Game Wrap 5/11/2021: Giants 4 Rangers 2

The Giants Continued to win with dominant pitching and letting the other team make the mistakes.  Game Notes:

The undisputed star of this game was Logan Webb RHP who seems to be slowly but surely fine tuning his overwhelmingly nasty stuff.  He was a bit wild in the first inning giving up a couple of walks, a WP and passed ball while allowing an unearned run.  From that point on, he allowed just 3 more hits and no walks while striking out 10.  David Dahl opened the 7'th with a HR and that was it for Webb, but what a start!  He is definitely stated his case to not be the odd man out of the rotation when it is a full strength.

Mike Tauchman CF went 0 for 1 with 3 walks from the leadoff spot.  He started a 2-run rally in the bottom of the first inning with a walk.

Mike Yastrzemski RF doubled in Tauchman and later scored on Brandon Belt 1B's single all in the first inning.

Belt came out of the game later for tightness in his left side, something that has reportedly been bothering him for awhile.  Giants are optimistic he will make his next start on Thursday.

The Giants scored 2 unearned runs in the 6'th inning to give them the cushion to coast to a win. 

Jake McGee LHP notched his 10'th Save in 11 opportunities with a perfect 9'th inning and seems to have his game back on track. 

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The Win keeps the Giants 2 games ahead of the Padres in the NL West with the Dodgers still in progress against the Mariners.  Personally, I am in awe of what the Giants are doing right now.

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The Giants have a travel day tomorrow for an 8 game road trip starting in Pittsburgh Thursday, May 13 with Anthony DeSclafani RHP facing Wil Crowe RHP to start a 4 game series.  The second leg of the trip is a 4-gamer against the Reds in Cincy.

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A's are threatening to follow the Raiders to Las Vegas.  They can't go soon enough as far as I'm concerned.  I've always felt like the A's diluted the fanbase for the Giants when they moved from KC to Oakland in the late 60's.  While that is probably not true anymore, I still haven't gotten over it.  

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Down on the Farm:

AAA:  

Jason Krizan 1B- 1 for 4, HR(1), BB.  BA= .273.

Chadwick Tromp C- 2 for 3, HR(1), BB.  BA= .235.

Drew Robinson RF- 2 for 3, 2B, HR(1), BB.  BA= .188.

Mitchell Tolman 3B- 1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .333.

Krizan had a nice spring training and is now continuing those good vibes in AAA.  Positioned for a future callup if a need arises.  Robinson has a nice game after a rough start to the season.

AA:

Jacob Heyward LF- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1).  BA= .500.

David Villar 3B- 2 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .269.

Sam Long LHP- 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 5.14.

Ronnie Williams RHP- 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 1.35.

Villar hits his 3'rd HR in game 7 of the season.  Ronnie Williams was another minor league waiver claim over the offseason from the Cardinals organization.

Low A:  

Luis Matos CF- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .280.

Armani Smith LF- 2 for 4.  BA= .429.

Alexander Canario RF- 1 for 4, HR(1), Assist.  BA= .300.

Casey Schmitt DH- 1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .143.

Ryan Murphy RHP- 4.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K's.  ERA= 3.12.

Murphy was the Giants 5'th round draft pick in 2020 out of LeMoyne.  Giants liked his pitch mix and saw upside in velocity.

High A Eugene Emeralds were idle.

Game Wrap 5/10/2021: Giants 3 Rangers 1

 Manager Gabe Kapler's platoon/matchup strategy worked to perfection as a string of RH PH put together a 2-out rally in the 7'th inning to break up a pitching duel.  Game Notes:

Alex Wood LHP gave another dominant start:  7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 9/1.  The game-winning rally came in the bottom of his final inning to give him his 4'th W of the season agains 0 L's.  What a find he's been so far for FZ and his team.  

Brandon Belt 1B gave the Giants their lone run against Rangers SP, Kyle Gibson RHP with an oppo-field HR.  Belt may be hitting just .229 but that comes with an OBP of .359 and SLG% of .510.  

