The Torture Cast

Ben returns to the podcast with Chad and Eric to discuss what may be the turnaround for the Giants' season. Sure, it's only a four-game winning streak, but they hadn't won more than two consecutive games all year. The pitching is settling in, and despite the injuries, the offense has shown some life over the last several days. Buster Freakin' Posey is showing how to put a team on his back, going on a homerun tear, catching a 17-inning game, and hitting a walk-off in said 17th. Cain has been somewhat of a "stopper," and although he many not quite be channeling 2012 Matt Cain, it's more than serviceable for a fifth starter. Span is hitting over .400 since coming off the DL and setting the table.Now, they just need to start winning series and get back to .500, and we can talk about making the playoffs thereafter.@torturecastFacebook.com/torturecasttorturecast.com

Being a Giants fan is tough right now. We've had it good over the last 7 years, but things are a-changing in 2017. The fact is, to get to 87 wins, a reasonable total to get the second wild card position, the Giants would have to play .591 ball the rest of the way, and only one team (Cubs) did that all of last year. Eric and Chad discuss this looming task, along with the poor performance of the team and players, aside from the likes of Posey, Panik and Arroyo. If the Giants want to turn their season around, it needs to start now.twitter.com/torturecastfacebook.com/torturecastwww.torturecast.com

Willie returns to the podcast to chat with Eric and Chad about the Giants' historic poor start. We still believe it's too early in the season to panic, but there are legitimate concerns, but there are also bright spots like Matt Cain, Christian Arroyo, Michael Morse, Buster Posey and Joe Panik.@torturecastfacebook.com/torturecasttorturecast.com

We thought they'd turn it around this week. They didn't.After a 2-4 week, the Giants sit in last place at 5-9, but we look at two seasons since 2000 when the Giants were worse (4-10) and both seasons they finished above .500. In 2000 they won 97 games and the west after starting 4-10. Ok, so we're looking for silver linings here. Eric and Chad discuss MadBum's winless start to the season, Cueto's 3-0 start, the bad luck, who's hot and who's not, if Cain should be skipped, Marrero's first MLB HR, Strickland and Gearrin haven't allowed a run, and well, anything else positive we can point towards.twitter.com/torturecastfacebook.com/torturecastwww.torturecast.com

3-5 is better than 1-5, 6, or 7, right?That's the barrel the Giants were looking down two days ago when they were 1-5 before winning the last two to make the internet of Giants fans a little less dreary.Eric and Chad open up our first regular season podcast of 2017 by discussing what went wrong (LF, bullpen), and what went right (Bum, Cueto, Moore, Panik, Crawford) over the first week of the season. Basically, the Giants have the worst left field offensive numbers by far, and their bullpen and pitching stats with a lead are cringe-worthy. Also, we hope Buster will be ok after getting drilled in the noggin.' And that little league bases-clearing double by Moore is a sight to behold.Maybe next week will be better?@torturecastfacebook.com/torturecasttorturecast.com

Besides the post-World Series victory podcasts, season previews are our favorite to record every year. Spring has sprung. Hope is effervescent. The Giants bullpen is...different.Chad, Ben and Eric talk about that catastrophic meltdown by Melancon in the 9th in their opening day loss to the Diamondbacks, but also reason why there is hope.Many of you responded to our query about how many games the Giants will win this year. Let's just say that many are out of the stratosphere, but would more than be appreciated. We also offer up our own predictions and break down what are crucial spots that may pivot the season in one direction or the other.Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @torturecast or like us on Facebook!

Ben, Eric and Chad get together to talk about the first couple of weeks of spring training, including the record number of players in camp, the competition for scarce infield and outfield positions, the fifth starter, the new closer, and of course, Hunter Pence's freshly shorn face.www.TortureCast.comFacebook.com/torturecast@torturecast

Matt Moore is about to embark on his first full season with the Giants. He had some incredible performances last year, which we talk about in this interview. There's no doubt he loves being in SF, he just wants to get over the bitter disappointment of last October.You can watch this interview and others over at TortureCast.com, as well as our Facebook and YouTube pages.

The Giants biggest acquisition of the offseason was new closer Mark Melancon. He has a lot of expectations and pressure, and he talks about it and a lot of sports science in this group interview at Media Day at AT&T Park.You can watch this interview and others over at torturecast.com.

Hunter Pence almost always has a smile on his face, like he did during this interview at Media Day. He talks about his training, the World Baseball Classic, getting married, the disappointment of last year, and the excitement that Melancon brings to the team.You can also watch this interview and others over at TortureCast.com, or our Facebook and YouTube pages.

