Johnny Cueto shook off a rough first inning to pitch dominant baseball and the Giants offense turned some voodoo magic that included 2 bunt singles and 2 Sac Flies plus some defensive miscues by the Rockies into 7 runs in a win that was not nearly as easy as the score would make you think. Key Lines:
Brandon Crawford- 2 for 5. BA= .272. Crawford is hitting .391 over his last 7 games and .308 over his last 15. His fWAR is up to 5.4 which means he has given $42.9 M of value on his 5 year/$75 M contract in the first year alone.
Angel Pagan- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .272. In addition to the triple, Pagan legged out a bunt single to lead off the 6'th inning to start a crazy rally. BTW, for all those Pagan haters out there, he now has an fWAR of 1.8. Not too impressive, right? The Giants can do better than that, right? Well, that fWAR of 1.8 is the 10'th best for LF's in all of MLB! So yeah, they could do better, but it's not as easy as it might seem. Over the course of his current 4 year/$40 M contract, Pagan has given $10 M, $13 M, $-5.5 M and $14.2 M in value. Not great, but the only year he didn't earn his keep or better was 2015.
Conor Gillaspie- 2 for 2, BB, SF. BA= .258. Gillaspie seemed to be in the middle of every rally. Again, he's been a valuable bat off the bench this season.
Johnny Cueto- 1 for 2, Sac. BA= .114. The hit was a bunt single in the 6'th inning with runners on first and second that Nolan Arenado threw away to allow both runners to score to give the Giants a 5-2 lead. So between Pagan leading off the inning and this play, there were 2 bunt singles fielded by Arenado in the inning. As Vin Scully would say, "Go figure!"
Johnny Cueto- 7 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 11 K's. ERA= 2.79. Whew! Huge sigh of relief here. When Cueto got torched for 2 doubles and a triple in the first inning, you had to be wondering if he was physically OK after coming out of his previous start with a groin strain. Apparently he was as he settled down to dominate the next 6 innings. I'm thinking if the Giants can squeak into the postseason, they have 4 SP's who are as capable of dominant starts as anybody!
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The Mets were idle and the Cardinals won, so the Giants are 1 game behind the Mets for the first Wild Card playoff spot and 1 game ahead of the Cardinals for the second with 1 weekend, 3 games, to go.
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Madison Bumgarner takes the mound for game 1 of the weekend series agains the Dodgers facing lefty Rich Hill.
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Great to see the Gs with some spark!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see Gillaspie have a good series.
Doc, or whoever, how do you see the roster shaping up for the playoffs? Right now, they have 20 pitchers, 3 catchers, 8 infielders, and 6 outfielders. That means they've got to lose 12 guys. Who will it be? I'd say Nathan, Parker, Blanco, Adrianza, Sanchez, and Beckham (not eligible for playoffs anyway). Maybe Sanchez. But who else? Any thoughts?
Is Nathan playoff eligible? I agree, the Giants would drop him if they make the playoffs, but, that would kind of suck for him. ERA 0.00, FIP 2.20, 9 Ks in 6 1/3. His stuff obviously isn't nearly what it once was, but he's getting the job done.
DeleteOnly one of Parker or Blanco will not make the roster- I think they'll keep 5 OF, and Gorkys and Parker off the bench as r/l options and Hernandez as a defensive option.
DeleteI'd wager they cut Blach, Cain, Peavy, and maybe Suarez. They don't need all those SP, and can make moves if there are injuries. SP depth of Bum, Cueto, Moore, and Shark, plus MAYBE Suarez as the one long man/swing man. Of those 4, I'd bet on Suarez then Peavy. I like Suarez as a number 5, 4.5 ERA over 5.1 innings kinda guy for the long regular season, but I don't really see the need for that in the playoffs. Cain and Peavy both have ERAs over 6 over their last 7 games, so they don't offer much right now. I'd much rather have Nathan - I hope he's eligible. With the breaks in the playoffs, I think it's okay to have bullpens arms cover 5 innings, one IP at a time.
I would be very surprised if Boch didn't have Adrianza on the playoff roster.
DeleteTheir website is showing 19 pitchers. Not being the internet police. Didn't know that till I looked at the roster to put my two cents in. I will probably be wrong, because Boch is more emotional invested in his players than I am, but here it goes.
Players to stay on the playoff roster.
Starting Pitchers- MadBum, Cueto, Moore, and Shark. DUH! (4)
Bullpen- Romo, Strickland, Law, Gearin, Kontos, Smith, Okert, and Casilla.(8)
Catcher- Buster and Brown.(2)
INF- Belt, Panik, Crawford, Nunez (?), Tomlinson, Adrianza, and Gillaspie.(7)
OF- Pagan, Span, Pence, and Hernandez. (4)
If Nunez doesn't look like he can make the playoffs because of his hammy then Josh Osich will probably get the final slot. Suarez has been weak his last 7 starts. Lopez is done. Blanco is will be tough for Boch. Cain and Peavy are done. Okert is pitching way better than Osich, but Osich is a lefty and would be more valuable over Nathan if Nunez is a No-Go. The Giants will probably only go with two catchers. Hernandez has more versatility than Parker. Blach is not ready for the playoffs. Gillaspie and Adrianza both would have to stay on the roster due to Nunez's condition.
Remember that 18 inning game in 2014 against the Nationals? I bet Bochy does. I think they will keep Suarez.
DeleteDrB, the difference I think, is that Bochy et al really appreciated Petit for a start, 3 innings in relief, or a simply 1 inning appearance. Petit was also a much better bet for a scoreless innings. I mean he's the record holder.
DeleteStill, I bet one guy is rostered as long guy and I'd wager it's Suarez.
Unless Blach goes Heston and no-hits the Dodgers today.
Did anyone see that controversial call in the Cards/Reds game. Molina should have had a ground rule double and the winning run should not have scored. The umps didn't even review. Horrible call!
ReplyDeleteYeah, not good. As the Red's skipper said, the system needs to be adjusted. Odd that no ump caught it. Odd that the absurd 10-second rule was used as justification for this to stand. What does instand replay exist for if not to correct something as obvious and important as this call. Was it get-out-town mentality, looking to avoid extras?
DeleteCards probably would have won. There were 2 outs, but they were the home team. That being said, gotta think there was a 15-20% chance the Reds would have won.
I'm seldom around here on WTGCTT. Thought I'd mention that there are multiple positives that come out of this, IMO. First, MLB will have to address their systems and procedures. Second, much props and respect should be acknowledged for those bottom teams STILL playing with integrity and effort.
DeleteYes, I mean teams like the Marlins, Reds, Rockies, Padres, and Phillies. They really *probably* should be "trying to lose" games. But they have been playing hard the past couple weeks. I respect the amount of character this shows, and the reflection of their organizations. Their actions can have a direct impact on other teams (obviously, like our Giants). I hope karma helps balance out for them in their draft processes. Cheers.