The Rangers brought in John King LHP to pitch the 7'th inning.  He came out throwing darts and got two quick outs.  Kap sent Austin Slater PH/LF up to PH for Steven Duggar CF.  Slater ground a walk out of a tough AB.  Darin Ruf PH hit for Alex Wood  and kept the line moving with a single to RF.  That brought up Mauricio Dubon PH/CF to hit for Mike Tauchman LF.  Dubon ended a fantastic AB with a single to LF.  Slater scored the winning run easily on a pathetically weak throw from Khris Davis LF.   Ruf added on an insurance run on a throwing error by Charlie Culberson 3B.

Tyler Rogers RHP worked a 1, 2, 3 8'th inning.  Rogers has allowed just 2 ER in 20 Appearances covering 20.2 IP.  The worms that live in the Oracle Park infield are none too happy with him as he sports a GO/AO= 2.19 which is this close to his career average of 2.20.  That is a dominant groundball tendency.  For those of you who have been reading Down On The Farm for years, none of this comes as a surprise.

Jake McGee LHP was once again a bit on the shaky side allowing 2 singles to RH batters while blowing away 2 LH batters.  He got the final out on a pop up agains a RH batter.  McGee has a 4.80 ERA but has converted 9 of 10 Save Opportunities and I probably dropped him too soon from my fantasy baseball team.

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The Padres were rained out in Colorado and the Dodgers were idle so the Gaints extend their lead in the NL West to 2 games over the Padres and 3 over the Dodgers.

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Logan Webb RHP tries for a sweep of the two game series this afternoon facing Jordan Lyles RHP.

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Charlie Culberson 3B for the Rangers is a former Giants first round draft pick from 2007.  He was traded in 2012 to the Rockies for Marco Scutaro, and we all know how that turned out.  He is now 32 years old and has played parts of 9 seasons with 5 different teams, has starred in postseason play and is earning $1.5 M this season.  He's another example of how a fringe player can carve out a nice long MLB career and earn a surprising amount of money in the process. 

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Kudos to the Giants for achieving 85% COVID vaccine threshold.  This includes not only players but staff and includes their AAA Sacramento club.  Not only are they rewarded with relaxed distancing and masking rules but they have set a great example to the community.  I just lost a medical school classmate to COVID this past weekend, so the virus is still out there.  If you have not been vaccinated yet, please do so ASAP for your own good and the good of the community.

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Down on the Farm:

AAA:  

Bryce Johnson CF- 5 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .684.

Joey Bart C- 2 for 5, HR(2).  BA= .333.

Tyler Beede RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  

Nothing of significance to report from High A Eugene.  AA Richmond and Low A San Jose were both idle.

Game Wrap 5/9/2021: Padres 11 Giants 1

Johnny Cueto RHP got roughed up early in his return from the IL and the Giants offense pretty much took the day off in a blowout loss.  Game Notes:

Some silver linings to Cueto's start:  1.  It was his first start after a fairly long layoff with no rehab starts to ramp up.  2.  He got squeezed several times by home plate ump, Joe West.  Who else?  3.  Although he gave up several hard hits, he also gave up leadoff hits all 3 innings on balls that could have been outs.  4.  His fastball hit 94 MPH so he seems to be fully healthy.

A couple of other silver linings:  Matt Wisler RHP and Jarlin Garcia LHP pitched 2 scoreless innings each and looked good on the process.

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Giants still lead Padres by 1.5 games and the Dodgers, who lost again to the Angels, by 2.5 games.

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The Giants host the Rangers for a two game series starting tomorrow with Alex Wood LHP facing Kyle Gibson RHP in game 1.

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Down on the Farm:

AAA:

Bryce Johnson CF- 3 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .571.

Joey Bart C- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .308.

Scott Kazmir LHP- 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.00.

Shun Yamaguchi RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 5.40.

