The Giants came storming back from an early deficit to engage the Cubs in a classic Wrigley Field slugfest only to lose the bullpen game in the end. Key Lines:
Mike Yastrzemski RF- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(17). BA= .282. Yep, I think we have our Max Muncy only maybe better. Not only did YtY come up a triple short of a cycle, but he got an assist at home plate and held runners with a quick, off balance throw to a relay man for 2 very fine defensive plays. What we're seeing at the plate is starting to be a big enough sample size to not be a fluke. He's slashing .304/.351/.739 in August after a .316/.356/.570 in July.
Evan Longoria 3B- 2 for 4, HR(16), BB. BA= .257. Longo is slashing .309/.353/.591 over his last 30 games. If I am doing my calculations right, the Giants are paying him an AAV of $11.7 M now and for the next 3 seasons with a $14 M option for 2023 and a $5 M buyout. That seems tradable this offseason or not a bad deal for the Giants if they keep him. I'll guess that Farhan will unload the contract this offseason if he has the chance. Question then is who replaces him at 3B?
Alex Dickerson LF- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .328. Dick has been slumping since coming off the IL, but maybe he's finding his stroke again?
Steven Vogt C- 2 for 5, HR(7). BA= .283. Steven Vogt ignited the 5-run rally in the 6'th with a monster HR to RF. At this point, he should probably be the strong side of a strict L-R platoon with Buster. He's a FA at the end of this season.
Kevin Pillar CF- 1 for 5, HR(19). BA= .261. 6'th HR in August as Pillar threatens to become the first of hopefully several Giants hitters to get at least 20 on the season.
Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .227. Crawford's bat showing signs of life with his second 2-hit game out of 3.
Austin Slater PH- 1 for 1, 2B. BA= .302. Slater shot one into the RF corner to drive in 2 runs but was thrown out at 3B when he saw the throw going home. That baserunning mistake may have cost the Giants the game as YtY followed with a booming double off the CF wall.
Dereck Rodriguez RHP- 4 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.26. Young Dereck was not able to keep the magic going. It is very possible that 2018 was his peak season.
Jandel Gustave RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.32. Gustave is suddenly the Giants best pitcher out of the bullpen, but Bochy expressed a fear of overuse as he is coming off TJ surgery. Overall the bullpen gave up 5 runs in 5 IP.
*********************************************************************************
The Loss dropped the Giants 5.5 games behind the Cubs in the Wild Card race.
*********************************************************************************
Jeff Samardzija faces a must-win situation today against RHP Kyle Hendricks.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
time to try gustave as an opener
ReplyDeleteThat was an exciting finish before the usually reliable Reyes was dethroned!
ReplyDeleteCrawford flashes a signal -- there's life here!
Belt has been good against Hendricks.
Pillar, too.
Posey has rested.
Today could be the start of the resurgence!
Although the Giants' twitter-verse is all doom-and-gloom, a solid rotation is coming very soon:
Shark today, Anderson is blister-free, Johnny-C is a week plus a little away, and maybe Webb makes for a good final drive.
SF could repeat July, maybe not 19-6, but 24-11 or 23-12 might do it.
It's now-or-never for the old guard: Longoria is on and Crawford is breathing -- it's Belt and Posey time for a final push, and crown Bochy!
No, I'm not smoking anything, I like the life the Giants showed last night!
Was Slater's "2nd out at 3rd" a baserunning "mistake"? It certainly turned out bad.
ReplyDeleteGennett still had a chance to drive home YtY from 2nd but failed against our old friend Dutch Holland who got no one else out (3 hits and a walk to 4 batters faced) but dispatched the Scooter with 3 pitches, the final swinging strike being waaay high out of the zone. Holland was struggling and probably appreciated the help.
Stennett is not the "find" Z had hoped, he has had a bad last 7 and strikes out at a 30% clip -- if he's better than Joe, it's not in his last 10 games. Panik is 11-31 with 2 walks and one K.
Crawford has really pulled his games from the ashes of late and Solano remains steady. Stennett's career against Hendricks is not encouraging.
Whatever the final outcome for the season, I salute the effort by the Giants. I was a strong advocate for trading Bumgarner and Smith at the deadline, but even if the Giants come up short, I think Farhan can be pleased with the season and okay with his decision to not trade them.
ReplyDeleteThere is NO WAY the loss should be pinned on Slater. One could argue that he should have gotten more at bats by starting at first. The pitchers were way worse than he was. Another potential contributor to the loss is Crawford, who had a nice game with bat but was not so hot in field, being tardy with a few throws that should have been outs. This team will go as far as Posey, Belt, Crawford and the pitching will take them, at this rate that is a .500 record (not close to the playoffs).
ReplyDelete