Game Wrap 4/28/2021: Giants 7 Rockies 3

Alex Wood LHP took a no-hitter into the 6'th inning before faltering in the 7'th, but the Giants offense was more than enough to pick him up.  Game Notes:  

Wood was perfect through 4 innings and didn't give up his first hit until the 6'th when Garrett Hampson CF doubled with 2 outs.  Wood featured a killer slider that broke to the back foot of RH batters and just ate them up.  He walked the leadoff batter in the 7'th then ran into some nasty BABIP bad luck giving up 3 consecutive singles, none of which were exactly barreled up.  

Camilo Doval RHP might be the Kap's high leverage guy after pitching his way out of a no-out, bases loaded jam while allowing just 1 inherited runner to score.  

Newcomer Mike Tauchman CF had a succesful Giants debut going 3 for 4.

All nine of the Giants hits were singles.  They were helped by 9 BB's issued by Rockies' pitchers who lead the league in walks allowed.  

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Mike Yastrzemski OF finally hit the IL with an oblique strain which seems like the right thing to do.  It's a long season.  Let's make sure he's completely recovered before bringing him back.  The Giants also optioned Gregory Santos RHP back to alternate site while bringing Sam Selman LHP to Oracle Park.

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The Win keeps the Giants tied for first place in the NL West with the Dodgers.  They get a day off before travel to San Diego for a weekend series against the Padres.  Logan Webb RHP is slated to start game 1 against Yu Darvish RHP.

Game Wrap 4/27/2021: Rockies 7 Giants 5(10 Innings)

This was a see-saw battle that came down to bullpen depth and the Giants lost.  Since it was the Rockies they lost to, that's.....well, it's not good!  Game Notes:

 Starter Aaron Sanchez RHP gave up jus one hit but walked 5 and couldn't get out of the 5'th inning.  

The Brandons both hit their 4'th HR's of the year.  Crawford's tied the game in the bottom of the 9'th on a splash hit just inside the foul pole.  The Giants would hit 3 more balls with HR potential off Rockies Closer Daniel Bard RHP in the inning which would have been walkoffs but they either had too much topspin and were caught or they hooked foul.  

Buster Posey C had 3 more hits to raise his BA to .351.  

Jake McGee LHP worked the top of the 9'th in a tie game, normal use for a Closer at home.  He gave up a go-ahead HR.  Not sure how much longer Kap is going to be able to keep him in the Closer role.

Camilo Doval RHP was electric once again in a scoreless 7'th inning.  His ERA after 4 appearances is 2.25.  On the other hand, Gregory Santos RHP who was also electric in his MLB debut has struggled since.  He lost this one with a line of 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.  His ERA is 22.50.  

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FZ pulled off a surprising trade earlier in the day sending Wandy Peralta LHP to the Yankees for Mike Tauchman OF.  Tauchman is a lefty hitter who can play all 3 OF positions.  Tauchman fills an immediate need with Mike Yastrzemski OF out with an oblique strain, but YtY has not been assigned to the IL.  In the long run, it seems Austin Slater OF is the most likely to lose AB's as he has struggled against RHP's and Tauchman will likely be the strong half of a CF platoon.  Then there is Mauricio Dubon IF/OF who will run into a logjam when Donovan Solano IF comes off the IL.  

Peralta closed some games and pitched in higher leverage situations but with inconsistent results.  The Giants had a surplus of lefty relievers.  Caleb Baragar LHP would seem to be the major beneficiary of this move in terms of increased innings from the bullpen.

Skye Bolt OF was called up to take Peralta's place on the Active Roster but this was likely just for one game until Tauchman could arrive.  

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Alex Wood LHP tries to close out the series and homestand with a win tonight against German Marquez RHP.

