Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Game Wrap 9/5/2023: Cubs 11 Giants 8

The Giants lineup wore their hitting shoes today but a parade of 6 bullpen pitchers got lit up and were not helped by sloppy defense in a high-scoring loss.  Key Lines:

Lamonte Wade Jr. 1B- 1 for 3, HR(14).  BA= .251.
Mike Yastrzemski RF- 1 for 3, HR(13).  BA= .232.
Wilmer Flores DH- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(21).  BA= .288.
Joc Pederson LF- 3 for 4, 2 2B, BB.  BA= .246.
J. D. Davis 3B/1B- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(16).  BA= .249.

These are the guys who need to produce if the Giants have any hope of making a playoff run.  Now they just need to do it when the pitching is more effective.  Not to take anything away from Wilmer Flores' career year, but I'm pretty sure I made a comment early in the season that it would not be a good sign if he had to carry the offense again as he did last year.  Well, he's carrying it again and no, that's not a good thing.  

The loss was the Giants 5'th in a row and drops them 2 games behind the Reds in the race for the final Wild Card Playoff spot.

TBD pitches for the Giants tomorrow facing Jordan Wicks LHP who will be making his 3'rd career start and I think we all know what THAT means!

Churn Watch John Brebbia RHP was activated from the 60 day IL.  Tristan Beck RHP was optioned to AAA Sacramento and A. J. Pollock OF was released.

Patrick Bailey C who entered the game as a PH for Blake Sabol C suffered a blow to the chin on a play at the plate and suffered a possible concussion.  Joey Bart C may get his shot at proving his resurgence in AAA Sacramento is not a mirage.

7 comments:

  1. Pollack being released is a joke, literally new he would be released before the season ends and he was their big mid season acquisition. Pathetic. Also pathetic that Beck is getting sent down.

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  2. this is where i question kapler's bullpen management and the bullpen games in general. the bullpen has begun to leak oil and they have been unnecessarily taxed from some of these questionable bullpen games. i'm hoping it will be stripling starting tomorrow and if he struggles he's gonna have to take one on the chin. this is joey bart's moment to try impress for the backup catcher job in 2024 for the rest of the year.

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    1. I do believe too many bullpen games wears down the entire pitching staff. If it comes to pass, Joey Bart needs to make the most of this opportunity. Probably his last chance with the Giants.

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  3. The fact that MLB teams can expand the rosters by only 2 players , 28 total hurts teams like the Giants who have a lot of young players and had to option Beck to bring back Brebbia. I remember a time when teams could expand their rosters alot more so we got to see more younger players in September. I miss those days as a fan.

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  4. Susan Slusser said something on a KNBR podcast that the Giants owner Greg Johnson told her they don't want to go over the CBT payroll wise. So would that mean that if they sign Ohtani , that would be it? Can they field a competitive team with that plan? Although a bloated payroll doesn't guarantee success look at the Padres and Mets, but I thought the Giants were a team that had the financial resources to spend more on payroll then they have Another FZ comment I heard that struck me was when asked about the Giants rumored interest in Justin Verlander at the trade deadline, FZ responded by saying he contacted owner Greg Johnston to assure him he won't try to trade for a pitcher making $40 mil a year. Verlander is a difference maker they should have gone for if he was willing to come. Makes me wonder if ownership is committed to a winning team?

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  5. Oh-for-September!
    Losing 5 in a row not only drops SF 2 games out of the WC, it puts 2 teams ahead of them to get in the playoffs, including AZ.
    Flores had pushed his slash up to .310/.367/.552/.919 but has fallen off in the last 11 games as the Giants lost 8 of them while he slashed just .171/.277/.463/.740.
    There is, potentially, good news: next 10 games (after finale with the Cubs today) SF faces Colorado for 7 and Cleveland for 3, both losing teams, 6 games at home.
    Looking beyond them, Giants have 7 games with the Dodgers, 3 with SD, and 2 with AZ, finishing with 6 at home.
    Just before the home finish, there are 10 on the road, including 2 in AZ and 4 in LA.
    Don't rush out to buy playoff tickets: Giants are 5 games behind the Cubs for the last home playoff game and have already lost the tie-breaker with them. So it's really 6 games out of a home game post season.

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    1. 70-70, 7 short of a home playoff game, bring on the Rockies - could the Giants have better news?

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