Carson Whisenhunt was one out short of a Quality Start and the lineup brought their hitting shoes. Key Lines:
Luis Arraez 2B- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, R, RBI. BA= .326. Arraez has 3 hitless games in July which drags his average on the month down to .273. He's partly made up for that with 3 multi-hit games.
Casey Schmitt 3B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(18), BB, 2 R, 2 RBI. BA- .278. Casey opened the scoring with a homer over the apex of L-CF. Thanks to MCC for pointing out that the walk was his first since May 24.
Rafael Devers DH- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, R, 2 RBI. BA= .247. Devers bat is getting better as the season progresses: .308/.419/.692 over his last 7 games although is OPS on the season is still under .800.
Willy Adames SS- 1 for 5, HR(15), R, 2 RBI. BA= .229. Adames has fallen behind the pace for 30 HR's but he's usually better in the second half. Between being last in fielding metrics among qualified shortstops and a .280 OBP he's produced a paltry 0.2 fWAR so far this season.
Bryce Eldridge 1B- 2 for 3, HR(8), 2 BB, R, RBI. BA= .275. Eldridge won praise from Kruk and Kuip for his pitch selection and for adjusting to inside fastballs by pulling his arms in and rotating on the ball. He sent on such pitch into McCovey Cove.
Drew Cavanaugh C- 2 for 3, BB, R. BA= .222. Daniel Susac started a rehab assignment.
Carson Whisenhunt LHP- 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.38. Whiz has 6 BB's and 6 K's in 10.2 IP this season. 20 BB and 22 K's in 34 IP on his career. He looks bigger with a firmer fastball this season.
J. T. Brubaker RHP, Eric Miller LHP and Caleb Kilian RHP held the Rockies scoreless for the final 3.1 innings.
Robbie Ray LHP tries to keep the winning going tonight facing Tanner Gordon RHP who comes in with an ERA of 6.95.
A couple of nice defensive plays by Schmitt and Bericoto helped Whisenhunt out of jams.
ReplyDeleteWinning just one of the 3 remaining games guarantees SF won't be last in the NL at the break.
ReplyDeleteWin a couple and passing the Mets is a possibility depending on their games with the Red Sox.
Would that put a different look on trades in the next three weeks or is Arreas, at least, a goner no matter?
The trade deadline it not until the end of the month but it's very hard to see any scenario where the Giants would not be looking to at least trade the players who are impending free agents.
DeleteJohn Shea reports that Arraez is happy in SF and open to an extension. I would look seriously at that before trading him.
ReplyDeleteKeeping Arraez and submitting a qualified offer upon free agency would result in a compensatory draft pick in 2027.
DeleteA problem is these expensive, long-term, no trade contracts for aging veteran players has limited playing opportunity and development for younger players.
Somehow I doubt Buster Posey currently has any appetite for signing any contract extensions with veteran players.
DeleteMaybe the Giants will give Arraez to anyone who will take one of the big contracts for a couple of prospects...
DeleteI think he should be strongly reconsidering for players who have a career average above .300 and provider great fire for the team. I think if Chapman could have been traded, you let Casey return to his most exceptional defensive position, 3B - which allows you to keep Arraez for an extra year at least. Level, Kilen and the rest are at minimum 1.5 to 2.5 years away, Arraez woods bea good keep and he's nota guy who's going to get top of market money...
DeleteJim it’s absolutely not in our best interest to give a long term high money contract to Arraez considering we have 4 young shortstops in the minors who all look like major leaguers, with three of them in the top 55 prospect list and the fourth one looking like he’s on the fringes of top 100. I love him as a player but if we sign him he will block their path to the majors as one of those shortstops is likely going to be playing 2B (Also we got Adames under contract blocking shortstop for now). Josuar de Jesus Gonzalez, Luis Hernandez, Jhonny Level and Gavin Killen are legit. We would be better off allocating that money towards pitching.
DeleteA bunch of middle infielders are coming up. They cannot sign anyone for long term, which is what Arraez will be looking for.
DeleteArreaz is not signing another 1-year deal, 2026 was to "prove it" and he bet on himself and won. Now, he can cash in, he's proven he can play 2nd base and hit.
ReplyDeleteHe and Ray, at least, will net some very good prospects.
If it's a prospect bonanza Buster wants, there is Wade as long as he doesn't give up any more 1st inning Grand Slams!
I love how there was someone who doesn’t know what they were talking about in your comments yesterday or the other day questioning why the Giants would call up Whisenhunt while trying to say he wasn’t doing good in AAA (clearly that person doesn’t understand the nuances of the minor leagues) and then Whisenhunt gets the call up and does well. The bottom line is that considering our poor record and considering Whisenhunt’s pedigree as a highly drafted and highly ranked prospect, and given the fact that he’s been one of the league leaders in AAA pitching the last two years, they absolutely have to commit to
ReplyDeletehim starting in the rotation for the foreseeable future. He has nothing left to prove in the minors and while he may not be an ace, there’s a chance he could be a solid left handed starting pitcher for us in the future. So throw him out there, let him take his lumps and learn so he can improve for next year and beyond. Let’s see what he can do.