Game Wrap. 4/26/2021: Giants 12 Rockies 0

 Austin Slater CF led off the first 3 innings of this game which tells you almost all you need to know about it.  The other would be Anthony DeSclafani RHP pitching a complete game shutout that was undoubtedly helped by the huge early lead.  Game Notes:

The aformentioned Austin Slater struck out to lead off the Giants half of the first inning then smoked two balls up the middle for hits leading off the second and third innings.  

Relieved to see Wilmer Flores 2B back in the lineup the day after leaving the game with an acute illness.  He hit 2 singles in 5 AB's.  

Evan Longoria 3B was back in the lineup and went 2 for 2 with double and drove in 3 runs before Kap decided that was enough in his first game back and a with huge lead.

Buster Posey C had 4 hits including a double and his 5'th HR of the season.  Buster is hitting .327 and is on a pace to hit about 40 HR's.  

Mauricio Dubon SS, who has really been hitting into horrible BABIP luck, cleared the bases in the second inning with a double to the base of the CF wall.  He added a walk and flied out on a hard hit ball to RF.

Once he got the lead, DeSclafani knew what to do with it.  Just throw strikes!  He cruised to a CG shutout with 4 baserunners and 9 K's.  

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Mike Yastrzemski has a very mild oblique strain on MRI.  Giants are hoping he will only miss 4-5 games and might keep him DTD.  I'm thinking might as well go on the IL and make sure he's completely healthy when he comes back.  It's a long season!

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The Giants destruction of the Rockies came on the day GM Jeff Bridich resigned, obviously under pressure, after 6+ years of incompetent GM'ing on a level that is pretty rare in the Information Age.

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The Win ups the Giants record to 15-8 and puts them in a tie with the Dodgers for first place in the NL West.  First place!  

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The Giants try to keep the good times rolling tomorrow evening with Aaron Sanchez RHP facing Chi Chi Gonzalez RHP.

Game Wrap 4/25/2021: Giants 4 Marlins 3

Logan Webb RHP pitched one of the gutziest games I can recall since Ryan Vogelsong RHP and boosted the offense with a 2-run triple to Triples Alley to boot.  Game Notes:

Logan Webb had his usual battles with command and also had to battle the weather which was awful for the first 3 innings and required several delays for the grounds crew to add dry dirt to puddles in the infield.  He never gave up and seemed to gain confidence and command as the game went on.  Three double-play groundballs all coming at key moments in the game a major factor in the outcome.  With Johnny Cueto RHP likely to miss another turn in the rotation per Gabe Kapler, it's Webb will almost certainly get another chance to fully harness some elite looking stuff with another start.  Anyway, can't say enough about Webb's performance today which had to have pleased Ryan Vogelsong.

Jason Vosler 3B got his first MLB hit.  Who cares if it was a routing flyball that dropped in because a first baseman was playing RF and the grass was wet?  He also stole a base.

Speaking of which, Austin Slater CF added two SB's.  None of the 3 Giants SB's contributed to the scoring.

Mauricio Dubon SS looked like a ballet dancer as the middle man on a couple of those GIDP's after receiving backhand feeds from Tommy La Stella 2B.  

Matt Wisler RHP gave up a 2-run jack in the 8'th inning to Jesus Aguilar 1B and Tyler Rogers RHP gave up a run on 3 hits while hanging on for the Save in the 9'th.  To say the Giants bullpen is struggling and still unsettled would seem to be an understatement.  I'm starting to thing they are in that state less because of Kap's managing than a lack of basic substrate for him to work with.

Wilmer Flores 3B left the game early due to feeling ill.  Mike Yastrzemski  RF became the latest Giants player to come down with "tightness" in a muscle group. This time it was an oblique.  An announcement that YtY will undergo an MRI sounds like a trip to the IL is likely.  None of these strains have seemed particularly serious but the cumulative effect is starting to become a concern.  

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The Giants do not get a day off and start a 3-game series against the Rockies tomorrow night in Oracle Park with Anthony DeSclafani RHP facing Austin Gomber LHP.  

