Game Wrap 6/17/2024: Giants 7 Cubs 6

The Giants overcame a bullpen meltdown with runs over the final three innings for a come-from-behind win to start an important road series.  Key Lines:

Heliot Ramos CF- 2 for 5, HR(9).  BA= .328.  Heliot shows no signs of cooling off.  His lead-off oppo-field HR in the 7'th inning came after the Cubs took 2-1 lead in the 6'th on a 2-run HR by Michael Busch off Randy Rodriguez RHP.

Patrick Bailey C- 2 for 4, HR(5), BB.  BA= .286.  On defense, Bailey battled the home plate ump who had a rough night.  At the plate he homered in the 8'th to cut the Cubs lead to 6-4 setting up the big 9'th inning comeback rally.

Jorge Soler DH- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .227.  Soler is hitting .381 over his last 7 games and .308 over his last 15.

Mike Yastrzemski RF- 2 for 4, 3B, BB.  BA= .222.  Great game by YtY on both sides of the ball.  RBI triple for the Giants first run in the 4'th inning.  Perfect throw to the plate to nail a runner trying to score on a sac fly to end the Cubs 5'th inning threat.

Thairo Estrada 2B- 2 for 3, HR(9), BB.  BA= .243.  Thairo's 3-run shot in the 9'th was the game-winning hit.  He's hitting just .222 over his last 7 games but is 5 for 9 over his last 3.  He and Heliot Ramos are now tied for the team lead in HR's.

Trenton Brooks 1B- 0 for 4, 3 K, SB(1).  BA= .143.  Brooks had a very rough game including 2 pitch timer violations.  In one AB with the bases loaded he was late squaring up to the pitcher and gave up strike one on a delay of game call. He followed that with two check swing attempts he couldn't hold up on.  As Kruk would say, "that was a rough at bat!"  Then in the 7'th inning he appeared to call off Thairo Estrada on a pop up that was a can of corn for the second baseman, then at the last second Brooks pulled up and the ball dropped in front of Estrada. The next batter popped out for what should have been the third out, but instead Bellinger walked, Suzuki doubled and Ian Happ homered.  Bam!  6-3 Cubs.  Does anyone have Brandon Belt's number?  

Jordan Hicks RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 2.82.  Typical Hicks game, but hey!  Blake Snell has won a couple of Cy Youngs pitching like this.

Camilo Doval RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 4.71.  Doval was a little more focused for this Save Opportunity and avoided the torture with a 1, 2, 3 9'th inning.  

With the Win, the Giants moved into a tie with the Nationals for the third Wild Card playoff spot.  They continue to trail the Dodgers by 8.5 games.

Logan Webb RHP tries to clinch a series win tomorrow evening against Justin Steele LHP who has an 0-3 W-L record but a good 3.22 ERA.

Down on the Farm: 6/16/2024

AAA:  Reno Aces defeated the Sacramento River Cats 10-6:

Luis Matos RF- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(8).  BA= .256.

Jerar Encarnacion DH- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .500. 

Brett Auerbach LF- 1 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .325.

Grant McCray CF- 2 for 4, SB(3).  BA= .280.

Great series for Luis Matos. He probably needs to prove it wasn't just the extreme hitting environment of Reno.  I have no idea who Jerar Encarnacion is.  Somebody The Churn washed in?

AA:  Richmond Flying Squirrels blanked the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5-0:

Carter Howell CF- 2 for 4, 2B, Sac.  BA= .276.

Will Wilson 3B- 3 for 5, SB(4).  BA= .233.

Jairo Pomares RF- 1 for 5, HR(6).  BA= .238.

Christian Koss SS- 2 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .341.

Carson Ragsdale RHP- 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K's, GO/AO= 3.69.

A+:  Everett Aquasox outscored the Eugene Emeralds 8-5:

Quinn McDaniel 2B- 1 for 4, HR(4).  BA= .246.

Rodolfo Nolasco RF- 1 for 4, HR(4).  BA= .240.

Zach Morgan DH- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .229.

A:  Inland Empire 66'ers outlasted the San Jose Giants 12-10(10 innings):

Jonah Cox CF- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(2), 2 BB.  BA= .314.

