Logan Webb shook off a shaky first inning and dominated for the next four while Brandon Belt supplied the power in an 18-hit attack with a grand slam HR in the 2'nd inning to make things easier for the kid. Key Lines:
Mike Yastrzemski RF/LF- 3 for 6. BA= .278. YtY traded 3 HR's for 3 singles. He and Steven Vogt combined to go 5 for 12 from the top two spots in the lineup, yet neither player figured in the scoring.
Kevin Pillar CF- 5 for 5, 2B. BA= .263. Pillar has the first 5-hit game of his career and pushes his BA above .260. The BA of .263 includes 1 for 16 as a Blue Jay. He is hitting .271 in a Giants uniform.
Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 5, HR(14). BA= .232. Belt has been making better contact this series and it paid off bigly tonight with the grand slam HR in the 2'nd to give Logan Webb a lead he did not relinquish. During the postgame interview, Belt made is pretty clear he doesn't dig hitting in Oracle Park attributing his success to "just a better park to hit in."
Austin Slater PH/RF- 2 for 3. BA= .293. Slater is red hot, hitting .389 over his last 7 games and .350 over his last 15. His .293 BA comes with a .407 OBP. Still a SSS, but maybe he's finally found the traction he lost when he was injured in 2017? He also made a couple more diving catches and started a relay that nailed Eduardo Escobar who for some reason was trying to stretch a double into a triple for the final out of the game.
Logan Webb RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 6/1. ERA= 1.80. Webb's strike out pitches: 1 FB on the outside corner at the knees, 1 FB up in the zone, 3 split changes that reminded me of peak Tim Lincecum and 2 curveballs the dived out of the zone. Kid was electric after the first inning and most definitely earned himself another big league start and I can't wait for it!
Jandel Gustave RHP- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 1.50. Gustave just casually throws 97 MPH darts without any discernible effort. He is rapidly climbing Bochy's RP depth chart.
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With the Win, the Giants remain 2.5 games behind the Cubs for the second Wild Card playoff spot. They trail the Nationals by 4 games for the first WC spot and trail the Phillies and BrewCrew by 1.5 games.
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Madison Bumgarner goes for the 4-game sweeeeep tomorrow against RHP Merrill Kelly.
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Wrap on the Alternate Universe post: I got one very rude response that won't get posted basically saying I am crazy to think any free agents would have signed with the Giants over the offseason. Well, of the 3 players I mentioned, Adam Jones might have been a tough sell, but Domingo Santana was available by trade and did not cost the Mariners any top prospects, and I am pretty sure Dallas Keuchal would be happy to pitch in Oracle Park. If they acquired those players in the offseason would it have been enough to avoid the disastrous April and May? We'll never know, but I don't think it's a stretch to think it might. Also, did anyone notice that I actually had quite a few positive things to say about Farhan Zaidi in the post?
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The moves you have suggested are very similar to the moves they made last season when they traded away Reynolds and Crick for Cutch and signed Austin Jackson. They also got Longo who has had his ups and downs but who would they have had to give up to get Santana? Kueckel is a good pitcher but his price tag before the season was significantly higher than what he settled for and his performance has been mediocre with ATL so far. The spark plug this season has come from the out of nowhere acquisitions like Dick, Vogt, Solano, and Legend and based on the moves not working out last year I have to lean towards the answer being no, they wouldn’t be over .500 with those moves and the system would most definitely be weaker. I would also add that had Zaidi come one year earlier we would have Crick in our bullpen and Reynolds in the outfield so how would that have changed what this team looks like this year? Pillar is the one player I think they would have traded for with or without Zaidi.
ReplyDeleteIt is disingenuous for Belt to make it "pretty clear he doesn't dig hitting in Oracle Park attributing his success to 'just a better park to hit in'" for two irrefutable facts:
ReplyDelete1. His Home/Away splits don't confirm that he is especially handicapped by playing in SF:
Home .267/.362/.440/.802
Away .258/.348/.456/.803
He did hit more HRs away from SF.
2. He signed a pretty nice extension with San Francisco in April 2016 which says either he didn't mind playing half his games NOT in "just a better park to hit in" or, simply he could be bought!