It was Keaton Winn's turn to blow the Save in the second game of the split-doubleheader and the Giants went on to lose in extra innings. Key Lines:
Matt Chapman 3B- 0 for 4, 2 BB. BA= .271. Walks are OK from batters near the top of the order. The next two batters in the lineup got 2 hits each but the sequencing was off so Chapman did not figure into the scoring.
Luis Arraez 2B- 2 for 6, 2 RBI. BA= .305. Arraez singled in two runs with a 2-out, bases-loaded single in the 5'th inning tying the score at 4.
Casey Schmitt 1B- 2 for 5, 3B, 2 R. BA= .301. Schmitt continues to be one of the best hitters on the team. He went a combined 4 for 9 on the day.
Jung Hoo Lee RF- 2 for 4, R, RBI, BB. BA= .297. Lee went 0 for 4 with 2 K's in Game 1 but came back with a strong game 2.
Drew Gilbert CF- 3 for 5, 2B, R. BA= .279. Gilbert has to keep at least a strong side platoon role after Harrison Bader comes back, right?
Adrian Houser RHP- 4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 K's, 7/1 GO/AO. ERA= 7.12. It looked like Houser might recover from giving up 2 runs in the first inning but he faltered again in the 5'th. Ryan Borucki LHP was brought in to face two lefty batters but failed to retire them. If he can't get the lefty batters out he has no value on the roster.
Caleb Kilian RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.64. I guess it doesn't matter if the runs are given up in the 6'th or 9'th, except Ryan Walker seems much more effective in non-save situations. Free Caleb Kilian and make him the Closer!
The Giants move on to Tampa Bay for a weekend series against the Rays with Robbie Ray LHP facing Shane McClanahan LHP in the first game tomorrow evening.
Buster Posey's failure to address the Closer situation in the offseason came back to bite hard today as the Giants were in position to sweep this doubleheader and win the series only to be swept themselves on both counts.
To be fair there wasn’t much that Posey could do realistically to address the close position without giving bad contracts out or making trades where they are overpaying
ReplyDeleteBuster Posey did not let bad contracts stop him at other positions.
DeleteIn early December the Mariners traded Harry Ford, a catcher who has solid minor league numbers in a few different levels, but struggled in the majors and was blocked by Cal Raleigh + a high A reliever for Jose Ferrer, from the Nationals, who MLBTR described as a "flamethrower from the left side." He got his first save the other day. He's under control until 2029. I get that Ford was a top 100 prospect in some places, but the Giants definitely could have a made a trade like this happen. I guess it could be considered an "overpay" for a reliever, but that overpay may have won them two games yesterday and helped to solve the off-season LHP reliever issue. Instead we get Ryan Boruki.
DeleteApparently the Giants were already talking to the Nationals too! (albeit about CJ Abrams, however)
Who knows if it's the front office or ownership who don't want to spend $10 mil -$15 mil on a good closer. I wish they had used the $ that they signed Houser or Mahle with on a decent closer like Suarez or Iglesias. When I saw Tyler Roger's sign with Jays 3yrs $37 ,mil , disappointed Giants didn't sign him even though he's not a closer. Not willing to spend on good relivers.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I am not sure why we keep saying there is a dichotomy between Buster Posey and ownership when Buster is an owner. Secondly, I have always said and continue to say I believe if Buster went to ownership and said one player would make the difference between making the postseason and not, he would get the green light to acquire that player.
DeleteI also agree with your statement doc. But I think the deeper issue is organizational culture set by the board.
DeleteSure the board hasn’t said no but they clearly set parameters — no long term pitcher deal, no going over the tax etc.
If I was a GM of the Giants and I wanted to keep my job. I wouldn’t be asking the board to make exceptions to the parameters they set.
- Fan
Doc, I pretty much agree with you, ownership will go along with Buster most of the time, but have trouble believing it's 100% of the time. Dont think any pro sports organization can run that smoothly. What jf one of the owners remembers how the Mark Melancon signing didn't work out and don't want to sign a reliever for a big contract, and would take major convincing.
DeleteMy guess is it's Buster Posey who has the long memory on Mark Melancon.
DeleteDoc I'll say I enjoy reading interesting articles like the one Shana Rubin wrote in the off-season about how agents view Buster Poseys FO work. One wondered if Posey can convince other owners to spend more on top starting pitching to compete. Greg Johnson has openly stated reluctance on spending for top starters. Another wondered if Buster and other owners share the same vision for the team, and wondered if he'll stay on the job if that's not the case. Buster wants to win, and the comments were positive..Sorry these articles create some doubt in my mind that ownership will agree on everything Buster brings to them. Then again that's how pro sports franchises work.
DeleteIs it premature to say that Bader and Devers haven’t vindicated Posey’s faith in them? Devers was generally considered one of the best producers in the game. What happened to him? Did his hitting tank when his waistline expanded? Is it fair to question his commitment? He does appear to be making the plays at first.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is premature but Devers looks awful on multiple levels: Conditioning, defense, batting. If anything, he looked heavier and more out of shape today than the first day of spring training. It's not just bad swing decisions or swing mechanics. As Mike Krukow observed, he's swinging right through down-the- pipe fastballs.
