Willie McCovey opens up on Giants' disappointing 2017 season

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At this point in the season, it's fair to say the Giants have been a disappointment far beyond anyone's imagination. 

Add Hall of Fame first baseman Willie McCovey to the list of people baffled by the disaplay of baseball the Giants have put on the field in 2017. McCovey appeared on KNBR's Murph & Mac Show Friday morning to talk about what's gone wrong this season. 

"It's tough and it's really hard to put your finger on why it's going bad because it's basically the same team," McCovey said. "It's just a lot of guys are not having good years."

One player McCovey is especially surprised by is shortstop Brandon Crawford. 

"This was the one year I thought Crawford was going to break out and have a super year," McCovey said. "It started out that year the way he looked in the World Baseball Classic, but it just hasn't panned out and that's true with a bunch of guys.

"You know in order to win, you gotta have two or three guys having career years and we don't have that this year." 

Last season, Crawford posted career highs in batting average (.275) and on-base percentage (.342) while leading the league in triples with 11 and hitting 12 home runs. Through 70 games this year, Crawford is slashing just .223/.263/.362 with seven home runs. 

Crawford isn't the only Giant failing to meet expectations this year. Much of their core players who have been big parts of their World Series teams have fallen flat this year. So, with the Giants 24 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West, should the front office look at starting over for a rebuild?

Not exactly in McCovey's opinion. "I think it's okay to have a bad year, that's part of baseball," he explains. "You can't have great years every year. Some of these same guys will probably bounce back next year and have great years."

The Giants are 34-53 throuh July 6, which puts them as the second-worst team in the majors. 

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