Minor Leagues have all 5 and 6 game series this season.  River Cats opening with 5 in Las Vegas which is an extremely tough place to pitch.

AA:

Heliot Ramos CF- 1 for 3, 2B(3), BB, SB(2).  BA= .429.

David Villar 3B- 1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .227.

Frankie Tostado 1B- 2 for 3, 3B, BB.  BA= .333.

Tristan Beck RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K.  ERA= 4.00.

Heliot Ramos has at least one hit in each of the Flying Squirrels first 6 games. He's drawn a walk in each of his last 4 games.

High A:

Will Wilson SS- 4 for 6, 2B, 3B.  BA= .409.

Diego Rincones LF- 2 for 5, HR(3), BB.  BA= .455.

Franklin Labour RF- 1 for 4, HR(2), 2 BB.  BA= .250.

Simon Whiteman 2B- 2 for 3, 3B, BB, SB(3).  BA= .500.

Caleb Kilian RHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 1.00.

The NWL tends to be an extreme hitter's league.

Low A:

Armani Smith LF- 2 for 2, HR(1), BB.  BA= .412.

Casey Schmitt 3B- 1 for 3, HR(1).  BA= .118.

Down on the Farm: 5/8/2021

AAA:

Bryce Johnson CF- 2 for 3, HR(2), 3 BB.  BA= .556.

Mitchell Tolman 2B-  2 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .462.

Gregory Santos RH- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, 4/0 GO/AO.

Bryce Johnson has started off hot in previous years so we need to see how sustainable this hot start is.  Mitchell Tolman was a minor league waiver claim from the Mets in the offseason.

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AA:

Heliot Ramos CF- 2 for 5, 2B, 2 BB, SB(1).  BA= .444*

Andy Sugilio RF- 2 for 4, SB(2).  BA= .500.

Sandro Fabian LF- 2 for 7, HR(1).  BA= .200.*

Matt Frisbee RHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 0.00

Patrick Ruotolo RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, Save(1).  ERA= 0.00.

*denotes combined from both games of doubleheader.  

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High A:

Franklin Labour RF- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .250.

Jacob Gonzalez 3B- 2 for 4.  BA- .333.

Is this the year Jacob Gonzalez finally gets some traction after two awful seasons in Augusta?

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Low A:

Luis Matos CF- 2 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .286.

Marco Luciano SS- 1 for 4.  BA= .167.

Kyle Harrison LHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Ty Weber RHP- 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.60.

Wil Jensen RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Luis Matos so far off to a hotter start than the more highly touted Marco Luciano.  Extreme SSS, though.  Matos has some helium on top prospect lists, though.  Ty Weber and Wil Jensen were signed last summer as undrafted FA's. 

Game Wrap 5/8/2021: Giants 7 Padres 1

The Giants dominated every phase of the game and clinched a series win wire-to-wire.  Game Notes:

Kevin Gausman RHP was working on 3 extra days of rest courtesy of a mild reaction to the COVID vaccine.  He worked with a FB that sat 96-98 MPH and a beautiful splittter that not only fell off the table but faded away from LH hitters.  He was touched for a run in the 5'th inning aided by a throwing error by Curt Casali C, but beyond that was never in serious trouble and showed good command of sensational stuff.  He seemed to get stronger as the game went along and struck out the side in his 6'th and final frame hitting 98 MPH with several FB's.  Stuff, command, stamina, all signs of a true ace. 

So there might be something to this "Moustache May" thing.  Austin Slater PH/LF, the ringleader, homered for the second game in a row.  Today's blast was the 3'rd longest by a Giant since the inception of statcast.  Slater did not start against Joe Musgrove RHP, but entered the game in the 6'th inning as a PH for starting LF Mike Tauchman to face sidearming Tim Hill LHP.  Slater delivered a run-scoring single.  He later delivered the blast to CF off Nabil Crismatt RHP.  