Bryce Eldridge DH- 2 for 6, 2B.  BA= .271.

Guillermo Williamson 1B- 2 for 5, BB.  BA= .246.

Elian Rayo 3B- 1 for 3, HR(4), 2 BB.  BA= .234.

Esmerlin Vinicio LHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 4.85.

Game Wrap 6/15/2024: Giants 13 Angels 6

Faced with an unexpected bullpen game after the unexpected placement of Kyle Harrison LHP on the IL, the Giants lit up the Angels bullpen game pitchers with a 9-run 4'th inning to give Spencer Bivens an MLB Win to his lifelong credit.  Key Lines:

Brett Wisely SS- 2 for 6, 2 2B.  BA= .313.  I think it's pretty clear Wisely should. be the starting SS against all RHP's and maybe should be the fulltime starter.  If you go back through his minor league record there's a reason why FZ acquired him and we're seeing it now.

Heliot Ramos CF- 2 for 6.  BA= .326.  Ramos showed his versatility as a hitter by going the other way for two early hits even though neither hit figured into the scoring.

Jorge Soler DH- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(8), BB.  BA= .224.  Maybe Soler reads this blog?  He drove in 3 of the 4'th inning runs by going above the strike zone to take a Not-Forever Giant Hunter Strickland pitch well over the LF wall.  He definitely did not chop down on THAT pitch!  He doubled later in the game.  Hopefully this is the breakout game for him we've been waiting for.

Austin Slater PH/RF- 2 for 2, HR(1), BB, HBP.  BA= .230.  The Angels were in bullpen game mode too.  When Soler walked and Wilmer Flores doubled off a LHP to start the 4'th inning, Bob Melvin pullled a move out of Gabe Kapler's playbook and pinch-hit Slater for YtY.  Slater contributed to the rally by reaching base on a HBP which set up successive doubles by Thairo Estrada 2B and Brett Wisely to give the Giants the lead and they just kept adding on.  

Spencer Bivens RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.00.  What a great story here.  Bivens pitched for an unknown college program at age 24 then kicked around multiple indy ball teams before the Giants signed him as a free agent in 2022.  He's worked his way up the Giants system and finally got his call when Harrison got hurt in the weight room Saturday.  He not only threw his first MLB pitch but recorded a Win in the process and undoubtedly earned himself a refill on his cup of coffee.  Hey!  He probably would have gone a 4'th inning if he hadn't had to sit for so long during the Giants half of the 4'th inning!  Maybe he can be stretched out to be a bulk innings guy or even a starter?  Bivens has a long, lean, athletic body and a MLB repertoire anchored by a mid-90s FB.  Why not?

We won't talk about Camilo Doval's embarrassing performance in the 9'th inning.

The Win kept the Giants at 8.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West and left them 0.5 games behind in the Wild Card playoff race.

The Giants hit the road to start a series against the Cubs with Jordan Hicks RHP facing Javier Assad RHP.  The Giants next 13 games include 7 against the Cubs, 3 against the Cardinals and 3 against the Dodgers.  With the starting rotation hanging by a thread, this will be a huge challenge will likely go a long way toward defining the season.

Breaking News: Kyle Harrison to IL

No!!!!!!  A bad situation just became dire.  Kyle Harrison LHP who was scheduled to start today's series finale against the Angels was placed on the 15 day IL with an ankle sprain(I don't want to know how THAT happened).  At least it's not he arm.  Ooof!!!!

Spencer Bivens RHP was called up to the Active Roster and Nick Avila RHP was DFA's to make room on the 40-man roster for Bivens.   

Down on the Farm: 6/15/2024

 AAA:  Reno Aces outscored the Sacramenton River Cats 7-6:

Tyler Fitzgerald 3B- 1 for 5, HR(7).  BA= .364.

Luis Matos RF- 3 for 5, 2B, 2 HR(7), SB(4).  BA= .252.

Donovan Walton 2B- 2 for 3, HR(4), BB.  BA= .282.

Ismael Munguia DH- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .250.

