He gets roped into talking about the sequels to last week's big stories: the Kapler protest and the Fantasy Baseball Kerfluffle before singing the praises of the good things to come out of the week.

And then Bryan and Kenny really get into it with a debate on which part of the Giants' game is most responsible for their mediocre 29-24 record: the pitching or the hitting. The Giants have one of the best offenses in baseball, so it would seem that whoever decides to argue that the lineup is what's responsible for the Giants' 6th seed in the NL playoffs is pretty, pretty stupid. You'll just have to listen to find out -- and then, vote in the poll to choose who won the debate!

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Joc Pederson made a lot of loud contact this week thanks to Barry Bonds’ hitting advice and Tommy Pham’s gambling hand, which made for a lot of entertainment off the field when the Giants weren’t being very good on it. Bryan and Doug determine the key lessons to learn from both incidents.

They also talk a bit about Gabe Kapler’s protest of the national anthem in response to the Uvalde, TX school shooting and the hollowness of the criticisms directed towards his stance.

But what of the Giants’ bullpen, which had a stellar April only to back it up with a putrid May? Will John Brebbia retain Bryan’s #1 spot? Will Jose Alvarez remain Doug’s #1? Tune in to find out.

Have questions you want us to answer? Submit them in the comments below or at the podcasts’ Twitter account: @McChroncast.

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*Of course* Bryan and Doug are going to talk about that wild Juan Soto trade article that floated around earlier in the week, but only briefly, because we know you've already heard about it and read about it. Guess which side Bryan takes in the pro/con debate. Would you agree with his argument, even a little?

The Chroncasters (is that a good label for them or no?) also talk about two former Giants before getting into their views on the current Giants and their 22-18 start to the 2022 season. If you could only use one word to describe this first quarter of the season, what would it be? Do Bryan and Doug's choices match yours?

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This week's episode was recorded before the end of the drubbing by the Cardinals, so there's no talk of pitcher Luis Gonzalez or pitcher Albert Pujols. BUT! Bryan and Doug do talk about Mauricio Dubon's Giants tenure and the other trades the team made over the past week, a subject nearly as entertaining as that ninth inning in St. Louis... They also talk about the team hiring WME to find a new sponsor for the team patch they'll wear beginning in 2023. We also answer some listener questions, which are very sci-fi TV focused!

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The Giants went 2-4, which is not great, but they did celebrate the legacy of Buster Posey, which is beyond great. Still, in losing four out of six, Bryan and Doug were reminded that there are a quite a lot of players on the Dodgers and Cardinals they simply do not like, and they don't think they're alone in disliking quite a lot of players on the other teams, and so, the great quest to identify the worst of the rest of the NL commences.

Aha! But after going through all the other NL teams, Bryan and Doug just couldn't decide who was the most loathsome Dodger, and that's where you come in. Vote in the poll at McCovey Chronicles or on Twitter (@McChroncast). Is it Justin Turner or Max Muncy?

We're also taking your questions for a mailbag episode we want to do next week. Send us your questions on McC or on Twitter. Our intro music is by Lesfm.

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We've dusted off our microphones to bring back the McCovey Chronicles podcast, the McCovey Chroncast. Bryan Murphy (no, not the one from radio) and Doug Bruzzone just couldn't stay away from talking about their favorite baseball team.

This marks our 90th episode of the show after a 28-month absence. Quite a lot has happened during that time and after the guys blaze through the last two seasons, they get right down to business: ranking the Giants' impressive bullpen. Who stands as the most reliable arm after the first month of the season? Who's least trustworthy and why? What impact might the roster cutdown have on the Giants' decisions?

If you want to become a part of the show, send us your questions, either by posting in the comments below or at'ing our Twitter account: @McChroncast. 

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