The Giants had a chance to break this one open early when they loaded the bases with no outs against Andrew Heaney LHP, the Rangers SP. Gabe Kapler stacked his lineup with RH batters and they were matching up well against Heaney. Then a funny thing happened. Heaney got Mark Mathias 2B, the #9 hitter on a K, then Forever Giant and Future Hall of Fame Manager Bruce Bochy made his move. He brought in a sidearming Grant Anderson RHP to face Austin Slater CF who promptly GIDP. Threat over, inning over. And for all practical purposes, game over. Kap had a choice between emptying his bench early in the game or accepting the unfavorable matchups. Great piece of managing by The Master and do you think he might have been trolling Kap just a teeny bit with that move?
Michael Conforto DH- 2 for 3, HR(14), BB. BA= .238. It's been a disappointing season for Conforto so far. Can he go on one of his hot streaks to save the Giants season? A couple of veteran hitters are going to have to step up and stand in the gap if the Giants are to come out of this offensive funk and compete for a wild card playoff spot.
Heliot Ramos RF/CF- 1 for 3, HR(1), BB. BA= .233. Ramos is 2 for 4, 2B, HR, BB. Since his call up. Can he please stay in the lineup for at least 50 PA's and see if he can finally find some traction?
Alex Cobb gave up 6 runs in 4.1 IP for his second subpar start in a row. Alex Wood LHP failed to build confidence in him as he allowed 3 runs in 4 IP in relief
Giants lead over the Cubs for the second Wild Card playoff spot shrank to 1 game.
Logan Webb RHP tries to stave off the sweep tomorrow afternoon facing Dane Dunning RHP.
Great move by Bochy taking Heaney out and bringing in the sidearmer to face Slater.. yes Bochy is the master. When they didn't score had a bad feeling. Easy to 2nd guess but why didn't Kap pinch hit for Slater with a left-handed hitter?
ReplyDeleteAccording to an SI article written by an Rangers reporter, Bochy took Heaney out early because of an illness from his last start against the A's. He didn't pitch well but had a short leash. Bochy and his pitching coach did plan heavy usage of their bullpen
DeleteThe roster spot taken by career unremarkable Mark Mathias could have gone to Tyler Fitzgerald who is Rule 5 Eligible.
ReplyDeleteMathias and Fitzgerald have similar AAA numbers.
A player as versatile as Fitzgerald will be snatched in December 2023
The deadline for setting the 40 man roster for the Rule 5 Draft is still several months away. Giants will have quite a few tough decisions to make at that time, for sure.
Deletecamargo may be called up sooner than later at this point to replace mathias
DeleteChurn on!
DeleteExcluding Estrada, a proven Major Leaguer,
DeleteAside from Estrada (and 5 games for Wilmer) both who have proven themselves as Major Leaguers, Zaidi & Kapler have trotted out to 2nd base Mathias, Wisely, Diaz, Villar, & Schmitt.
DeleteFitzgerald may not be better than any of them, but the Giants really ought to take a look – for free.
He has played 4 positions and a couple games as DH
it may be time to DFA alex wood, give sean hjelle an extended look
ReplyDelete