Hayden Birdsong RHP- 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 6.75.

Raymond Burgos LHP- 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 1.89.

Matos comes back from an 0 for 4 with another huge game.  In the series he is 12 for 23 with 5 double and 4 HR's.  Hayden Birdsong strikes out 7 in his first AAA game in a tough pitching environment.

AA:  Richmond Flying Squirrels outlasted the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3-2(11 innings):

Victor Bericoto CF- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .228.

Brandon Martorano RF- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .333.

John Bertrand LHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 2.91.

Seth Corry LHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.

Tyler Myrick RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 5.54.

Victor Bericoto played CF?  

A+:  Everett Aquasox buried the Eugene Emeralds 7-3:

Diego Velasquez SS- 3 for 5.  BA= .289.

Matt Higgins LF- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(3).  BA= .265.

Onil Perez C- 3 for 5, SB(15).  BA= .277.

Rodolfo Nolasco DH-  1 for 2, 2 BB, SB(4).  BA= .239.

Andrew Blair RHP- 4 IP,  4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 5.80.

Julio Rodriguez RHP- 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.08.

A:  Inland Empire 66'ers ran over the San Jose Giants 7-2:

Nothing of note to see here.

ACL:  Angels defeated the Giants 5-2:

Spencer Miles RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 2.25.

Johan Rodriguez RHP- 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 5.09.

DSL:  Giants Black beat Giants Orange 7-3:

Jhonny Level SS- 1 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .233.

Oliver Tejada CF- 2 for 4, 3B, SB(4).  BA= .361.

Dennys Riera 2B- 2 for 3, SF.  BA= .417.

Jose Meza RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 2.35.

Antonio Millan LHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Game Wrap 6/15/2024: Angels 4 Giants 3

The Giants got a Quality Start from Keaton Winn and 3 XBH's from Heliot Ramos.....and lost in an embarrassing display of offensive and defensive futility....and a possible managing mistake.  Key Lines:

Austin Slater LF- 1 for 3, BB.  BA= .203.  Slater led off against a LHP starter and got on base ahead of Ramos twice.  Slater is hitting .333 with an OBP of .391 over his last 7 games.

Heliot Ramos CF- 3 for 5, 2 2B, HR(8).  BA= .325.  Ramos continued to scald the ball and drove in both Giants runs.  His 2-run shot in the first inning got the Giants off to a promising start.

Jorge Soler DH- 1 for 4.  BA= .219.  #3-7 in the lineup went a combined 3 for 19 with 1 walk and 0 XBH's.  Maybe YtY can be forgiven because he was facing a tough LHP but Wilmer Flores batting cleanup also went 0 for 4.  I single out Soler because the man was once again flailing at breaking balls in the dirt.....or maybe I should say chopping?  I noticed that he has a pronounced chop in his swing like he is using his bat to chop wood, not like trying to fell a tree but trying to split firewood.  It looks like he's doing it to shorten his swing but it also shortens the time the bat is in the strike zone and possibly explains why, when he does make contact, he's just chopping the ball into the ground.  Where are the batting coaches?

Curt Casali C- 2 for 3, 2B, E(2, throw).  BA= .206.  OK, Casali had pretty good day at the plate, but he had a very rough on behind the plate as the Angels stole 3 bases and the throwing error on Schanuel's SB led to an unearned and winning run.  When Casali arrived he initially stabilized a chaotic catching situation when Patrick Bailey was on the IL.  Bailey is back but can't catch every game.  Apparently word is out around the league they can run on Casali?  There seems to be some hope that Tom Murphy will be back at some point but I seem to recall he as having issues before his injury.  The Giants acquired a veteran minor league catcher just yesterday which would seem to be a back up plan in case Casali's defensive woes continue and Murph's comeback is delayed.  Meanwhile(checks notes) Joey Bart has slightly better defensive numbers and a far better slash line while playing a backup/platoon role with the Pirates.  

