Ross Stripling's goferitis relapsed with a vengeance as the Brewers hit a pair of 2-run dingers to deny the Giants a sweep of the weekend series. Key lines:
Thairo Estrada SS- 3 for 5, HR(6). BA= .346. As one Twitter twit pointed out, the Giants had 13 hits and 14 baserunners in the game so of course Estrada's HR was a solo shot and in the 9'th inning with the game out of reach.
Blake Sabol C(.264) also had 3 its with a double. Lamonte Wade Jr.(.258) 1B, Mitch Haniger LF(.222) and Wilmer Flores(.273) 3B also had 2-hit games.
Ross Stripling RHP- 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 7/1. ERA= 6.66. Here is Steven Kennedy's take on Striplings start today from his write up for McCovey Chronicles:
It wasn’t that Stripling was pitching poorly as much as Milwaukee’s approach in the batter’s box was incredibly effective. They took pitches falling through and out of the zone and spit on borderline fastballs, change-ups, and sliders dotting spots just off the plate. Brewers bats weren’t fooled by what the Giants’ starting pitcher was offering: if they didn’t hit the ball hard they put it play, if they didn’t put it play, they fouled it off.
This agrees with my own observations watching the game. When I see batters reacting like this, it always raises a question in my mind if maybe the pitcher is tipping his pitches or has settled into a predictable pattern of pitch selection.
Now, I don't have the O and Z swing rates for this game but per Fangraphs, Stripling's numbers on the season are right at his career averages. What is striking about his season pitching line is the HR/FB of 31.6% which is is more than twice his career average and 50% higher than his previous season high which occurred in the small sample size season of 2020. This should regress toward his career mean as the season progresses.
Cole Waites RHP- 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.00. Waites pitched better than this line indicates. His leadoff batter reached on an error and another hit was a dribbler down the 3B line. His final pitch of the inning was a swinging K of Brian Anderson on a 98 MPH fastball. His leg kick out of the stretch is too high which was the main reason he gave up 2 SB's. Something he needs to work on.
Anthony DeSclafani RHP tries to start another Giants win streak against the Nationals tomorrow evening facing Cole Irvin RHP.
And RIP Vida Blue, a Bay Area sports legend as a star pitcher for the A's and Giants and a big part of the Giants community outreach over the past 3 decades.
(Sorry if this post looks weird. For some reason the copy/paste of Steven Kennedy's comments messed up the font and I couldn't figure out how to fix without deleting 2/3 of the post and starting over).
it may be time for the giants to start stretching out tristan beck and see if he can be a capable back end starter until alex wood returns and consider using an opener for stripling.
ReplyDelete1-15 giving up 6 or more runs, 0-10 giving up 7 or more – Giants are not built for slugfests.
ReplyDeleteThe next 2 weeks offer an interesting opportunity for SF: aside for 4 games in AZ, they have three 3-game series @ home, all against teams with losing records – Washington, Philadelphia, and Miami.
An opportunity to get to .500? Yes, but...
Good news: Alex Wood began his rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento on Sunday with not bad results although he was tagged with the loss as the 'Cats scored but once.
As mentioned, Vida Blue died last night. For those too young to remember, he was part of the great A's teams that won three world series in the 1970s and then came over to the Giants and was an All-Star for 3 of the 6 years he played for us. I was a bit surprised that he didn't get into the HOF. 6 All Stars. ERA leader. MVP. Cy Young.
ReplyDeleteThat's an impressive resume. Yet he was excluded.
I read VB was caught buying cocane/one year suspension from MLB
DeleteVida Blue had the misfortune to get caught up in the Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985. There were 15 players in all, called before a grand jury in Pittsburgh to testify (with immunity to criminal prosecution) on their involvement with narcotics possession and/or trafficking. 11 of the 15 were suspended by Peter Ueberroth (later commuted to fines, drug testing, and community service). There were some who were very well known. Joaquín Andújar. Lonnie Smith. Lee Mazilli. There were even a few HOF caliber players involved. Dave Parker. Keith Hernandez. Tim Raines. And Vida Blue. None but Raines are in Cooperstown (Raines got in on his 10th and final year of eligibility). A sad chapter in the history of MLB.
DeleteI think he is a borderline candidate at best. His biggest claim is the 3 rings and a lot of stats-based analysts discount that nowadays. His career started out like the GOAT but he had a relatively short peak from a HOF perspective.
DeleteTim Raines made it in. He was a crack-cocaine user. Babe Ruth used testosterone injections, as did many others. Many who are in used amphetamines. If we're going to be pure, he no worse than many others.
ReplyDeleteAs for borderline, from the counting stats argument, yes. I'm not pining for him to be in because I recognize the Baseball HOF is a counting-stat HOF while the NFL HOF is more an accomplishments HOF (as in being on championship teams). But he was amazing and while his career was short, it was mostly brilliant and better than some of those who made it into the HOF. And it's as good, or better, than many players whom are still advocated by the popular press and fandom, including Buster Posey.
How are you gonna compare Vida Blue with Buster Posey? Goodness.
ReplyDelete