Brandon Crawford SS started the Giants scoring with a 3-run HR over the wall in R-CF which is a pretty good poke itself.  Crawford is currently on fire hitting .333 over his last 15 games and .357 over his last 7.  He's homered in 2 of his last 3 games.  By UZR/150, he's also playing his best D since 2016.

Brandon Belt 1B also homered.  Musgrove was throwing about 80% curveballs and threw a pretty good looking one down and in, but Belt did the classic LH batter golf swing and drove it over the RF wall.  Belt is slashing .292/.393/.667 over his last 7 games despite going 0 for 7 in his previous 2.

Steven Duggar CF is also a hot hitter.  He went 2 for 4 with 2 oppo-field hits today and his hitting .280 over his last 15 games .318 over his last 7.  

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The Win stretched the Giants lead in the NL West to 2.5 games over the Padres and Dodgers who are pounding the Angels as I write this.  

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Johnny Cueto RHP returns from the IL tomorrow to try for a series sweep against TBD.

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OK, I called this one a few days ago.  Aaron Sanchez RHP went to the IL with "right biceps tightness" to make room on the Active Roster for Gausman.

Game Wrap 5/7/2021: Giants 5 Padres 4

 With the Giants coming off a 2-4 road trip into an early showdown series, they needed to win this game.  They did and showed some heart in the process.  Game Notes:

Uh oh!  Austin Slater CF is resurrecting "Moustache May" from something he saw in the minor leagues.  We may be stuck with that as Slater had a day from the leadoff spot in the lineup.  Not only was his oppo-field HR the game winning hit, but he also drew 2 walks, stole a base and scored 3 runs.  

Buster Posey C stayed blazing hot with an oppo-field 2-run HR of his own and also drew 2 walks.  He's hitting .397.  We may need to go all the way back to his MVP season of 2012 to find an equivalent hot stretch.

Anthony DeSclafani RHP allowed just 3 baserunners through 5 innings(one on an error by Wilmer Flores 2B) but ran into trouble in the 6'th.  Trent Grisham CF hit a 2-run HR with no outs and Manny Machado 3B doubled.  Kap brought in Sam Selman LHP to face Eric Hosmer 1B and Hos homered to CF to erase the Giants 4-0 lead.  Zach Littell RHP got the final out of the inning.

Camilo Doval RHP, Tyler Rogers RHP and Jake McGee LHP shut down the Padres the rest of the way to make Slater's HR in the 7'th the game-winning hit.

Gotta say, I honestly would not have had the confidence in Jake McGee to put him out there in that situation and you had to have that "here we go again" feeling when he walked the first batter he faced and went to 3-2 on the the second.  He got the K on that second batter and seemed to gain confidence as the inning progressed while striking out the side for his 8'th Save.  The Giants probably need Jake McGee to be an effective Closer to have a chance to stay in this race.

Wilmer Flores 2B left the game early with what was described as lower back tightness.  That came after an error in the second inning that cost DeSclafani a lot of extra pitches, something ADS(I refuse to call him Disco) was visibly unhappy about.

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The Win lengthened the Giants lead over the Padres to 1.5 games while the Dodgers lost their series opener to their freeway rivals, the Angels to fall 2.5 games behind the Giants.  BTW, the Dodgers have lost 7 of 8 and 14 of 18 since their 13-2 start to to the season.

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Kevin Gausman RHP comes off a 3-day stay on the COVID IL after what sounds like a mild reaction to the vaccine.  He'll face Joe Musgrove RHP while trying to nail down a series win for the Giants.

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Here's a fun fact about Willie Mays:  In 1971, Willie's age 40 season, he hit 18 HR's and stole 23 bases.  Age! 40! Season!  Oh, and he also had an OBP of .425 that season.

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Down on the Farm:

Thairo Estrada SS AAA- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .667.

Bryce Johnson CF AAA- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1).  BA= .500.

