Down on the Farm: 3/28/2026

AAA:  Sacramento River Cats slipped past the El Paso Chihuahuas 5-4(10 innings):

Bryce Eldridge 1B- 1 for 4, BB.  BA= .333.

Buddy Kennedy 3B- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .333.

Logan Porter C- 1 for 5, 3B.  BA= .200.

Carson Seymour RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, 2/0 GO/AO.  ERA= 0.00.

Tristan Beck RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, 2/0 GO/AO.  ERA= 0.00.

Michael Fulmer RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Seymour needs to get stretched back out after being used mostly in relief in spring training.   

Game Wrap 3/28/2026: Yankees 3 Giants 1

 

4 GIDP's kept the Giants lineup from capitalizing on 9 hits and 12 baserunners in a game that led to some second-guessing for Manager Tony Vitello.  Key Lines:

Jung Hoo Lee RF- 1 for 3, 2B, BB, R.  BA= .100.  The top of the lineup did what it's supposed to do in the third inning when Lee doubled to lead off and Matt Chapman singled him home.  

Luis Arraez 2B- 2 for 4, SB(1).  BA= .273.

Rafael Devers DH- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .250.  When the 3 and 4 hitters go 4 for 8 with a double and a SB and yet have 0 R and 0 RBI, something is seriously messed up.

Tyler Mahle RHP- 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. Mahle did not pitch poorly but threw 80 pitches in 4 innings.  

Ryan Borucki LHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 5.40.  This is where the 3 batter rule bites.  Borucki easily got two outs against lefty batters which brought up Aaron Judge with another lefty batter, Cody Bellinger, on deck.  There is a lot of talk about how Tony Vitello should have put up 4 fingers but Bellinger historically has a pretty severe reverse split and savages LHP's.  As it turned out Judge homered and Bellinger popped out.  IMO Vitello showed his rookiness by not being forceful enough in pointing that out in his postgame presser.  

Tony Vitello Manager- Another critique comes from letting Jung Hoo Lee bat against Tim Hill LHP in the 7'th inning.  Again, most managers are not going to pinch-hit in a 2-out, no runners on base situation.  Then there was Jared Oliva pinch-running for Adames in the 9'th which is defendable but it comes after Adames was lowered to #6 in the batting order amid rumors of some friction between him and Vitello.  Adames just said he was surprised about getting taken out.  Then there was Patrick Bailey batting with one out and runners at 1B and 2B and GIDPing, but Bailey was batting left against David Bednar RHP and there were no lefty batters on the bench.  

The Giants and Tony Vitello have a day off in San Diego to think about it all.  

Landen Roupp RHP starts game 1 of the series on Monday against Walker Buehler RHP which is another opportunity for second-guessing all by itself.  

Down on the Farm: 3/27/2026

AAA:  El Paso Chihuahuas mauled the Sacramento River Cats 9-3:

Bryce Eldridge 1B- 1 for 2, 3 BB.  BA= .500.

Will Brennan RF- 2 for 5.  BA= .400.

Victor Bericoto DH- 2 for 5.  BA= .400 

Grant McCray LF- 3 for 3, BB.  BA= 1.000.

Carson Whisenhunt LHP- 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 9.00

John Bertrand LHP- 3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 9.00.

Drew Gilbert went 1 for 4 and had the only XBH.  It's troubling that John Bertrand shut down the Giants lineup on Monday albeit mostly against reserves.  

Game Wrap 3/27/2026: Yankees 3 Giants 0

 

The Giants reached historic levels of run-scoring futility as they followed up a 3-hit shutout on Wednesday with a 1-hit shutout today adding 13 strikeouts in the process.   Key Lines:

Robbie Ray LHP- 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.38.  Ray pitched better than Logan Webb RHP on Wednesday but it didn't matter when a 9-inning shutout was required just to stay even.  

Heliot Ramos LF got the Giants only hit to go with one of the Giants 3 hits on Wednesday making him  the only Giants batter to get a hit in both games.

The #3 and #4 batters, Rafael Devers DH and Willy Adames SS struck out 3 times each.  

