The Giants scored early and often with the sustained gap power approach the team was designed for. Improvement or SSS BABIP luck? Oh, and Eduardo Nunez was traded in the middle of the game. Key Lines:
Denard Span CF- 2 for 4, SB(5). BA= .285. Span is making a case for himself if there are any contenders who need an OF for the stretch run who comes with an extra year at a reasonable cost. Or the Giants may decide they need him for a re-tooled team next year.
Eduardo Nunez 3B- 1 for 2, 2B, HBP, SB(18). BA= .308. The shiny BA must have been too much for Boston to resist. They traded 2 high ceiling pitching prospects for Nunez in the middle of the game. More on that later.
Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .237. Despite his anemic BA, Belt's OBP is .351 and he's OPSing .804. He's the #14 MLB 1B by fWAR which is not that easy to replace.
Buster Posey C- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .326. Buster just keeps grinding out another great season.
Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .235. Crawford is hitting .308 since July 7 when his BA reached a nadir of .221.
Hunter Pence RF- 2 for 5, 2B, SB(2). BA= .248. Pence is hitting just .188 for the month of July.
Joe Panik 2B- 1 for 4, 3B, BB. BA= .265. Panik's bases-loaded triple in the 3'rd inning was the big blow that broke this one open. Overall, Panik is hitting just .211 in July. Q: Is Joe Panik the Giants 2B of the future?
Madison Bumgarner LHP- 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.38. No indication that Bummy left the game after 5 innings for any other reason than to spare his arm in a blowout win.
Chris Stratton RHP- 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 4/1. ERA= 7.71. Stratton was called up before the game to give the bullpen another arm with Orlando Calixte getting sent back to Sacramento. This was a strong 4 inning effort. Stratton and Suarez give the Giants 2 bullpen arms who can eat a lot of innings.
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Jeff Samardzija tries for a series win today facing Trevor Williams.
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The Giants did what they had to do and pulled the trigger on a Eduardo Nunez trade. Nunez is an impending free agent who won't get a QO, so he had to be traded for the Giants to get anything for him. The return from Boston is a couple of interesting pitching prospects:
Shaun Anderson RHP. Anderson was Boston's 3'rd round draft pick last year. College reliever from Florida with a starter's mix of pitches. He's been pitching successfully as a starter for Boston's High A team. Anderson is big at 6'4", 225 lbs. Scouting report says he has a FB that runs low-mid 90's with a cutter, slider and seldom used changeup.
Gregory Santos is a 17 yo RHP in his second DSL season. He's still obviously very young but is reported to have a live arm and a lot of upside.
The Giants desperately need more pitching depth in the farm system. They got that out of this trade. Nice job, Bobby Evans.
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Eduardo Núñez will be remembered for his smile, erratic fielding, and the worst Giants W-L record in memory during his 1-year (July 28, 2016 - July 25, 2017) stint.
ReplyDeleteHe was not the fault for the fall from a comfortable 1st place to an uncomfortable last place, but he was symbolic of a gang that couldn't shoot straight on either side of the ball.
Shaun Anderson has some similarities to Adalberto Mejía. If he develops similarly the Giants gain a year and a few months in age, although SF might have used Mejia in this year's debacle. If that part is a near push, there may be a gain overall with Gregory Santos in the Núñez saga.
Talk he might be resigned as a FA? Not gonna happen! Until the Giants solve the rest of their problems, they cannot put inferior fielders out there!
Good Luck Eduardo Núñez -- hope the Red Sox fare better with you than they did with the last 3Bman they got from the Giants!
I like Nunez's presence. I feel sorry for him going to that poisonous club house with David Price and his class less act!
ReplyDeleteThe treatment of Dennis Eckersley on the club charter was disgusting.
Richard in winnipeg
I looked up the two pitchers. Anderson was the #18 Red Sox prospect per MLB and a 2016 3rd round draft choice. Anderson repertoire is looking okay (per MLB prospects) with a 60 FB, 55 Slider, 45 CB, 50 CH and 50 control. He was a college reliever on a jam-packed Florida team and is being converted to a starter because he has a good pitch mix. I expect with the depth problems we have, he'll rank higher than 18th.
ReplyDeleteSantos is 17 (1.8 years younger than average in the DSL) and put up a 0.90 ERA in the DSL this year. I didn't really find anything more than that besides signing for $250K.
As for Nunez... I've never been a fan of his. Don't hate him or blame him for every bad thing. But he was average offensively (despite his .308 BA) and was a part of the problem with this club due to his poor defense. When traded, he was ranked 38th defensively of all 3B who've had 200ABs (or more) (Fangraphs). And last night was perfect example. Yet another error.
AND, he was a magnet for injuries!
DeleteIf Price actually said (directed at Eckerseley), some people don't know how hard this game is, then that quote is one for the ages. Was Anderson slowed by injury recently? Thought i read that somewhere.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't Wednesday's Giants show up a little more often?
ReplyDeleteGomez can hit (maybe), Gillaspie can't (probably).
Could we see a little more of Gomez even if Panik has to play 3rd?
For God's sake, please find someone to hit behind Posey not named Brandon or Hunter!
I love Crawford, but he is not a #5. Who is? Try Gomez. Try Moncrief. Try Panik. News flash: it's not Crawford!
jP