This is not just a left-field thing. Or a bullpen thing. Or a starting pitching thing. It’s all of those things.
This is not just a chemistry thing. Or a clubhouse leadership thing (this Ken Rosenthal piece is very well reported and thoughtful, so the quiet personalities and building tension is no doubt part of it).
The Giants’ complete and I have to admit shocking 2017 collapse — they’re already 24.5 games behind the Dodgers and 22 games behind Arizona — is the result of dozens of inter-locking things, and it’s still June, so maybe there will be 10 or 100 more that come up.