Per MCC per Duane Kuiper in his postgame comments, the 4 hits in these two losses are the fewest to start the season in the entire 144 years of franchise history and it ties the 1909 White Sox for fewest in all of MLB history.  

Per Sarah Langs, this is the first time in Yankees history they have shut out their opponent in each of the first two games of the season.

Per Z. Miller in the MCC Game Summary comments, Per Associated Press the 2026 Giants are the first team in MLB history to record 0 Runs on 5 hits or less in MLB history.

Tyler Mahle RHP tries to right the ship in Game 3 of the series tomorrow facing Will Warren RHP  Unfortunately it's one of those darn Fox Sports 4:15 PM starts.

Opening Day Game Wrap 3/25/2026: Yankees 7 Giants 0

 

The Yankees dominated the Giants in every phase of the game jumping on Logan Webb for all 7 of their runs, 6 earned, while completely shutting down the Giants lineup.  Key Lines:

Logan Webb RHP- 5 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 10.80.  Mike Krukow thought Webb was tipping his pitches in the second inning.  Krukow knows pitching and I thought of that myself as the Yanks teed off on pitch after pitch.  He also did not command his pitches well.  One more angle which may or may not have any connection:  Webb has been rocked in both appearances after coming back from the WBC in which he pitched very well and showed no sign of injury.  Webb has a long history of early season struggles but this was the worst.  Hopefully he figures it out before his next start.

In the end it probably didn't matter how badly Webb pitched as the lineup managed just 3 hits, 2 walks, HBP and E and never came close to threatening to score after the first inning.  That should not happen to a lineup as high-priced as the Giants.   It continues to happen way too often and calls into question Buster Posey's roster construction, especially the players with 9-figure, long-term contracts.  

The Giants get a day to think about this one.  Robbie Ray LHP, the Giants best pitcher in in spring training, takes the mound Friday afternoon facing Cam Schlittler RHP in game 2 of the season.

Exhibition Game Wrap 3/24/2026: Giants 8 Sultanes 2

 Jung Hoo Lee's 3-run homer was the big hit in Landen Roupp's final preseason start.  Key Lines:

Jung Hoo Lee RF- 1 for 1, HR, BB, R, 3 RBI.  Lee's big hit came after Devers and Adames drew walks and broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the 4'th inning.

Landen Roupp RHP- 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K's.  The Giants will be happy if this is his average start for the season.

Michael Fulmer RHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  I've lost track of who's been optioned or reassigned.  Is Fulmer still officially on the spring roster?

Blade Tidwell RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  Rough spring for Tidwell after drawing raves early in camp.  He finishes the preseason on a positive note.

Logan Webb RHP gets the Opening Day start against the Yankees in Oracle Park facing Max Fried LHP.  Game is televised but on Netflix at 5:05 PM PDT.

Exhibition Game Wrap 3/23/2026: Giants 10 Sultanes 2

 The Giants lineup hit 3 home runs to back a bullpen game by the pitching staff in a runaway win againte the Monterrey Sultanes of the Mexican League.  Key Lines:

Willy Adames SS- 1 for 3, HR, BB, R, RBI.  Hopefully Adames starts this season a little more relaxed than last year when he was coming off signing his big contract.

Casey Schmitt 1B- 2 for 3, R.  Schmitt started at 1B with Devers at DH.

Bryce Eldridge 1B- 1 for 1, HR, R, 3 RBI.  Eldridge's stay in AAA may be short.

Jared Oliva CF- 2 for 3, R, RBI.  Harrison Bader is expected to start in CF on Opening Day but Oliva is making a case for a roster spot as a reserve OF.

Tyler Fitzgerald 2B/SS- 1 for 1, HR, R, 2 RBI.  Seems like Christian Koss is ahead of Fitz on the depth chart but Fitz made the most of this opportunity.

Pitchers- 9 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 9 K's.  Carson Seymour gave up both runs.  Remarkably, the collective pitching gave up no walks.  

Giants and Sultanes play one more exhibition tonight before Opening Day on Wednesday.