Kurtenbach: Where was this when the SF Giants needed it?

The Giants are on a roll, having won four straight games with series wins over the two best teams in their league.

Yes, I’m talking about the San Francisco Giants. Can you believe it?

On Wednesday night, the Giants looked like juggernauts, scoring 12 runs in a series-claiming blowout over the Cubs at Oracle Park. This came on the heels of an impressive series win in Milwaukee.

It’s the kind of strong play that begs a serious, important, and probing question:

What the heck, man?

Isn’t it just perfect? The Giants have started playing good baseball now that there’s no chance of it meaning much of anything.

Let’s set the ground rules: Even with this nice stretch, the playoffs are still out of the question for the Giants in 2025. No, instead of important games, the final month of the season was and remains all about answering big questions for 2026.

Who can the Giants trust in the bullpen? Who should be in the starting rotation next season? Who is this team’s second baseman and right fielder? The list goes on and on. Some of those questions are already being answered.

For instance, it certainly appears that Rafael Devers’ power does, in fact, translate to Oracle Park — he hit two homers on Wednesday night.

But with the Giants finally (mercifully?) playing good baseball again, a new question comes into focus:

Can this team win when the pressure is on?

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It’s probably not a question they can affirmatively answer until next season starts. But they sure seem to be giving us a hint, no?

Yes, there are a million different variables in play, but doesn’t it tell you something that the Giants were able to win games to start the season, when there was no pressure on the team, but the moment the cheese became binding, they crumbled, rattling off one of the worst records in baseball over the last two months?

And now that the pressure is off, this team looks respectable, if not downright formidable, albeit for a short span?

Coincidence?

Your guess is as good as mine.

But, for the record, I guess that this team, with manager Bob Melvin at the helm, streaky hitters in the middle of the lineup (we’ll see if Devers can change that), and an emphasis on “vibes,” prefers to play freely. No pressure, and the ball can fly.

Otherwise, the bat is gripped just a bit too tightly, the pitchers start pressing, and the whole team falls apart.

It’s a working theory, but you can see how I reached it, no?

And it sure seems like the opposite of a Buster Posey team, which, in the past, was a get-it-done-when-it-truly-counts squad.

At the same time, we can see from the last few games how the Giants can ding that theory in September.

Even if it’s only been for a few days, the Giants look like the Black and Orange Crush or the Bay City Bombers. They’re serving up more mashed potatoes than Tommy’s Joynt on Geary and Van Ness.

It’s as enjoyable to watch as it is annoying to consider. Where was this — any of this — when the Giants actually needed it?

And what needs to change this offseason to prevent that kind of long, painful swoon again?

I can rehash all the Giants’ issues this season, but the fact remains that the margin between competitive and whatever this team is today isn’t significant. Flawed teams can absolutely make the playoffs.

It took an offensive slump and home-field disadvantage of historic proportions to knock San Francisco out of the running for a National League wild-card spot. Bad vibes snowballed, and it turned into two of the worst months of baseball we’ve ever seen.

Is that snowball melting as the Bay warms?

“If I knew for sure, we would have tried to handle it a while ago,” Melvin told reporters after Wednesday’s win. “Hopefully this continues right now and we get that feeling we had earlier in the season.”

If they can, there are reasons to be excited about next season. (Let’s get a head start on being hurt again.) This latest run of form is something Posey can work with this offseason.

And playing at this level all season long might be as simple as adding the right player to the lineup or finding the right manager for the kind of team Posey is looking to assemble next year and into the future. (Melvin might have three Manager of the Year awards, but he’s also never won a pennant — even when managing teams with overt World Series aspirations.)

Let’s hope it’s that simple. Because otherwise, this run is just another tease from a team that has shown no collective mental toughness all season towards a fan base that doesn’t deserve another bait-and-switch.

So perhaps I’m asking the wrong question. Let’s try this one:

Is this for real?

Let’s see them make a run at it. Because while they probably can’t affirmatively answer that question, and scoring a whole bunch of runs and winning a whole bunch of games down the stretch won’t mean anything in the playoff race, it wouldn’t hurt this team in the court of public opinion.

The Giants need wins there, too.