The Giants and their fans got a stark reminder of what it's like to go into the 9'th inning in a Save situation without a reliable Closer and why you can't hand that job to just any random waiver wire pickup or rookie with a funky delivery. Key Lines:
Mike Yastrzemski LF- 0 for 2, 2 BB, SB(2). BA= .269. 2 walks and 2 Runs Scored out of the leadoff position.
Brandon Belt 1B- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .231. Belt came through with a 2-out, 2-run double in the 5'th to drive in 2 to give the Giants a 2-run lead after the Pirates had tied the game at 1 in the top of the inning.
Madison Bumgarner LHP- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.77. The Pirates fielded a RH heavy lineup including 3 switch-hitters but interestingly left their best switch-hitter, Josh Bell, on the bench. Bummy dominated for 7 innings of work and left the game with a nice 4-2 lead.
Bullpen- 2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K. Tyler Rogers and his submaweenie pitched a perfect 8'th with 2 GB outs and a pop-up. Q: Why does he get mostly GB outs when it looks like most of his pitches are rising? Anyway, with Will Smith unavailable due to back tightness, Rogers came back out for the 9'th only to have the BABIP gods give a groundball single to the leadoff batter. That brought in LHP Fernando Abad to make Cole Tucker bat RH. He grounded out. Abad stayed in to make PH Josh Bell bat RH and he walked semi-intentionally. PH Elias Diaz then hit a rocket off the L-CF wall that went directly over YtY's glove and bounced right back into the glove to make it look like the ball was caught, which made the lead runner stop at 3B and everybody else scramble back to a base. Bochy then summoned provisional Closer Jandel Gustave who gave up 2 singles to to tie the game then lost it on a FC/Error by Dubon and a Sac Fly. This 9'th inning was a grim reminder of what the last 3 seasons were like without a reliable Closer.
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The Loss leaves the Giants with the 13'th worst record in MLB for those keeping track of potential draft position.
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Johnny Cueto makes his return from Tommy John surgery tonight facing rookie RHP Mitch Keller.
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Reyes Moronta will undergo surgery to repair his torn labrum by the same surgeon who successfully repaired labrums for Dodger LHP's Julio Urias and Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Turns out LHP Tony Watson has a fracture in his left wrist and will likely miss the rest of the season.
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I will echo Henry Schulman's take on seeing Bryan Reynolds challenging for a batting title and thinking of the MucCutchen trade: "Can't fault the trade on its face, but will always remind everyone SF probably waited too long to rebuild."
ReplyDeleteI know this view is not popular here, but looking back the decision to try and squeeze out one more playoff appearance, against all odds was just plain not smart. Thankfully, the farm system is now moving in a very positive direction. But, had the powers that be made tough, painful baseball decisions in 2017 & 2018, the Giants would be entering 2020 with more payroll flexibility, and a real shot at contending.
Giants were in the 2016 playoffs and a closer short of perhaps beating the Cubs and reaching the NLCS.
DeleteJust before mid-July, 2018, SF was only 3 games out of 1st and drawing over 40,000 per game all that month.
Both of those years sort of promised even-year-magic, and we hadn't given up on Buster and the Brandons, all of whom had at least 1 All Star year then. Yes, they were long shots but they weren't favorites in 2010 or 2014, either.
The 2019 July hot streak showed that they are not too many good players from contention.
Faulting management for not giving it one-last-go is pure hindsight...
I don't blame them for taking their chances when they had a shot. One needs to remember that Giants started the year with Madbum, Cueto, and Shark at the top of their rotation. If they had pitched, it would have been a different story. GMs are supposed to take risks, some will work (e.g., Pence), some will not (e.g., Beltran). Some prospects you give away will turn out to be good (e.g., Reynolds), some will struggle (e.g., Bickford).
DeletePredicting the past is easy.
Faulting management for giving it one-last-go is pure hindsight...
DeleteThe SEC is a light-year from the MLB, but Shaun Anderson was the closer for a good Florida team (52-16, made the college WS but knocked out early) in 2016.
ReplyDeleteOr, does he not have "enough" to close, although he's been more effective lately pitching just 1 inning...
The way I figure, if they keep Reynolds, they probably don't have Yaz right now. They still have Quinn, Shaw, and Bishop. I'm glad that Reynolds is doing well. But I won't lament his doing it for another team.
ReplyDelete