Who Royals, Giants, Pirates and White Sox fans are blaming for disappointing starts

There were eight winless MLB teams as of Sunday morning, and while it isn't a surprise to see the Colorado Rockies struggle out of the gate, many of the fans who root for a winless team are going out of their way to place blame on somebody to explain their team's early-season struggles. Yes, that included the Giants, White Sox, Pirates and more – all of whom could win on Sunday.

Some of the main characters fans are blaming deserve it, but the same can't be said for others. It's only been a couple of days, after all. Yet, considering the pressure that comes with Opening Day and the first weekend in general, we ought to cut them some slack.

San Francisco Giants: Tony Vitello

The San Francisco Giants haven't made the postseason since 2021 and have made the postseason just once since winning the 2016 World Series. What's most frustrating about this October-less run for San Francisco is that the Giants have won between 79 and 81 games in each of the last four seasons. Eager to get out of mediocrity, the Giants took a risk by hiring Tony Vitello to be their manager.

The Vitello hire came out of nowhere because it broke precedent. Vitello was a college coach at the University of Tennessee with no professional coaching experience whatsoever in any role. Making the jump from college past the minors to the majors was unheard of, and it's gone as poorly as possible.

Vitello isn't solely to blame for the Giants scoring just one run in their first three games of the season, but he, himself, said that a speech he gave in the days leading up to Opening Day caused the Giants to play with too much emotion. The players need to execute better, and I thought this was a weirdly constructed team to begin with, but I don't blame Giants fans who choose to point the finger in Vitello's direction, citing his inexperience as a reason why the 2026 campaign got off to the kind of brutal beginning that it did.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Oneil Cruz

What if I told you the Pittsburgh Pirates scored two runs before recording an out on Opening Day and had Paul Skenes ready to take the ball in the bottom of the first inning? You would've thought Pittsburgh would've cruised to an easy victory, right? Well, perhaps they would have if it weren't for Oneil Cruz's defense in center field.

Cruz, once a shortstop, lost back-to-back hits that came his way in the sun, allowing four runs to score on his miscues. The sun can be very unforgiving, but there's no excuse for MLB center fielders to let this happen, let alone on back-to-back plays. As if his defense wasn't bad enough, Cruz has gone just 1-for-6 at the plate. He went 1-for-5 on Opening Day, and then struck out as a pinch-hitter on Saturday by chasing a pitch out of the strike zone to lead off the ninth inning of a scoreless game. Of course, the next batter, Jake Mangum, doubled.

If Cruz is going to be the liability he's always been defensively in center field, he at least has to hit. His inability to do that in Pittsburgh's first two games has Pirates fans already clamoring for changes to be made.

Kansas City Royals: Carlos Estevez

The Kansas City Royals didn't stand much of a chance against a dominant Chris Sale on Opening Day, but they led 2-0 after eight innings on Saturday, eager to win their first game of the season. All they needed was for Carlos Estevez, a two-time All-Star who led the majors with 42 saves in 2025, to record three outs without giving up two or more runs.

Unfortunately, Estevez allowed six of the seven batters he faced to reach base, the last of which launched a walk-off grand slam, handing Kansas City a gut-wrenching defeat. It's one thing to lose a game in which an ace dominates you like Sale did on Friday night, and it's another to have your All-Star closer melt down in the ninth inning.

Royals fans were already concerned with Estevez, whose velocity was noticeably down all of spring training, but now, panic has really started to set in. If Estevez isn't in All-Star form, is this Royals team really good enough to win the AL Central?

Chicago White Sox: Entire team with few exceptions

It looked like the Chicago White Sox caught a break, as Jackson Chourio landed on the IL before Opening Day with a fractured hand. This injury, theoretically, weakened the Milwaukee Brewers' lineup, but you wouldn't know that based on the results thus far. Milwaukee has won each of the first two games of the series against Chicago, outscoring the White Sox 20-3 in the process.

The White Sox lost on Opening Day 14-2. Shane Smith couldn't get out of the second inning, and the White Sox struck out 20 (!) times at the plate, 11 of which came against Jacob Misiorowski in only five innings. In Game 2, the White Sox lost 6-1, with Sean Burke unable to complete five innings and the lineup striking out another 11 times.

It's one thing to lose, and it's another to get completely overmatched in all phases like this. The White Sox have managed three runs on 11 hits offensively in two games while striking out 31 times. They allowed 20 runs in two games while getting less than six innings in total from their starters. They allowed seven stolen bases in Saturday's game alone. They've even committed an error in each game.

The only players deserving of a pass from White Sox fans' perspective are Munetaka Murakami (2 HR) and Chase Meidroth (1 HR). Everyone else has work to do.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Entire bullpen

The Los Angeles Dodgers sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks to begin their respective seasons isn't the most shocking outcome ever. The Dodgers have won back-to-back World Series titles while the Diamondbacks have missed the postseason in back-to-back years. The fashion in which the Dodgers swept this series, though, is incredibly frustrating for Diamondbacks fans to come to terms with.

The Diamondbacks were within two runs in the seventh inning on Opening Day, but Taylor Clarke allowed four runs while recording only one out, allowing Los Angeles to pull away. The game was tied after seven innings on Friday, but Kevin Ginkel allowed the go-ahead run to score in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Dodgers won that game 5-4. In the series finale, the Diamondbacks led 2-1 after seven innings, but Juan Morillo allowed two runs to score, flipping the score in Los Angeles' favor.

The Diamondbacks' bullpen allowed seven runs in just 10.1 innings in this series, taking two losses, blowing a save, and allowing another game to get out of hand. Arizona has one of the best lineups in the National League, and a rotation that has some upside if Zac Gallen can bounce back and Merrill Kelly can stay healthy, but the bullpen is in such brutal shape with both Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk on the sidelines. The results, somehow, might've been even worse than expected.

Athletics: Entire bullpen

Athletics fans were as excited as they've been in quite some time leading up to Opening Day, as their team looked as good as it had in years. Unfortunately, they lost each of their first two games, and lost those games in frustrating fashion.

The A's tied their Opening Day contest only to allow the Toronto Blue Jays to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. They then led 6-2 after a five-run seventh inning, only to allow the Jays to score a run in the seventh, two more in the eighth, one in the ninth, one in the tenth, and one in the 11th to lose. The A's blew two different save opportunities in that second game, and five of the six relievers they used allowed at least one run.

It was easy to assume that a bullpen without Mason Miller was going to struggle, and struggle it has thus far. The A's have a dynamic lineup, and their starting pitching has looked good thus far, but the entire bullpen is being blamed for the season-opening losses, and rightfully so.

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