SAN FRANCISCO — The Phillies continue their first road trip of the season and head further west to face the Giants at Oracle Park.

Through their first nine games, Philadelphia’s offense and pitching have struggled to fully line up at the same time. But the Phillies now get a chance to keep pulling things together against one of the coldest teams in the sport.

The Giants, led by first-year manager Tony Vitello, have opened the young season 3-7. Most of that trouble has come at home. San Francisco has the worst home record in the game at 1-6, and after a series loss to the Mets, it will host the Phillies for three more games.

GIANT BATS FROZEN

San Francisco’s offense has not gotten going at all.

Among its seven hitters with at least 30 at-bats to start the season, not one has an OPS above .680. The Giants’ team OPS sits at .561, the lowest in Major League Baseball, and their fourth-worst start in franchise history by that measure.

The advanced metrics back it up. They are putting the ball in play, but not with much authority. San Francisco has produced the lowest hard-hit rate (33.9 percent) and the worst barrel rate (3.3 percent) in baseball.

Like the Phillies, the Giants still bring plenty of name value to the field, led by a veteran-heavy infield of Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, Luis Arraez and Rafael Devers from third to first.

It feels like a matter of time until that group gets going. And when the Giants have gotten runners on, they’ve made it count. With runners in scoring position, they’re batting .281.

PHILS ARMS’ QUIET CONTACT

Through the Phillies’ 5-4 start, one thing has stayed consistent: their pitchers have done an excellent job of limiting loud contact.

And the Giants’ current contact profile lines up well with that strength.

Since the start of the season, Phillies pitchers have allowed the lowest hard-hit rate in baseball at 33.8 percent. That has not always shown up in the results yet.

Jesús Luzardo was dazzling on Saturday night in Colorado, striking out 11 over 6.2 innings, and leading the Phillies to a 2-1 win over the Rockies.

Their team ERA sits at 4.39, the 10th-highest mark in the league. But based on the quality of contact they’ve allowed and defensive miscues, their expected ERA is just 2.87. Even in some of the club’s rougher outings on the mound, the underlying work has not been nearly as bad as the scoreboard suggests.

The Phillies will send out Andrew Painter for his second career start on Monday, Cristopher Sánchez on Tuesday and Aaron Nola on Wednesday in the series before returning home.

San Francisco’s probable starters are Adrian Houser, Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle.

KERKERING RETURNS

The Phillies get a meaningful boost to their bullpen.

After suffering a mild hamstring strain in spring training, Orion Kerkering completed his rehab assignment with Triple-A Lehigh Valley and joined the team in the Bay Area. Rob Thomson announced Monday that he will be activated on Tuesday.

With the IronPigs, he made four appearances, pitched to a 2.25 ERA and struck out five batters in four innings.

The injury also gave Kerkering a chance to sharpen his repertoire, and he’ll bring a slightly different look this season with the splitter he has been working on — a pitch he has yet to throw in a big league game. He did not throw it for strikes consistently during the rehab assignment, but Rob Thomson expressed confidence in it Sunday.

After ending the 2025 season in horrific fashion, Orion Kerkering is ready to put it behind him.

“It’s been really good,” Thomson said of the pitch. “It gives the hitter a different look and gets them off the slider a little bit, but it’s got a lot of bottom to it.”

Even after a tough finish to last season, Kerkering’s success with the Phils should not be overlooked. Across three big league seasons, he has posted a 2.79 ERA in 136 relief appearances.

To begin the year, outside of Brad Keller and Jhoan Duran, the Phillies did not have a proven, established right-handed reliever in the bullpen.

Now, they do.