The Giants continued a signature trend from the last several seasons in which they follow a convincing win where they seem to put it all together with.......a faceplant! Justin Verlander's start imploded early and the lineup never found traction against JP Sears LHP as this one quickly devolved into a blowout. Key Lines:
Justin Verlander RHP- 3 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.84. I have to confess I didn't watch the game so can't comment on what Verlander's stuff looked like in this particularly game but 5 K's and 1 BB in 3 IP suggests it's not a "stuff" problem. What I've seen all season is a command problem. When he throws secondary pitches out of the zone to try to put hitters away they end up so far out of the zone they are easy takes and too many fastballs are too far inside the zone and are basically T-balls. I also wonder about pitch tipping. At any rate, his previous start against the White Sox was one of his best of the season and this might have been his worst so we'll see what next start looks like.
Brett Wisely 3B hit a solo HR in the 8'th inning mop-up time. Luis Matos RF(.175), Rafael Devers DH(.261) and Dom Smith 1B(.254) hit doubles. The lineup had 6 hits total and 2 walks against 11 K's.
Logan Webb RHP tries to even the series tonight but he has a tough opponent in Luis Severino RHP who comes in with a 5.09 ERA.
Twice, the Giants started an inning with the first two runners reaching. Both times, they ended up with no runs. Another time, leadoff runner at second. Again, no runs.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why they're not winning isn't rocket science here. Horrible situational hitting. First and reaching, none out. DON'T TRY FOR A HOMERUN. Fundamentals, folks.
The struggles of Verlander and Birdsong are going force Buster to rush up Carson Whisenhunt if things don't improve soon. The bigger concern has to be the regression of Patrick Bailey, His defense has begun to regress on top of his hitting, they need to find him a platoon partner at the deadline.
ReplyDeleteThanks Doc for hanging in there in this trying phase of this season. I wonder when the Giants would make a change on Verlander. His $11M dollar contract should not be relevant as a sunk cost should not be a relevant cost. A move to the bullpen for long relief duty? I agree he needs to get his control back. For most games I have watched the batters have been hitting ropes off of him. He throws 95mph, but seems very hittable. I'd give him to one start after the All Star break. Apparently, Sacramento plays like more of a hitters park during night games as opposed to day games. May the Giants bats come alive tonight.
ReplyDeleteChapman played yesterday for Sacramento! Subbed out in Bot 6th in rout.
ReplyDeleteSome stat padding in that game!
I am asking just how long you believe that Bob Melvin will continue to start Verlander? The results are just not there, and I wonder if these starts might be better offered to other SPs in the system to get a sense if they have anything positive to offer the MLB club in the 2nd half of this season.
ReplyDeleteDepends on how many future games are like his start against the White Sox or last night. If his next 2-3 starts are repeats of last night, it may force a move but if he has a QS or two sprinkled in they'll keep him in there. One thing working in his favor other than the obvious HOF pedigree and $16 M contract is there just aren't any obviously better options short of a deadline trade for a SP.
DeleteWhat a horrible game for Bailey: 4 K's, 4 runners not advanced, and he should have gotten an error on the foul pop he overran then dropped.
ReplyDeleteAlthough today was after a game off, he did catch in 6 days in a row before that (one was not a complete game).
Alcántara didn't fare well in his debut: 0-4, 2 K's, same 4 runners not advanced, and an error.
In addition to Bailey and Alcántara, Giants got no help from Ramos, Flores, and Lee: 5 players with no hits and 16 runners not advanced.
Every team has a clunker now and then, but SF has 2 or fewer runs in 5 of their last 7 games.
Should Chapman rehab on the Giants rather than the River Cats?
yes
DeletePitcher had an era in the 5s before the start. Playing in a minor league field. How many runs did the giants score? 2 with only 1 beikg earned. Embarrassing
ReplyDeleteGiants Beat By Maria Guardado Saturday, July 05
ReplyDeleteFrom the "horse's" mouth:
"I look at the raw material, and I’m like, ‘Alright, the stuff is still OK.’ I know that I can still be successful with the given stuff that I have at this level. I’m just not deceptive enough right now. I need to figure that out. I need to figure out how to blend stuff better. Guys are able to execute their game plan against me too easily. I can’t quite get fastballs by guys when I should be able to. I can’t quite get them to chase the good offspeed pitch. When I do throw a bad one, they’re on it.
"You hear hitters talk about kind of being in the middle, and I kind of feel like that’s where I'm at right now. I can make good pitches. When I do make good pitches, these hitters are so good -- they either foul it off or put it in play, when otherwise it probably should be a swing-and-miss or a foul ball. The margin for error is so much smaller when you do that.
“We’re not robots. Execution isn’t always perfect. You watch the most perfect games ever thrown, and they throw a lot of pitches down the middle. It’s more about deception, keeping guys off balance. I’m not doing a good job of that right now mechanically.” -- Verlander after his clunker against the A's on Friday
I saw this. To me it sounds a lot like there's a pitch-tipping factor here.
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