Tyler Fitzgerald SS High A- 2 for 4, 2B, BB, SF.  BA= .286.

Will Wilson DH High A- 2 for 4, HR(1), 2 BB.  BA= .313.

Logan Wyatt 1B High A- 2 for 4, 2 BB.  BA= .538.

Luis Matos CF Low A- 3 for 4, BB, SB(1).  BA= .235.

Ricardo Genoves C Low A- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .333.

Armani Smith LF Low A- 2 for 4, 3B, SF.  BA= .333.

Harrison Freed RF Low A- 3 for 4, BB.  BA= .571.

Nick Swiney LHP Low A- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Marco Luciano SS Low A- 0 for 5.  BA- .143.

AA Richmond was rained out.  Giants are thin at SS.  Estrada may be positioning himself for a future promotion is a need arises.  Can Logan Wyatt sustain his OBP goodness without adding significant power?

Down on the Farm: 5/6/2021

We'll expand Down on the Farm a bit here due to no Game Wrap.

AAA:  Sacramento River Cats pounded the Las Vegas Aviators 8-1

Thairo Estrada SS-  4 for 5, HR(1).

Joey Bart C-  1 for 4, HR, BB.  

Mitchell Tolman 3B-  2 for 4, 3B.

Tyler Beede RHP- 0.2 IP. 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  

Dominic Leone RHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's

Gregory Santos RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K.

Estrada was obtained in a trade with the Yankees April 11 for cash after he was DFA'd by the Yanks on 4/6.  He spent 2020 on the Yankees expanded MLB Active Roster.  He has a MLB career .214 BA in 112 AB but a MILB career .282 BA.  Tyler Beede made his first game appearance since undergoing TJ surgery early last year.  He was on a 20 pitch limit and threw 17.  I expect to see Dominic Leone pitching for the Giants before the year is out.  Gregory Santos appears to need more work on his command.

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AA:  Richmond Flying Squirrels outscored the Hartford Yard Goats 12-6

Heliot Ramos CF- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(2), BB.  BA= .462.

Andy Sugilio RF- 2 for 5.  BA= .500.

Vince Fernandez LF- 3 for 4, BB.  BA= .375.

Sean Hjelle RHP- 1 for 2.  BA= .500.  

Sean Hjelle RHP- 3.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 9.82.

Heliot Ramos has just bolted out of the gate for the Flying Squirrels.  That's very good news for the Giants and their fans as Richmond and the EL have dashed lots of prospect hopes over the years.  Sugilio was signed as a minor league FA in the offseason.  Word is that Sean Hjelle(6'11") running the bases is a sight to behold.  Rooting interest in Vince Fernandez who played college ball at UC Riverside, a local school.  Giants got him on a minor league waiver claim from the Rockies organization in the offseason.

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High A:   Eugene Emeralds outlasted the Spokane Indians 8-4 in 10 innings

Logan Wyatt 1B- 2 for 2, 3 BB.  BA= .556.

Diego Rincones LF- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(2).  BA= .500.

Ismael Munguia RF- 2 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .500.

Simon Whiteman 2B- 1 for 5, SB(1).  BA= .400.

Seth Corry LHP= 2.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 7.71. 

Jasier Herrera RHP- 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

John Russell RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Rincones is starting the season en fuego.  He may have trouble finding a position to play in MLB, but I think he has a MLB bat.  Control issues resurface for Seth Corry.  Ems scored 3 in the 8'th and 9'th innings to tie then scored 4 in the top of the 10'th for the W.  They are 3-0 to start the season.

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Low A:  Fresno Grizzlies edged out the San Jose Giants 2-1

Brett Auerbach 2B- 2 for 3, BB, SB(1).

Carson Ragsdale RHP- 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's.

Auerbach was signed as an undraftred FA after the shortened 2020 draft.  Carson Ragsdale is a 6'8" pitching prospect I will watch with interest after he was acquired by trade from the Phillies for Sam Coonrod RHP in the offseason.