The bullpen faltered down the stretch allowing a total of 3 runs in the 7'th and 8'th innings for a come from ahead loss in the finale of the opening road trip. Key Lines:
Steven Duggar RF- 1 for 4, HR(1). BA= .286. Duggar moves over to RF and hits a dinger to drive in the Giants first run of the game in the 4'th inning. OK, here's the deal. Newly acquired CF Kevin Pillar has played almost exclusively CF while Duggar played over 130 games in RF in the minors. Basically Pillar claims seniority for the position(not implying he demanded it), and the transition is likely to be easier for Duggar.
Brandon Belt 1B- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .217. Belt followed up Duggar's dinger with a 2-run dinger of his own in the 4'th to give the Giants a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately that would be the last run the Giants would score on the night.
Derek Holland LHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 5.00. Holland gave up a leadoff HR to Enrique Hernandez who seems to be this year's monster breakout for LA. The Dodgers scored again in the first inning, then Holland settled down to shut them down over the next 4 innings. He threw 98 pitches which is why he came out after 5 innings.
Reyes Moronta RHP- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 6.75. I was watching on Gameday. Moronta had no command and it cost the Giants the game.
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The second close loss to the Dodgers pushes the Giants into last place in the NL West with a record of 2-5, 3 games behind the leading Dodgers.
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The Giants come home to a day off before taking on the Rays in their Home Opener on Friday. Dereck Rodriguez is the scheduled starter facing RHP Tyler Glasnow.
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Agree to disagree about the California Dreaming scenario Dr. B, with all due respect. All four of the Core (2xBrandon, Panik & Posey) all had significant down years last year, along with all of them starting to age beyond their peak years. Belt's BA dropped precipitously over the last 2 years, and Panik really only had 1 fantastic year with 2 years including 2018 with an OPS BELOW .700.
ReplyDeleteEven with career average years, who is the guy propelling the team forward?? Career average years from the core would roughly equate to a few WAR apiece, and the rest of the team is basically filler. As I said, they haven't added a significant offensive weapon for more than 6 years now - that's not an organization which will be turned around in 4 months.
OK. You are still misrepresenting my point about California Dreaming, but I am tired of trying to clarify it. I apologize for not making it clearer. We will just have to agree to disagree and leave it at that.
DeleteI'm with you Dr. B...while the mind tells me not to expect a California Dreaming scenario, my heart wants otherwise and I also don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. We shall see...
DeleteI actually think the Giants played some pretty good ball against a real good team the last three days..Some mental/base running mistake and an uncharacteristic melt down of the bullpen last night, as well as Bumgarner losing it for an inning..otherwise..good signs for moving forward...which include Pillar instead of Joe/Reed...
SteveVA
This is an interesting debate. I looked up the odds of the Giants making the playoffs, winning the division, winning the World Series:
DeletePlayoffs: 9-to-1
Division: 40-to-1
World Series: 100-to-1
I'd say 9-1 playoffs is the California Dreaming possibility. To me, even that feels optimistic. If everything goes right and the competition runs into some static, maaaaaybe.
And the Giants are theoretically healthy right now (outside of Cueto). They'd have to stay that way to have any chance. Injuries could really derail the Dream Train. Immediate replacements from the minors are few. Anderson, Suarez, possibly Garcia or Mac might be able to contribute in short order.
Hoping for the best...but I just can't put together a realistic scenario in my head where the Giants are competitive.
Things could be worse! And they may get that way.
ReplyDeleteLack of roster flexibility isn't helping and let's hope it was Padre/Dodger pitching that has the team slashing .204/.259/.327 and 4 of the 5 critical vets at .250 or below.
Belt's, Panik's, and even Longoria's hot springs just reinforce that, come opening day, the past is not the prologue.
Parra has done pretty much what was expected, Duggar (except 12 Ks) had been better than expected, and Longoria @ .261/.292/.435 is at least playing GG defense this year.
Joe remains the placeholder for the Big Bat that Zaidi and everyone else wants, while Harper is slashing .500/.652/1.188 in his 5 games (Phillies are 4-1).
Offseason mover/shakers Mets and Mariners are collectively 12-2.
D'backs are just Goldschmidt's 4 HRs behind the Dodgers lead. M's are 2nd with 17? Santana and Bruce have 1 more HR that the Giants.
So..MAC unclaimed on waivers and outrighted to SAC...Guess it's all up to him to fight the rest of the bunch (Slater, Ramos, Reed?,Garcia, Gerber, YAZ) for a chance in SF when injuries hit....Talk about a glut of AAAA outfielders!
ReplyDeleteSteveVA
Takes a lot to get a stagnant Team started again
ReplyDeleteNot sure what else Zaidi has in his back pocket. Doc, do you think it is worth kicking the tires on any of the free agents who are still out there (Bautista, Holliday)?
ReplyDeleteI think Bautista is worth a tire kick.
DeleteHas Bonds finally retired? :p He would have been good if he was not left-handed.
DeleteYou know "I have not retied....... Thank you"
Did you guys catch the graphic last night regarding Opening Day LF starters for the Giants? Different one every year for 13 years.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair LF is kind of the position where teams stash their worst defender, play platoons, etc. But still, wow.
2007 Barry Bonds
2008 Dave Roberts
2009 Fred Lewis
2010 Mark DeRosa
2011 Pat Burrell
2012 Aubrey Huff
2013 Andres Torres
2014 Michael Morse
2015 Nori Aoki
2016 Angel Pagan
2017 Jarrett Parker
2018 Hunter Pence
2019 Connor Joe
Pretty good bet we keep that run going in 2020.
Oh, that line forms on the right, babe
ReplyDeleteNow that Mac_ky's back in town
Although it's unfair to include the pitchers, what do Farhan Zaidi's acquisitions Kevin Pillar, Erik Katz, Connor Joe, Michael Reed, Drew Pomeranz, Nick Vincent, Travis Bergen, and Trevor Gott have in common?
ReplyDeleteHint: after appearances in 24 games (collectively) they have 39 plate appearances with one common thread.