The Giants offense sputtered in air-conditioned Chase Field and wasted another QS from Logan Webb. Key Lines:
Thairo Estrada 2B- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .314. I've thought Estrada looked like he needs a day off in recent games, but he didn't look like that today. Unfortunately his two doubles did not figure into any scoring.
Michael Conforto RF- 1 for 4, HR(7). BA= .193. At one point in the game, Conforto had his BA above the Mendoza Line or the Interstate as Kruk prefers to call it but fell back below in subsequent AB's. He is slashing .273/.385/.727 over his last 7 games, though.
Logan Webb RHP- 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 10/3. ERA= 3.20. Webb turns in his 5'th consecutive quality start. 8 ER over 28.1 IP in that span. Here's the problem for the Giants. Your ace pitchers are not going to win every game they start, even if they pitch like an ace so you can't just throw away the #4 and #5 spots in the rotation. Otherwise, you end up staring at a 5 or 6 game losing streak.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 2.70. Rogers got through a 1, 2, 3 8'th inning but since you save your Closer for the bottom of the inning on the road, he went back out for the 9'th and gave up a walk and a double and that was the ballgame. Casey Schmitt 3B got confused and tried to backdoor the trailing runner at 2B but by the time the OF throw reached him he had no shot at the runner coming home anyway.
The Giants come back home to start a series against the defending NL Champion Phillies with Alex Wood LHP Bailey Falter LHP.
Brandon Crawford SS came off the IL and started at SS. As expected, the corresponding move was to option David Villar to AAA Sacramento for more seasoning.
2019 77-85 .475 29 games back
ReplyDelete2020 29-31 .483 14 games back
2021 107-55 .660 -
2022 81-81 .500 30 games back
2023 17-23 .425 8.5 games back
Outside of 2021, that is a lot of non competitive boring seasons, and to make matters worse I really don't see any improvement on the Giants or in the minor league teams. Sure there are a few interesting players in the minors, but at a certain point Farhan needs to be held accountable.
To my eye the minor league system is in much better shape than anytime since the days of Posey, Bum and Crawford.
Delete...and probably deeper now.
DeleteOther than Webb, the draft hasn't produced much other than Webb to help out now but Schmitt may be leading a number of minor leaders coming soon, but probably too late for 2022.
DeleteBy winning the first game against AZ, Giants are still a half game ahead of the West's worst Rockies who are home for Cincinnati.
A rebounding St Louis is still the worst in the NL but only 1½ behind SF and hosts the Brewers.
Beating Philadelphia who is 9-13 on the road will keep SF from falling to the bottom. Game 2 will bring Zack Wheeler to Oracle's mound.
That's one way of looking at it, as though anything but winning the West is not being competitive. But here's another way:
Delete2019: 4 game improvement
2020: Last game, blown save away from play-in game of playoffs
2021: Best franchise record
2022: 81-81, competitive for WC 3 for most of the season until a late July/August swoon.
2023: Not playing well but still only 3 games back of WC 3. Long season, pretty early.
For the first time in a long time, the Giants have legitimate age-appropriate prospects performing well at every level.
DeleteAdmittedly a bit silly to blame an umpire for this game, but HP umpire Doug Eddings blew a few calls.One was a strike three call clearly in the strike zone (Joey Bart even held his glove for a few seconds in the spot) that Eddings called a ball. Next pitch, Webb gave up a hit that tied the game 1-1. Sabol later was called out on strikes on a pitch that was 8 inches. off the plate (Krukow called it a blown call.). It is a long season and the umpires calls generally even themselves out.
ReplyDeleteThe Good:
ReplyDeleteWade Jr has been hitting well and is starting to rebuild my confidence in him after he fell apart in the second-half of 2020.
Estrada has been playing solid D at 2B and hitting like a boss.
Davis has been playing solid defense at 3B and is hitting like he always has. (I'd like to thank Coach Correa yet again, that's a hell of career turn around.)
Sabol has hit reasonably well and played fairly well (save for catcher interference which he was plagued with early on) when he's been in.
Schmitt plays really good defense and has the strongest arm I've seen on the Giants in years. There's barely any drop on those balls fires in.
Yaz is hitting well, still not a CF, but he's the best we have.
Cobb, DeSclafani & Webb are all pitching lights out and can go deep.
Wood is good for 2x through and if the Giants limit him to that, he gives you Ace pitching.
Doval & Tyler Rogers have been quite good in relief.
The Bad & The Ugly
Most everything else. It's just the way it is. Bart's offense has collapsed, Crawford can't field or hit, Conforto & Haniger, when healthy, are poor fielders who need to hit to justify their spots and they're not. Manaea and Stripling have both been terrible. The bullpen is otherwise a hot mess. Stupid mistakes (base running mistakes, throwing mistakes) and errors (Sabol 5, Crawford 4) abound. They leave too many men on base and are in a 6-way tie for 30th in Sac Flies with just 6.
2019: 4 games is just baseball randomness. An opponent error here, a save there, you sky-high ball lost in the sun, a dying quail dropping in, and suddenly you're 4 games better.
ReplyDelete2020: Expanded playoffs, still didn't make it.
2021: A team that was heavily influenced a bunch of old Sabean/Evans vets and acquisitions having one last hurrah with career-best years: Posey, Belt, Crawford, Longoria, Duggar. Classic outlier season where you have bunch of mid or old players suddenly putting in some of the best baseball of their career at the same time. Not a good argument.
2022: Massive regression to the mean with Belt, Crawford, Longoria, Duggar all playing to their age and/or talent and Posey retired. This was more true than 2021.
2023: 3 Games back of WC3? The team is SIX GAMES UNDER .500 and there are FIVE TEAMS AHEAD OF US, ONE TIED WITH US AND TWO BELOW. We're tied for 12th of 15 teams in the National League.
i've really starting become concerned with the pitching, you only have three reliable starters and the rest along with the majority of the bullpen has been trash. it is time to put andrew bailey on the hot seat, not yet fire kapler time but, it's going to put added pressure on guys like kyle harrison to perform. if we finish near the cellar, kapler may be safe but, a lot of his assistants could end up being let go.
ReplyDeleteThis regime was sold as a package. It was going to work because of a top-to-bottom, seamless philosophy. I don't see it ending without a complete top-to-bottom house-cleaning? I know many fans are ready for just that. I am impressed enough by the farm system to want to wait and see a bit longer.
DeleteI read somewhere recently that LAD has six of Baseball America's top 100 prospects this year. Is that about right?
DeleteI would like to see us have more than that this year.
i'm not yet ready for a house cleaning but, it may be time to replace andrew bailey with an experienced pitching coach if things don't turn around. also time for kapler to adjust his philosophy just a little bit.
DeleteZaidi's safe - he inherited a mess and the farm is finally somewhat stocked. At least better than it's been since 2010.
ReplyDeleteKapler may be safe because he's FZ's man, but that's where the axe usually falls when a team is underperforming - you can't fire a dozen players!
I wonder how Buster Posey's opinion figures into the decisionmaking and what that opinion might be?
DeleteDon't understand starting lineup against RHP, but what do you do when 4 of your starters are "on the interstate"?
ReplyDeleteSt Louis and Colorado are winning, Giants must win to stay out of dungeon...