Logan Webb knew he had to go deep into this game because, as he described in colorful terms, apparently several members of the bullpen are suffering from Montezuma's Revenge. Webb did just that with support from Austin Slater, Wilmer Flores and Joey Bart and the Giants won the series from the defending WS champions. Key Lines:
Austin Slater CF/LF- 2 for 4, SB(2). BA= .500. Slater drove in Joey Bart for the first run on the game and scored the second on Mitch Haniger's single in the 6'th inning. The SB was a steal of 3B. He added an OF assist throwing a runner out at 1B. Slater is 6 for 12 since coming off the IL.
Wilmer Flores DH- 1 for 4, HR(5). BA= .253. Flores hit a solo HR in the 9'th to extend to give Camilo Doval RHP a 2-run cushion for the Save.
Joey Bart C- 2 for 3, 2B. BA- .302. After hitting two hard smashes last night, one of which went for a hit, Bart hit a line drive single which led to the Giants first run then smoked one on 1-hop off the L-CF wall for a double to drive in Michael Conforto RF to extend the Giants lead to 3-0 in the 7'th inning. I believe we are seeing Joey Bart emergence as one of the leaders of this team. Can't say enough about how proud I am of the work he has obviously put in to make himself a better player. And we won't worry about him elevating the ball off the bat. That will come with time. Right now he needs to continue to concentrate on making contact and just hitting the ball hard. Not sure if this is legit but I read on Twitter that Joey is the currently the top pitch framer in MLB. Fangraphs has him at +3.2 Fielding Runs above average with positional adjustment. In other words, he's turned himself into a plus defender at C.
Logan Webb RHP- 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 9/4. ERA= 3.80. Webb used up 46 pitches in the first two innings due to a pair of defensive miscues. He threw just 56 pitches over the next 5.2 IP. Kap might have kept him in about 3 batters too long and he gave up a 2-run HR to Alex Bregman in the 8'th but apparently several members of the bullpen are suffering from what is commonly known as Montezuma's Revenge which Webb describe in pithier terminology after the game.
Camilo Doval RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(5). ERA= 2.77. Less drama this time. A walk and WP but the 3-outs were easy.
The Giants get a much needed day off at home tomorrow to rest and get well before starting a series against the Brewers Friday night with Sean Manaea LHP facing the fearsome Corbin Burnes RHP.
might patrick bailey be asked to slide to first base to get reps there with the massive improvement of joey bart?
ReplyDeletePatrick Bailey has way more value as a catcher than a 1B so I am sure he will stay behind the dish as much and as long as possible. That doesn't mean he won't eventually play some 1B but Lamonte Wade Jr learned the position on the fly at the MLB level. On the other hand, the Giants have shown they place a high value on versatility too and are willing to move young players to positions of need at the MLB level. Wade Jr 1B. Villar 2B. Schmitt SS and 2B. Wisely CF.
DeleteNice to see Webb right the ship. I still don't think that this season will even be .500.
ReplyDeleteSimply put, the Giants are a HR team (+14 over league average). Yet they're below league average in runs, RBIs and many other offensive categories. And this isn't luck, this is a problem with teams built to hit HRs over everything else as HRs, by themselves, are very erratic when it comes to generating runs. So, sure, they're flashing and everybody loves them. But you also need to be able to advance runners and grind out scoring opportunities and in that, the Giants lack unlike the Dodgers, Braves, Rangers, Rays, Red Sox, Angels and other teams whose offense are more than long-balls. So despite being 4th in the MLB in HRs, the Giants offense is below average at runs/game with 4.50.
And then there are the defense problems. The Giants ERA is not good at 4.59 which is just below MLB average. However, thanks to all the errors and defensive miscues, the Giants Runs-Surrendered/game is among the worst in the majors coming in at 24th. Defense matters. And that porous defense, btw, also hurts the ERA. Many of the runs that counted as earned are there because balls drop in for hits that shouldn't due to fielding issues that are more subtle than the obvious errors.
Giants starter ERA is 5th at 3.40. Their starter xFIP is 2nd. Their starting pitching is fine and will be better when Wood is back. The bullpen has been a problem. ERA, 6.26 but xFIP is much better at 4.17. They are 1st in HR/FB. But for the past two years Giants pitching has been the best at suppressing homeruns. So once that stablizes, the bullpen will be much better. And according to Fangraphs, Giants defense is 7th. Much of that is probably propped up by Bart but even their OAA is 6 and RAA is 4. That's pretty good, especially compared to the dumpster fire of defense last year. Thankfully, the main culprit hasn't been bad defense at all, but an unsustainable homerun rate by the bullpen, which should be much better going forward.
DeletePretty sure Wade played 1B in college.
ReplyDeleteJust before the season started, we were rumored to be looking to make a trade. Then, Bart was hurt and we didn't make a trade. Was he involved in that contemplated transaction?
ReplyDeleteIt's possible. Giants were clearly down on Bart and had every intention of making Roberto Perez their primary catcher. What's the old saying? Sometimes the best trades are the ones that aren't made?
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