The Giants bats came to life in the series finale in Toronto but it was not enough to overcome a rough day for the pitching. Key Lines:
Jung Hoo Lee CF- 2 for 5, 2B, R, RBI. BA= .249. After a rough June in which he hit just .143, Lee is batting .306 in July.
Heliot Ramos LF- 2 for 5, 2B, RBI. BA= .267. Ramos went 5 for 12 in the series but had another rough day in the OF misplaying a liner by Bo Bichette that blew past him to the wall for a 2-run double in the third inning.
Matt Chapman 3B- 2 for 4, HR(13), 2 R, 2 RBI. BA= .234. An encouraging game for Chapman. I was starting to worry that his wrist wasn't fully healed but today's line suggests he just needed to get his timing back after a long IL stint.
Andrew Knizner C- 2 for 2. BA= .186. Knizner is batting .316 over his last 7 games.
Robbie Ray LHP- 4.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.92. Ray had a Quality Start against the Dodgers on 7/13 so this is probably just a blip. Tough loss when he got some run support.
Spencer Bivens RHP- 1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.18. Are the wheels coming off for Bivens? He's given up 7 R in 3.2 IP over his last 3 appearances.
Joey Lucchesi LHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.25. Another solid outing for Lucchesi who has been surprisingly effective since his call up. He has an history of starting. Giants might need to press him into service.
Hayden Birdsong RHP who has had his struggles starts tomorrow evening against the Braves and Bryce Elder RHP who comes in with a 5.65 ERA.
We are now just four games over .500 and Buster may need to think of a pivot should this bad stretch continue. I would make Robbie Ray available for trade and look for a taker for Yaz as well as Rogers. If you can't get a sack of baseballs for Yaz, I would just DFA him. I think Grant McCray would be an upgrade over Yaz at this point.
ReplyDeletePlus they would get an evaluation window on McCray to decide if he's the guy for next year.
DeleteHaving said that, I am pretty sure you would have to drag Buster kicking and screaming into sell mode.
DeleteNot just Buster but, Greg Johnson and the rest of ownership. I think the boys club of former Giants players being coaches is just not working and that's on ownership. I do hold out hope at some point Yaz gets purged for McCray he does deserve an evaluation.
DeleteKinda wish they hadn’t extended Melvin. I like him personally and historically and don’t see obvious mistakes. But when a team pervasively plays like less than the sum of their parts something is wrong.
DeleteDFA Yaz? Sure...good idea. fWAR 1.4, bWAR 2.2. MLB Starter quality, at the very least. By Fangraphs lower rating, he's the 94th most valuable position player in the Majors.
Delete4th Highest bWAR on the Giants. (Behind Chappy, Webb & Ray)
He's consistently been 2.0 or better WAR player his entire Giants career. He ain't sexy. And I'm not particularly a fan of his. But I don't get why people think he's so easily replaceable.
Both the team and YtY are on a downward trajectory so you should be able to understand the frustration. He batted .444 in 3 games in March, .256 in April, .215 in May, "rebounded" to .243 in June and is .225 for July. He's batting just .211 over his last 7 games and .216 over his last 15. He's a free agent at the end of this season. Maybe not that easy to replace but do we really want to see him starting in RF next season? I don't know if McCray or Matos are upgrades either but I sure would like to find out and I think the Giants need to.
DeleteBusters 1st trade deadline should be interesting although Pavs has said the owners may be tapped out after Devers trade. They should look to move players who are pending Free agents like Yaz. Buster has said Front office owes it to the fans to look at ways to improve the team. Sometimes selling can work out for both teams too. I remember when the Yankees traded Aroldus Chapman to the Cubs for a young Glyber Torres. I believe the Cubs won the world series that year and the Yankees ended up making a playoff run with Torres in their lineup and became a young cornerstone the next few years.
ReplyDeleteThe last three series were very good opponents, all 1st place teams in their divisions.
ReplyDeleteOf course the Giants have to play to their level to go anywhere, and that's the test for the next 62 games: they have to get better as a "team" — they have the players, maybe they can add on the edges — now they have to perform, and that means Devers, Chapman, Flores, Lee, Ramos, Smith, YtY, and one of the 2Bmen need to pick up their game. Now. Those guys all are playing below their average game (Wisely may be a singular exception).
Get what everyone is doing in the last 7, 15, and 30 games @
https://www.mlb.com/giants/stats/ops?playerPool=ALL&timeframe=-29
Warning: it isn't pretty
Agree that on paper the Giants have the guys to make a run. It's time for them to step up and show it on the field.
DeleteBrian Sabean said on a great interview on KNBR that they learned that contact hitters who keep the line moving is what wins at Oracle Park. Buster posey has said the same thing. The team clearly doesn't have enough contact hitters. I'm willing to be patient to see if he can acquire those type of hitters. The recent draft shows they're serious about addressing adding more contact hitters to the org. Time will tell if they are successful.
ReplyDelete