Our House that Steroids Built series continues today with a look at the San Francisco Giants at the All-Star break, and like last year, we’re not seeing the oh-so-obvious, PED-suer signs that we did from the late 1990s to the early 2020s. Still, we have no faith in the San Francisco organization to ever do the right thing when money is involved, nor can we trust the Giants fans themselves to do anything decent or honest, either.

As we asked last summer, though, is it possible the Giants are trying to play it straight finally? Again, we wouldn’t go that far, ever, as the entire organization has built itself up from irrelevancy via cheating, lying, and stealing since the 1990s—without ever suffering any penalty for it, which means the organizational behavior is not likely to change, really, especially now with a probable PED user running the front office.

Yet, without further noise, let’s look at the roster for the S.F. organization, currently 52-45 and in third place among National League West Division teams. This is a team hitting .229 overall, and honestly, it’s clear no one on the offensive side of the equation is using PEDs (successfully?), as the lineup is pathetic. Even midseason acquisition Rafael Devers has seen his OPS drop from .905 with Boston to .656 in S.F.

But the pitching … well, that’s a different story.

Robbie Ray: This guy pitched a total of 34 innings combined in 2023 and 2024, but somehow at age 33 now, he’s managed to recover from whatever ailed him to put up 119 IP so far in 2025 … to the tune of a 2.65 ERA. His lifetime ERA is 3.87, by the way, and his career-best ERA mark (2.84) came in 2021 when he was in his age-29 season. How in the hell is he suddenly rediscovering his youth at age 33 this year? Well, one guess.

After paying Ray $23M last year to basically not pitch, the Giants were still on the hook for $50M more through 2026 with this guy. So, it’s pretty clear what’s going on here, especially with the new club president in charge of operations now. No other team was going to take on that salary, not even the Boston Red Sox, who have shown remarkable fiscal responsibility since cheating their way to a 2018 World Series win.

Tyler Rogers: At age 34 now, coming off an MLB-high 77 appearances last year, he somehow is posting a career-low ERA (1.55) for a full season (so far). He led the leage in appearances back in 2021, and then he saw his ERA jump from 2.22 to 3.57 the following year when he was in his age-31 season. It’s been a slow climb back to his age-30 production level since then, but here he is at age 34, pitching his best ever. Kind of sus?

This is a guy who didn’t even make the majors until he was in his age-28 season, which usually means a player is not very good. Rogers, somehow, has managed to stick in MLB, all his seasons with the Giants, which could explain everything. Also, he’s making a career-high $5.25M this year, and he’s going to be a free agent when the season is over. That, too, explains a lot, as he’s probably aiming for one more big deal.

Conclusion: Mixed Bag

This is a team with a huge payroll, especially after acquiring Devers, and they’re fighting for playoff life despite hitting so poorly as a team (.679 OPS). Big-ticket players are not hitting well, and the pitching is relying on guys like Ray and Rogers to get to the postseason. It’s risky, for sure. But considering the Giants are a combined 26-24 against teams under .500 this year, they’re not even close to dominating at all.

In fact, they’re No. 17 in the sabermetric rankings right now—including just ninth in the National League. They’re projected to finish with 84.6 wins, just out of the NL playoffs, in fact, about 1.4 wins behind the San Diego Padres for the final postseason berth. Yet a 10-game win streak can put all that to rest, of course. The Giants are very much still in the chase: their 22-17 record in one-run games bodes well for their chances.

Yet the team had a losing record in both May and June, so the trend is downward right now. Who knows? Maybe they pull off a trade for a scrap that no one wants, like they did in 2012, and it changes the equation. But with just a plus-17 scoring differential at this point, the numbers aren’t favorable unless the situations change. This is a desperate franchise, too, with just one postseason appearance since 2016. Anything goes.