DeleteI read that Dever's bat speed is way down from previous years. The silence from management about Dever's struggles concerns me as a fan. Not a good sign. I pray for performance clauses in these millionaires contracts. Bob from Dixon.
ReplyDeleteSince Posey is not getting fired, that leaves Minasian as the next scapegoat if trends continue.
ReplyDeleteMy theory is this is the year Larry Baer retired, and we will get a new Giants CEO.
Delete- Fan
With $200M left on his contract, the Giants need to find a way to get some value out of Devers. Otherwise.....here are some comparative walk away losses by MLB teams:
ReplyDeleteAnthony Rendon 7 years $245M Angels
Chris Davis 7 years $161 Orioles
Stephen Strausberg 7 years $245M Nats
Kris Bryant 7 years $182M Rockies
Albert Pujols $240M 10 years Angels
and the list goes on, Jacob Ellsbury, Pablo Sandoval, Mike Hampton, Ryan Howard
It is too early to write the obituary, but hopefully the Giants don't have to take one of the following options:
Release the player (still pay them)
Trade + eat salary
Defer payments decades out
Or just carry the contract as “dead weight”
Any solutions?
DC
Adames: .197/.240/.352/.593
ReplyDeleteDevers: .207/.248/.289/.537
Bader: .115/.145/.192/.338
Houser & Mayle starts: team record 3-9
Arraez has a good BA but his OPS+ is just 100
I don’t think Arraez belongs in that group. He gets on base. Yesterday he drove in the tying runs. He plays with enthusiasm and apparent competence. I hope they extend him. His idiosyncrasies play very well in SF. We are getting what we are paying for with him. Probably more than any other of the free agents over the last two years. JHL just started producing but until recently I would have included him in that list as well.
DeleteBuster needs to sit down privately with Devers and Adames separately and have a heart to heart about how they think they can best help the team going forward. If they can’t hit 30 with a a modest BA, what can they do?
Average OPS+ is = 100 by definition
DeleteAverage players are OK to have if you have enough better than average players but average teams are not contenders.
The Giants, 87 average OPS+, are less than an average team so far this year.
Can their pitching, barely 100 ERA+, carry them?
The way they are playing, the Giants will be wrestling the Rockies to finish 4th in the NL West.
Today:
Los Angeles Dodgers 20 11 .645 --
San Diego Padres 19 11 .633 0.5
Arizona Dmonbacks 16 14 .533 3.5
Colorado Rockies 14 18 .438 6.5
San Francisco Giants 13 18 .419 7.0
It's bad enough that some of the key payers are barely off the interstate, but I haven't seen one peep about Borg's blown "hold up" sign that he gave to Drew Gilbert in the top of the 10th. Minimally it would've given the G's a chance to bat in the 11th.
ReplyDeleteSure the season isn't going well so far. And as others say, Adames and Devers aren't pulling their weight yet. But at the time that they were signed, people generally were optimistic that Adames and Devers were good players to add. I think they need a longer leash to see what they can do.
ReplyDeleteOn the relief pitcher front-- I'm hoping Sam Hentges gets a shot. Edwin Diaz was available last year but it looks like that is an injury situation. I don't know if there were that many elite closers (Pressly, Yates) that one could sign even if you had 8 mill to get someone? Perhaps one can name a free agent closer that was available that the Giants missed on.
You are right. We are only one month into the season and even elite hitters can have bad months. We'll see if Adames and Devers can turn it around. My concerns with both of them are their struggles didn't just start this April. April seems like a continuation of things we saw last season. Devers, in particular, looks awful as I described in other comments.
DeleteBeing last in MLB in runs and 9th of 30 teams in hits seems a contradiction but it follows from also being last in HRs, and it's a pitiful last: 19 HRs in 31 games.
ReplyDeleteNot scoring produces a huge burden on the teams' pitching: although SF's pitchers have allowed the 7th fewest runs, their 5 more losses than wins places them with the teams in the bottom half of all teams.
For the cost of Houser and Mayle, the Giants might have picked up a closer, but the effective word is "might" — free agent closers have had a very mixed 2026.
Rather than having an ineffective Houser and Mayle, the Giants might still have an ineffective closer.
Not much to add to the above since My biggest criticisms in the off season were that Buster screwed the pooch by ending up with a punchless OF, a horriffic Bullpen with no roles and no closer, and bargain basement bin SP (especially Hauser) that were likely to fail....These game against the Phils underscore all that...but..If you get absolutly nothing from Devers and Adames, you don't stand a chance ever...even if the other spots come together temporarily ( some decent signs from the OF depth)
ReplyDeleteAdames played like this for a long time last yeat but I just don't get the Devers thing...One of the best and most consistent hitters in baseball up until coming to the Giants and still in the prime of his career..Physical (injury, weight, shape)? mental? Attitude? You can still see in some of his ABs how good of a hitter he was and could be...I have zero clue why not now.
SteveVA
We need a rebuild and plan for a Josuar, Hernandez, Level, Eldridge, etc. homegrown core in 3-4 years
ReplyDelete