Keaton Winn RHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 6.66.  A Quality Start that maybe shouldn't have been?  Winn looked sharp and healthy until he was wild on a leadoff walk.  Someone in the dugout must have seen something they didn't like and a whole entourage including Bob Melvin, the Pitching coach and trainer came out and appeared to be questioning Winn rather intently.  Winn appeared to insist he was OK and stayed in the game.  Kevin Pillar flied out to RF but then Logan O'Hoppe hit a mammoth HR to tie the the game.  Winn stayed in to finish the inning but you have to wonder about all that, especially with two trips to the IL already under his belt and a long string of ineffective starts up to today.

The Loss left the Giants 8.5 games behind the Dodgers who also lost and a full game behind in the Wild Card race.

Kyle Harrison LHP tries to salvage one win out of the 3-game weekend set facing fireballer Ben Joyce RHP opening a bullpen game for the Angels.

Down on the Farm: 6/14/2024

AAA:  Reno Aces outscored the Sacramento River Cats 10-7:

Grant McCray RF- 2 for 4, BB, SB(2).  BA= .294.

David Villar 3B- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .269.

Hunter Bishop CF- 2 for 4, HR(4), BB.  BA= .310.

Donovan Walton 2B- 2 for 4.  BA= .275.

Ismael Munguia LF- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .250.

Mason Black RHP- 1.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 4.26.

Of the non-40-man roster players, Hunter Bishop and Grant McCray would appear to be next in line of an MLB opportunity.  When a pitcher hits a wall like Mason Black, I alway suspect either an injury or he's tipping pitches. 

AA:  Richmond Flying Squirrels bombed the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 9-3:

Will Wilson SS- 1 for 4, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .233.

Brady Whalen 1B- 4 for 5, 2B, BB.  BA= .455.

Victor Bericoto CF- 1 for 5, HR(6), BB.  BA= .222.

Andy Thomas C- 2 for 3, 2 BB.  BA= .271.

Jairo Pomares LF- 2 for 4, HR(5), BB.  BA= .242.

Luis Toribio 3B- 2 for 5, HR(4).  BA= .159.

Jairo Pomares, the third member of the "big 3" with Marco Luciano and Luis Matos from the 2018 international signing period, his hitting .351 in June after a .177 in May.  He was injures almost all of last season getting only 31 PA's in the ACL.

A+:  Everett Aquasox defeated the Eugene Emeralds 4-1:

Onil Perez C- 1 for 2, BB, HBP.  BA= .266.

Tanner O'Tremba RF- 2 for 3, BB, SB(9).  BA= .228.

Seth Lonsway LHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 10/1.  ERA= 3.95.

A:  San Jose Giants outlasted the Inland Empire 66'ers 7-6(10 innings):

Scott Bandura LF- 3 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .276.

Nadir Lewis RF- 1 for 3, HR(1), BB.  BA= .130.

Trent Harris RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 1.14.

ACL:  Royals topped the Giants 5-4:

Maui Ahuna DH- 2 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .345.

Walker Martin SS- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .222.

Jose Ramos LF- 2 for 3, SB(7)

DSL:  Giants Orange pounded the Mariners 10-2:

Yosneiker Rivas 2B- 1 for 2, 2B, 3 BB, Sac.  BA= .296.

Brandon Vasquez RF(17 yo)- 2 for 5, 2 2B, SB(1).  BA= .214.

Albert Jimenez 3B(17 yo)- 2 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .192.

Jorge Ramirez C- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .400.

Jeyson Moya SS(17 yo)- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB(2).  BA= .063.

Jose Bello RHP- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 1.50.

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

DSL:  Giants Black beat the White Sox 10-4:

Anthony Marquez SS(17 yo)- 3 for 4, 3B, BB, SB(2).  BA= .176.

Angel Guzman RF- 4 for 4, 2 3B, BB, SB(3).  BA= .529.

Oliver Tejada DH(17 yo)- 2 for 4, SF.  BA= .344.

Evan Estevez 1B(16 yo)- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .250.

Jose Gonzalez RHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA- 0.00.

Although midseason promotions from the DSL to ACL are rare, I think there were a couple last season.  18 yo Angel Guzman appears to be a candidate as he appears to be too good for the DSL this season after putting up a slash line of .257/.392/.450 last season as a 17 yo.