Early home runs by J. D. Davis 3B and Joc Pederson DH were not enough to overcome another subpar start by Alex Wood LHP who gave up 5 runs in 4 IP.
Ryan Walker RHP pitched 3 shutout innings in relief which I think is his longest appearance of the season. Are the Giants stretching him out to a bulk-inning role? Maybe even a 4-5 inning SP role?
The Loss is the Giants third in a row on this 11-game road trip which thankfully now has just 3 more games to go. It drops them 3 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West but they remain tied with the D'Backs for the top Wild Card playoff spot 1.5 games ahead of the Phillies, Marlins and Reds.
Logan Webb RHP tries to be the Stopper today facing Josiah Gray RHP.
Kinda had it with Wood. His normal start is s disaster. Beaucoups excuses. Occasionally he surprises. DFA.
ReplyDeleteManea can be DFA’d too.
DeleteMaybe someone even more desperate than the Giants for SPs would take Wood...
ReplyDeleteHow much does Schmitt need to hit to be the SS next year? Can he learn to recognize the pitches he's chasing out of the strike zone?
Kieth Law drops Harrison from 12 to 40 in his post draft Top 60: "One thing I don’t like to see in pitching prospects is control or command going backward, and that’s what has happened to Harrison this year with the move to Triple A."
Harrison remains his only Giant top prospect with Luciano getting an honorable mention. Prospects who are playing in the Majors are not included in his rating.
https://theathletic.com/4703833/2023/07/21/mlb-top-prospects-2023-minor-leaguers/
I am also concerned about Harrison's control/command. The question in my mind is now much it's impacted by the reported small electronic strike zone in AAA.
DeleteI'm wondering if Harrison needs to go back down to AA for a bit
DeleteDid the Giants dodge a couple bullets? Judge has played in only half NYs games, and Correa is having the worst year of his 9-year career with a .705 OPS.
ReplyDeleteNot that Conforto, Haniger, Manea, and Stripling have been what they expected, but they are at least cost controlled. Three of the 4 have negative bWARs, and Conforto, who has helped a lot, has a 0.3 bWAR, ranking #71 in MLB for Runners LOB.
The Giants have 3 of the worst 100 in that stat: Davis at #59 and Estrada at #78.
OTOH, Conforto leads the team in RBIs and HRs. The Giants would definitely be worse without him.
Huge contracts for "superstar" players are rarely positive for the team.
DeleteIt may be time to bring up Tyler Fitzgerald and get Schmitt a refresher course in Sacramento
ReplyDeleteAgreed. That said, I do think Schmitt will hit eventually. He has real talent in getting the bat on the ball. He can turn on an inside fastball -- even really, really, inside. He can usually hit breaking balls in the zone. These talents let him get away with hacking his way through the minors without developing an eye for the strike zone, most likely to the chagrin of his coaches. So he doesn't see much in the way of strikes and keeps hacking at close pitches. This recent experience should have humbled him and a month or so in Sacramento working on this (sort of like Luciano did this year in Richmond) might do him some good. He does, however, have to get his brain around it and commit to improving that aspect of his game.
DeleteGood question! Would Schmitt learn better against crafty MLB pitchers or work out his chase rate in AAA?
DeleteOTOH, Schmitt plys a pretty good SS, is Fitzgerald that good to warrant replacing someone on the 40-man roster? That would be a significant move. Drop Villar? Johnson? Diaz? Ramos? Probably not.