It's feast or famine these days for the Giants and today was a feast day as the offense blasted 5 more HR's to back a shaky start by Alex Wood and a fantastic long relief stint by Jakob Junis in a runaway win. Key Lines:
Lamonte Wade Jr LF- 1 for 2, 2B, BB, HBP. BA= .250. It was Blake Sabol's day to catch so LMWJ moved out to LF. He continues to justify his spot at the top of the lineup against RHP's. HBP was third of season.
Wilmer Flores 1B- 2 for 5, HR(1), BB. BA= .364. I think a key for Flores is to keep him rested and surround him with enough offensive support that he does not feel pressure to hit HR's. So far that is working!
David Villar 2B- 2 for 5, 2B, HBP BA= .273. Thairo Estrada was back in the lineup but Brandon Crawford sat out with a tight forearm reportedly from a swing, so Estrada played SS with Villar staying at 2B. So far the bat looks for real for Villar.
Michael Conforto RF- 3 for 4, HR(2), 2 BB. It seemed like only a matter of time until Conforto got it going. Today was that time.
J. D. Davis 3B- 3 for 6, HR(2). BA= .313. The HR was a grand slam(but in the 9'th inning against a non-pitcher) Would love to see what he could do with 600 PA's but LMWJ and Villar are making it tough to find places for him to play. Maybe somebody is boosting their trade value?
Mike Yastrzemski CF/LF- 1 for 6, HR(2). BA= .240. The plan seems to be to start YtY in CF then if the Giants get a lead, move him over to LF with Bryce Johnson going to CF for defense.
Thairo Estrada SS- 3 for 6, 2B. BA= .408. Have I said I think Estrada is primed for a breakout season?
Blake Sabol C- 3 for 6, HR(1). BA= .222. Sabol came in just 1 for 12 and you had to wonder if he might be setting himself up to get sent back to the Pirates when Haniger and Slater come back. He looked a lot more comfortable behind the plate today and the breakout game at the plate just increased his probability of staying all season by a lot.
Alex Wood LHP- 3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, GO/AO= 4/1. ERA= 3.00. Wood did not have great command of the strike zone and threw 71 pitches in 3+ IP. But the second inning was extended by an error by Estrada leading to a couple of unearned runs.
Jakob Junis RHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.42. Junis came on in the 4'th inning with runners at first and second and no outs. He was within an out of getting out of it but a bloop single to RF plated one of his inherited runners. After that, he was lights out for 3 more innings.
Matt Beatty had a PH single and scored a run before he gave up 3 runs in pitching mop up time in the 9'th inning.
The Giants home opener against the Royals is tomorrow afternoon at 1:35 PM, weather permitting with Alex Cobb RHP facing Brad Keller RHP.
Giants (small sample size) now lead the majors in HRs with 14. It's lucky they played at two HR-friendly stadiums. But, as I like to say 'nothing, in baseball, is real in April.' For example:
ReplyDeleteAdam Duvall, the 3B prospect, who was a throwing-error machine and has become an All-Star & Gold GLover in LF, leads the majors (small sample size) in offense. It was still better they traded him away, he's some good seasons (hence the All-Star and GG) but he's super erratic and has had plenty of substandard seasons. Good guy to have on the bench as a 4th, not as a starter.
Reynolds, the man stupidly traded away for the fallen apart McCutcheon is leading the majors with 4HRs. He's really good hitter for a CF, but he's no Aaron Judge. I'm still bitter about the trade. He's pulled down 14 bWAR in less than four full seasons thanks to COVID (499 games). We could have used that over the years. Sure, he's not the greatest defensive center fielder ever (he's just average). But the kid can hit and more than makes up for his average play in CF with his bat.
OTOH, Chris Sale has an 11.50 ERA. Chris Sale! Sherzer is at 6.38, DeGrom is at 5.59 and Nola is at 7.45. Meanwhile, 13 guys are sitting at 0.00. None of that is true either. One of them is Castillo who has been a lower-level #1/upper-level #2 since he got into the majors. Another Giants trade mistake.
Yes, I follow the trades. Probably a bad habit but the trade of Gaylord Perry in 1972 (I was 11) and the ultimate disparity in the results made a big,big impression on me and has left me very trade-adverse.
It's OK to follow the trades but follow all of them, not just the bad ones. There is no GM who only makes good trades.
DeletePerry...Foster.
DeleteOne perspective on trades (or many other endeavors) is that if you have not made a bad trade, you haven't challenged yourself enough.
As for ERA, I wonder how different pitchers are adjusting to the new pitch clock rule, and if we are seeing some of that reflected in the numbers.
The pitch clock seems to bother batters more. I think one situation where it might be affecting pitchers is after giving up a HR or some unlucky bad fielding play there is no time to gather themselves and refocus leading to really big innings.
DeleteThe Luis Castillo trade is defensible. He didn't distinguish himself from among the number of other international signing arms who were younger and had better numbers. Then he was traded again by the Marlins. So he's just an example of the rare guy who develops late and if he weren't traded, he could've been a rule 5 pick.
DeleteI do follow the good trades. It's just when I'm not happy with what's going on, I'm focusing more on the negative. When things are good, I focus on the positive.
DeletePence was a great trade. Not just good, but great. One of the best ever. And while he started in a major slump, his WS performance helped put us over-the-top (which so rarely happens with trades) and gave us four outstanding years before age and injuries took their toll. For him we gave Schierholtz couldn't take the next step at the plate, Joseph who wasn't going to unseat Posey and was concussion prone at catcher, was moved to first and washed out and Rosin was a minor blip who didn't pan out in his very limited MLB call-up.
The Scutaro trade was a major win, too. He helped solidify the 2012 team with Pence and was an All-Star in 2013. It was a shame Holliday made that dirty slide and wrecked his career. Culberson, whom we gave up for Scutaro, has played in the majors ten years, is currently on a minor-league deal with Atlanta. And has a -0.2 bWAR to show for it.
But those were also trades I was okay with when they were made. Pence was a very good player. Scutaro was very good as well. McCutcheon wasn't. McGehee wasn't, either.
Again, show me a GM who has never made a bad trade.
DeleteSabol did a good interview in my opinion on Post game show. Yep, I think he's here to stay.
ReplyDelete