Jung Hoo Lee Is the Last Man Standing in San Francisco's Lost Season

The San Francisco Giants were eliminated from postseason contention last week, the second club in baseball to be formally crossed off, joining the Colorado Rockies. That part was a formality. At 63-89 with a minus-71 run differential, the Giants have been playing out the string for weeks. What actually made the last seven days notable was the way the roster kept dissolving underneath them.

Rafael Devers is on the 60-day injured list. So are Matt Chapman, Harrison Bader, Casey Schmitt, Jesús Rodríguez and Daniel Susac. Willy Adames, Marcelo Mayer and Victor Bericoto sit on the 10-day list. That is essentially an entire starting lineup — Devers alone accounted for 37 home runs, 98 RBIs and an .865 OPS across 148 games — and it has left the Giants fielding groups that bear almost no resemblance to the one that broke camp. One recent lineup featured just two players who were on the Opening Day roster.

The result, as characterized in the local coverage, is a replacement squad in everything but name, and the one constant left is Jung Hoo Lee. The right fielder has appeared in 139 games, hitting .276 with a .318 on-base percentage, 30 doubles and 12 stolen bases while everyone around him cycled through the training room. His durability has become its own storyline precisely because nobody else has managed it.

The Pitching Side Is Just as Threadbare

The Giants have used 25 pitchers and the attrition shows. Their staff ERA sits at 4.43 with a 1.36 WHIP, and the bullpen has been the softest spot: a 4.55 ERA, a 1.502 WHIP and only 15 saves against nine blown ones. Ten more arms — Hayden Birdsong, Joel Peguero, José Buttó, Trevor McDonald, Randy Rodríguez, Rowan Wick, Matt Gage, Keaton Winn, Carson Whisenhunt and Adrian Houser — are on the 60-day IL.

That shortage is why Wednesday's game at Busch Stadium looks the way it does. Anthony Molina, who has thrown five major league innings all season with no starts, gets the ball for San Francisco against Matthew Liberatore, whose 5.53 ERA and 1.49 WHIP over 143.1 innings have made him one of the more volatile starters in the National League. A short Molina outing means an early call to a relief corps that has been stretched all summer. St. Louis, at 75-77 with a minus-13 run differential and a 37-40 home record, is the modest favorite, and the Giants are around +136 on the moneyline.

What the Final Weeks Actually Mean

There is no salvaging 2026. FanSided's framing of "three numbers that could salvage" the season is really about benchmarks, not standings, and the broader conversation has shifted to who stays. Bryce Eldridge has made the strongest case: .272/.363/.465 with 17 home runs in 106 games at age-appropriate cost. Relievers Dylan Smith and Trent Harris have reportedly done enough to project into next year's bullpen. Rookies like Montes have gotten their first hits and their first big-league moments.

The long view isn't entirely bleak. The Giants were awarded the 2028 All-Star Game, a signal the franchise is planning around a competitive window rather than this one. Championship futures have them at 100,000-1 at several books — a number that says more about 2026 than about 2028.

For the next three weeks, the assignment is simple and unglamorous: find out which of the replacement players are worth keeping, and keep Lee on the field while everyone else files through.