Wilmer Flores, perhaps the only member of the Giants starting lineup who could hang with the Braves lineup, gave Giants fans a moment of hope with a 2-run HR to CF in the third inning to tie the score but like last night, the Giants were inexorably ground down by an obviously more talented team on both sides of the ball in another dispiriting loss. Key Lines:
Wilmer Flores DH- 1 for 4, HR(18). BA= .299. See above.
Heliot Ramos LF/RF- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .227. Yes, it's cherry picking stats but Heliot's August slash line split is .278/.381/.556 in 21 PA's. I'm not sure what we have to lose by seeing a lot more of him over the next week or two.
The Giants used 5 pitchers in the game who all gave up at least 1 ER. As I watched Jake Junis RHP pitch the last two innings it struck me. Can anyone tell me what any of these guys roles are? Kap has had success with his mix and match style but the lines between his own nomenclature of "Featured Pitcher", "Multi-innings" and "1 inning pitchers" now seem blurred beyond recognition( I tried to look up Kap's exact designations but Google wasn't cooperative).
At this writing, the Cubs lead their game 8-1 so it looks like the Giants will fall 2 games off the Wild Card pace.
Tristan Beck RHP finally gets a shot at starting tomorrow as he tries to.....tell me if you've heard this before....stave off a sweep of the 3-game series.
IMO, Kap's mix-and-match is wearing thin with the veterans because:
ReplyDelete1. It's not working, and
2. Veterans always want to get out of their own messes/situations.
Pitcher switching and pinch hitting might improve the advantage +/- .050 but that's only 1 in 20. Confidence counts for something intangible. When a pinch hitter or relief pitcher succeeds, it helps a game, but it neither wins the game nor helps confidence. A player is always looking over his shoulder, and when it doesn't work 3 of 4 times, no one is content.
It did work in 2021, but that is Kap's only successful year, and it's because EVERYONE was on an upper part of his curve. This year, this month, everyone is on the down part and quiet frustration builds. No player (or person) wants to be part of a formula. When it works, there is some pleasure, but, when it doesn't, there are not good vibes. And that is 65-75% of the time. You never know what would have happened if the change wasn't made.
Tampa Bay may be the King of the match-up, but Bochy, not Kapler or the Rays' manager, has 3 rings. And working on his 4th.
We don't know, 2 games out of the wild card is not insurmountable, but #6 probably plays Milwaukee on the road and would not be good for SF.
#4 or 5 gets a shot at playing Atlanta which we also know won't be good.
SF needs an RBI guy and they don't have one on the roster or coming up: 2024 #1 priority is that guy IF they have a reasonably good bat behind him, maybe that's Conforto or Flores, but it's no one else on the roster.
This is not to give up on making a WC this year, it will be possible because after the top 4 teams in the NL there is weakness, but there is no 2014 this year: there are too many good teams.
Some say fire the coaches and some say fire Zaidi because you can't fire the players, but a change is needed.
Some say 2021 gives credit to Kapler but it was the players, and they didn't lose the final game 1-0. That happened, with no credit or blame except maybe the 1st base umpire.
The Giants need a change.
In fairness, a lot of the "mix-and-match" evolved because those same veterans failed to execute in traditional roles and they have actually performed better after moving to a less-defined role.
DeleteI think Mitch Haniger was signed to be that rbi bat but he broke his forearm being hit by a pitch. He hit 39 hrs 100 rbis in 2021. It's been a big loss not having him in the lineup. Don't get me wrong, I like seeing the rookie outfielders but they can't compete and score runs with 3 rookie outfielders on the roster at the same time.
Deletegoing into the offseason, there needs to be a bit of philosophical shift next year. dial back on the platooning and bullpen and adopt a bit more of an organic approach of starters and everyday players but, don't abandon anayltics.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Even now, I think Kap should consider defining roles a bit better for rest of season. Try to identify at least 4 SP's, put them out there every 5'th game and start stretching them out.
DeleteBecause it's chaos right now.
DeleteTristan Beck said in an interview that the Giants have no roles and the pitchers have no idea what’s going on and it’s stressful but they have to just be ready at all times.
ReplyDeleteWhile it maybe true, it's disappointing to hear a promising young pitcher like Beck say something like that adding fuel to the fire and maybe putting himself in the doghouse
DeleteAnon: Not sure what interview you are referring too. I just finished listening to 2 extended interviews with Tristan Beck. One with Amy G and a longer one on 95.7 The Game radio. From what he said on both those interviews I would say your paraphrase is a misrepresentation of what he actually said. The stress part was in moving to a bullpen role after his promotion and after being a SP all through college and the minors. It sounded like Willard and Dibley were trying to get him to say something negative about the "mix and match" philosophy but he actually said there is good communication with the coaching staff and the clubhouse is tight knit.
DeleteBailey’s defense is super over rated. He has a ton of errors and almost leads the league in errors for catchers even though he hasn’t even played the whole season.
ReplyDeleteSome of those errors happen because the ball arrives at 2B at the same time as the runner and the simultaneous collision of the 2B glove, ball and runner makes the throw extremely difficult to handle. But there have been a few more of those lately. It's still very early in Bailey's career and probably still too soon to definitively declare him the long term catcher of the future. The framing ability seems to be real though, something I find annoying but at least it's in favor of the Giants.
DeleteFYI:
DeleteBailey has 9 errors in 74 games, for a .986 FP.
From Wikipedia:
"In his career, [Hall of Fame Catcher Johnny] Bench earned 10 Gold Gloves, was named to the National League All-Star team 14 times, and won two Most Valuable Player Awards. He led the National League three times in caught stealing percentage and ended his career with a .990 fielding percentage at catcher and an overall .987 fielding percentage."
Enough with Kapler as manager. He is by nature a corporate front office guy and should be promoted. An old-fashioned field manager to temper the analytics is needed. Wotus would fit the bill.
ReplyDeleteI have my criticisms of Kapler's managing but considering all the injuries and disappointing performances by veterans, I think he's actually done a pretty darn good job keeping the ship afloat. Certainly nothing to fire him over.
DeleteVeterans for sure, helps to have good starting pitching staff.
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