Here's our group interview with San Francisco Giants' shortstop Brandon Crawford at Media Day at AT&T Park. The upcoming World Baseball Classic and the disappointment of last year's NLDS are among some of the topics. This and other interviews are available in video form at TortureCast.com, Facebook, and YouTube

TortureCast's Chad King participated in a group interview of Buster Posey at 2017 Media Day at AT&T Park. Buster discusses knuckleballs, the World Baseball Classic, his offseason regimen, sleep and nutritional science, and who calls the pitches. Be sure to check out this interview and others in video form at torturecast.com and YouTube.

Chad sat down for an extended exclusive interview with Giants' starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija at Media Day at AT&T Park. Topics include his offseason training regimen, the World Baseball Classic, AT&T Park, the origin of his last name, and an analysis of getting more consistent results in his starts compared to a year ago. Enjoy the other video and audio interviews with Buster Posey, Bruce Bochy, Brandon Crawford, Hunter Pence, Matt Moore and Mark Melancon at TortureCast.com.

The TortureCast has awakened from its long winter slumber to bring you thoughts on the Super Bowl and the Giants' offseason. We say goodbye to Romo (Dodgers), Lopez (FA), Peavy (FA), Pagan (FA), Blanco (D'backs), Casilla (A's), and welcome Melancon, Morse, Rollins, Hundley, and a lot of familiar faces. The starting rotation is almost set, but there are questions in the outfield, except for Gorkys!

Willie, Chad and Eric soak in the post-wild card game glory of another legendary performance by Madison Bumgarner and another unlikely postseason hero as Conor Gillaspie hits a 3-run homer in the 9th to defeat the Mets 3-0 and move on to face the best team in the majors, the Chicago Cubs.The Giants have now won 11 consecutive postseason series, tying the Yankees, and Bum has 23 scoreless innings in elimination games in the postseason, and lowers his road postseason ERA to a microscopic 0.50, easily the best in the history of baseball.We revel in the stats, the momentum and talk about how the pressure now is really on the Cubs. Join us for episode 114, it's a good time!

Despite the second half collapse, the Giants have done what we thought wasn't going to happen. The whole gang is back to talk about the Giants making the playoffs. We talk about the starting pitching, the timely hitting, and what MadBum might do to the Mets. Sorry for Chad's reverb, but it was worth it for the Donald Trump sound bytes.

The Giants went 5-9 since we recorded two weeks ago, just when we thought they were turning the corner. Those 9 losses included 3 in which they led going into the 9th, including vs. STL and LA. Not gonna lie. Those losses hurt, A LOT. And now, they're having a direct impact on the Giants' chances of making the playoffs, but here they sit, 1/2 game back of NY and 1 game up on STL.Eric and Chad talk about the final six games of the year, and the keys to securing a wild card spot, now that LA has clinched the NL West. Please enjoy, what will most likely be our last regular season podcast of 2016. Hopefully, we'll have a playoff edition for episode 113. Disregard that 13 part of the number.RIP Jose Fernandez

Ok, Matt Cain doesn't explain why they lost, but he has a message for Giants fans: they signed up for criticism, and they do deserve some right now, but they are in control of their own destiny.I talked with Matt Cain after the Giants lost 3-0 to the Cardinals. The Giants now trail the Mets by 1 game and lead the Cardinals by only 1 game. Their playoff hopes hang in the balance.Chad

Hey, the Giants have won 4 out of their last 5 and turned a 1-4 roadtrip into a 5-5 with great starting pitching and Hunter Pence playing like frickin' Hunter Pence, wildly flailing appendages, hair and all!The Giants still have a slim shot at the division and hold a lead on a wild card spot. Chad and Eric talk about their chances, Santiago Casilla, and if Bochy has developed dementia all in episode 111.twitter.com/torturecastfacebook.com/torturecastwww.torturecast.com

After a failed recording (no, seriously, we did a WHOLE podcast and forgot to hit the record button last week!), and serious schedule challenges, we finally got 3 out of 4 of us to record episode 110 of the TortureCast! Of course, we last recorded when the Giants were up by 6.5, but now they are trailing by a full game to the Dodgers.We talk at length about what went wrong, how bad every facet of the game has been, but also about how unlucky it has been to lose as many games as they have due to poorly timed hitting, pitching and blown saves.Matt Moore for Duffy and Will Smith. Are these trades worth it? Is this Carlos Beltran or Jeff Kent? Truth is, we won't know for a while, but there is plenty of the season left for these trades to pan out in a favorable way.