The Giants lineup scratched out 2 runs while Tony D shaved the edges of the strike zone for 8 innings and got a Save from Camilo Doval with some help from Joey Bart. Key Lines:
Lamonte Wade Jr 1B- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .260. Not that impressive a line and he didn't figure in the scoring but if your leadoff hitter got one hit and one walk in 5 PA's every game, he'd have a season OBP of .400. Oh yeah, he made some nifty plays at 1B too.
Thairo Estrada SS- 2 for 3, 2 BB, SB(9). BA= .342. Thairo reached base on an IF single in the first inning, stole 2B and scored the Giants first run on Joc's single for the Giants first run in the first inning. Although he didn't figure in any additional scoring, he reached base 3 more times. Not saying that the Giants had no choice but to drop Thairo of Dubi but some analysts are saying that. If they did I'm glad they kept Thairo.
Blake Sabol LF- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .235. Sabol doubled off the LF wall in the 4'th inning to drive in Joc for the Giants 2'nd run.
Joey Bart C- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .275. Bart's single was scalded to LF and he later hit a bullet at 3B for a very hard out. Just wish he could elevate a few of those a bit more. But Bart's offense is not the story here. He may have saved the 9'th inning by smartly calling time out not once, but twice when Camilo Doval appeared to be oblivious to the pitch clock. The second time it happened Bart was visibly frustrated pounding his mitt and right hand on the ground. After Kap turned that timeout into a mound visit, Bart went back in the squat and pounded his glove as if to say "come on, Doval! Let do this!" The next pitch was strike 3 to end the game.
Amazingly the Giants drew a total of 9 walks and still only scored two runs in the game.
Anthony DeSclafani RHP- 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.13. Tony D recorded 2 CG shutous in 2021 and it looked like he might pick up another one here but finally ran out of pitches after 8 innings. He has good enough stuff but the secret to his success this year is shaving the edges of the strike zone. Luring the ump to give him the benefit of the doubt on close pitches, not allowing the batter to wait for fat pitches, inducing weak contact and keeping the pitch count down. Great to have the 2021 version of him back.
Camilo Doval RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(4). ERA= 3.00. See Joey Bart above. Doval has the stuff to be an elite closer but he's going to have to get his head in the game a bit more.
Logan Webb RHP tries for a series win while turning around his own luck tomorrow facing Framber Valdez LHP. Uh-oh! LHP, and a pretty good one.
Churn Watch:
Sure enough! Sean Hjelle was optioned to AAA Sacramento and Cole Waites RHP was recalled. Unfortunately Waites has a 9.31 ERA over 9.2 IP in Sacramento. Per sfgiants.com, Kap says it's because he is having trouble adjusting to the new automatic balls and strikes system being used in AAA.
Gary Sanchez C was released. Wow! Sure would not have predicted that when the Giants signed him. It was telling when they called Ricardo Genoves to the taxi squad when Joey Bart tweaked something. Patrick Bailey's strong performance at AA and promotion to AAA was also not a good sign for Sanchez. Looks like the Giants have some confidence in the kids, which is a welcome development.
Two things jump out at me from last night, both in the last 5 minutes of the game: 1) Unless he is injured or needs a rest (i.e., he starts and finishes as catcher for >5 games in a row), Joey Bart should be the full time catcher for the Giants. If not for Joey Bart, Camilo would have walked the final 2 batters he faced last night - on pitch clock violations. And who knows what he would done with cleanup hitter Jose Abreu coming up next (assuming he was allowed to pitch to him)? It was telling that Gabe Kapler was mostly a spectator for that. Fitting, since Joe Bart showed that he can handle pitchers better than Kapler. And with Bart at C, we do not have to worry about an ill-timed Catcher's Interference (Sabol has 5 CI in the first month of the season, which could be 5 more than Buster Posey and Joe Bart, combined, have lifetime).
ReplyDelete2) Gabe Kapler, for all his keen analytical insight into position players, takes a lot for granted with his bullpen. Bart, Villar, Ramos must feel like they are one week-long slump away from being sent down to AAA to 'figure things out'. But Doval, a fellow who could use some AAA time to adjust to the pitch clock - which he clearly has yet to do? Kapler will keep running him out there. I wonder if Kapler realizes this.
19 LOB, 13 of them by the Big Sticks in the middle of the lineup – Peterson (.254): 6, Conforto (.200): 2, Flores (.253): 5 while going 2 - 10 collectively. Wisely (.043) chipped in with 0 - 3 and 3 LOB in the 8 hole, while making some nifty plays at 2B.
ReplyDeleteWade and Estrada keep getting on base (40% collectively) but left there 'way too often.
Note to Kapler: Davis has reverse splits (this year AND career) – don't sit him against RHP!
BTW, Joey Bart also has reverse splits.
Is this DeSclafani's last year or is there one more year remaining on his contract?
ReplyDeleteHe's sogned for next year. Check for all contracts:
Deletehttps://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SFG/san-francisco-giants-salaries-and-contracts.shtml
Tony D is a free agent after the 2024 season, so one more year on the deal after this one!
DeleteA comment on Dubon: After Game 1's mouthing off, he went 0-4 yesterday (1 LOB) & 1-4 today (5 LOB), and since he was hitting .361 in mid-April, his last 14 games he's slashing .267/.286/.367/.652 – do the Astros want a lead-off guy with a .286 OBP?
ReplyDeleteGood kid, but maybe needs some baseball sense, not just about shooting off his mouth but didn't he have some adventures on the bases?
It's easy to find fault – wasn't it fairly obvious that Kapler stayed with Webb a few batters too long today? – but so much of their losing ways has come from losing the lead: 9 of their come-from-ahead losses were "on" pitchers who have been good in the past and may still be when not overworked.
Perhaps Manaea and Hjelle aren't going to be productive, but there are 3 good starters (4 when Wood is well and there is some hope for Stripling), plus the 'Pen is just overworked (Jackson is coming and maybe there's a white horse or 2 in the system) – it works so much more better when starters get into the 7th.
If (always an if) the Giants hadn't wasted so much time in the off-season on 2 guys (ONE, who was never going to sign with them, batting .261 with 6 HRs, tied with J.D. and LMWJ for 30th in MLB, & another ONE, who they shouldn't have signed which worked out ok, slashing .206/.291/.361/.652), they could have worked other FAs and might have done better than Conforto and Haniger, but there's NO long term HUGE money drain leaving bundles to be spent as FZ's reinforcements start to come through the system after the long drought.
In any event the two they did sign to short contracts may work out ok.