When asked in the offseason how he envisioned this iteration of the SF Giants, president of baseball operations Buster Posey said he believed the lineup would be the team’s strength and that the pitching would be good enough to keep them in playoff contention. Just nine games into the season, both of those predictions have already been challenged.

Yes, it is still very early, and an MLB season is very, very long, with over 150 games still left on the schedule. Nonetheless, those early signs cannot be completely set aside, either. The offense might turn out just fine, and I actually believe it will, but the pitching issues could loom even larger as the season goes on.

The SF Giants’ offense has yet to find its rhythm

On paper, this Giants lineup looks like one of the most productive in all of baseball. In reality, though, it has been a different story. The key word has been inconsistency. Through nine games this season, the Giants have recorded nearly half of their hits (29), two-thirds of their runs (16), and three of their four home runs in just two games — the series opener against the Mets and Game 2 against the Padres. Over the other seven games, they have managed just 31 hits in 216 at-bats (.143), scored eight runs, hit only one home run, and been shut out three times, making them the only MLB team to be held scoreless in three games so far.

Manager Tony Vitello tied that struggle for consistency to the emotional side of the game: “I think you’re tricking yourself or fooling yourself if you’re just saying it’s one thing. But definitely one of those things is emotional. Emotional.”, he said in his postgame presser.

Well, hitting the ball has been an issue for the Giants, but hitting it hard has been a rarity. For a lineup featuring power hitters such as Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and even Jung Hoo Lee, hitting just four home runs through nine games is deeply disappointing. As a team, the Giants rank last in hard-hit percentage (33.3%) and are tied for 29th in barrel percentage (3.6%). The core four has gone a meager 26-for-133 (.195), with just three home runs and 11 RBI, while striking out a combined 35 times.

The all-right-handed bench has also been a major point of uncertainty. While it has everything a bench should have — a backup catcher (Daniel Susac), a player who can run (Jared Oliva), a player who can defend (Christian Koss), and a player who can hit the ball out of the park (Jerar Encarnacion) — its lack of matchup-hunting ability could hurt the Giants going forward.

On Saturday, the Mets put on full display why it is important to have a bench capable of hitting against both righties and lefties. With his pitch count in the 90s and two runners on base, Tony Vitello elected to pull starter Landen Roupp and bring in Ryan Borucki. The left-hander was initially supposed to face fellow lefty Jared Young, but Carlos Mendoza countered by sending up Tyron Taylor, a right-handed hitter, as a pinch-hitter, fully aware that Borucki has struggled against righties throughout his career (.864 OPS, 1.53 WHIP). Taylor then blasted a three-run homer to center field, giving the Mets an 8-0 lead.

The pitching staff is coming back down to earth

As I said earlier, the offense will very likely be fine, but I cannot say the same about the pitching. There are reasons it was the major talking point during the offseason. The thing is, the Giants could have easily gone after a top-notch starting pitcher. The cream of the crop was available on the market — players like Framber Valdez, Zac Gallen, or Dylan Cease — but the front office opted for lower-risk, high-reward options instead. They chose not to invest another hefty sum in a single player after already committing more than $750 million to their core four of Adames, Devers, Chapman, and Lee alone.

Instead, they went with one year of Tyler Mahle and two years of Adrian Houser, two solid major-league pitchers, but not on the same echelon as the names mentioned above. And already, through nine games, that gap has been felt. While Houser pitched well against the Padres in his only start so far, Mahle has already shown signs of vulnerability. He gave up eight hits, five earned runs, and two home runs on Friday against a Mets team that entered the game as one of the coldest offenses in the league.

With both Logan Webb and Robbie Ray struggling at various points in their first two starts, skepticism about that rotation continues to grow.

As for the bullpen, it was stellar early on, but then it came back to earth. Over the first seven games, the relief corps allowed just 12 hits and seven runs in 25 innings while posting a top-tier 1.04 WHIP and a .179 opponent batting average. But as noted earlier, it has come back to earth over the last two games, allowing 12 hits and seven runs in just 8 1/3 innings, along with a far less impressive 2.04 WHIP and .333 opponent batting average. Still, there have been some pleasant surprises, such as Caleb Kilian and Keaton Winn, whose roles could quickly expand.

The Giants’ offense will have another chance to get on track for good in the series finale against the Mets on Sunday, while Logan Webb will get the ball for the third time this season, hoping to deliver his first stress-free outing of the year. But if the team does not turn things around, Posey’s vision for this team will end up looking like a real bust.