Game Wrap 4/24/2021: Marlins 5 Giants 2

 I'm still trying to process whether this game vindicates Gabe Kapler's decision to use Tyler Rogers RHP and Jake McGee LHP in Friday's game with a 4-run lead or if it shows he should have saved his top pitchers for this one.  Still grinding the gears on that.  I do know he's going to have to be able to count on more than just those two in the bullpen or it's going to be a loooong season!  Game Notes:

Kevin Gausman RHP was once again sensational allowing just 3 baserunners while striking out 11 and averaging just under 13 pitches per inning.  I mean, it's really hard to strike out that many batters and keep your pitch count down enough to get that deep into a game.  Alas, one of the baserunners was a very long solo HR by Jon Berti 3B which tied it up and set the stage for another bullpen meltdown.

I have to say I was surprised to see Gregory Santos RHP come out to start the 9'th inning.  Normally you the home team would use their Closer in the top of the 9'th of a tie game, but as we all know, Jake McGee has been....ahem.....used a lot so probably was not available.  Ditto primary setup man Tyler Rogers.  Leadoff batter Magneuris Sierra CF bats L but the next two Marlins hitters, Jesus Aguilar 1B and Garrett Cooper RF are both more dangerous and bat R.  Matt Wisler RHP has also been used a lot so that left Santos and Camilo Doval RHP.  Doval was called up before Santos and Kap had him warming up for the 7'th inning Friday, so that's who I expected to see start the 9'th.  But Santos was impressive in his debut Thursday, so it admittedly requires a healthy dose of hindsight to criticize.  Also, with the way the Giants are(n't) hitting, there's no guarantee they would have won this game even if Rogers and McGee had pitched shutout innings in this one.  I think my head just exploded!

In addition to the apparent unavailability of Rogers and McGee and maybe Wisler, the bullpen was left further shorthanded by the placement of Jarlin Garcia LHP on the IL with a groin strain with Jason Vosler IF called up to replace him on the active roster.

"Tightness" of a muscle group seems to be the injury term du jour.  This time it was Brandon Crawford SS who was a late scratch due to "quad tightness" which may be why Vosler got the call over a pitcher?

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It's now up to Logan Webb RHP to try for the win of the 4-game series facing TBD.  Assuming Johnny Cueto is on schedule to return from the IL, this is likely Webb's last opportunity to state his case for an ongoing spot in the starting rotation for awhile.

Game Wrap 4/23/2021: Giants 5 Marlins 3

Jazz Chisholm 2B led off the game with a monster HR over Triples Alley and Jesus Aguilar 1B hit a 2-run HR in the 9'th inning.  It was all Giants  in between, more than enough for their fourth win in 5 games.  Game Notes:

 Alex Wood LHP gave up the leadoff blast to Chisholm but was close to perfect for 7 inning after that allowing just a walk and striking out 7 all on swinging strikes.  He also recorded 9 GO's to 0 AO's.   That is dominance in two dimensions!  Wood has been this good for long stretches in the past.  His challenge is to stay healthy.  

Mike Yastrzemski RF got the Giants on the board and the lead with a 2-run opposite-field HR which gave Mike Krukow a chance to give a nice video tutorial on the science of backspin.  

Mauricio Dubon PH/2B hustled his way to a leadoff double in the 7'th inning which set up a 3-run rally.  A strong throw from Adam Duvall LF was in time to get Dubon at 2B, but the ump ruled Chisholm's glove did not touch Dubon on the tag attempt.  Replays were inconclusive.  I did not see a perturbation of Dubon's uniform so I tend to believe the ump that he missed the tag by a millimeter or less.  

Kap's usage of his bullpen was questionable to say the least.  Not sure why he thought he had to use his already overused frontline setup man and Closer with a 4-run lead.  He definitely did not get that from reading his copy of the Bochy Bible.  I get his point about the goal of winning games rather than accumulating Saves and I also get that he's seen more than his share of 9'th inning meltdowns, but he had Camilo Doval RHP warming up when it looked like Wood's spot in the lineup might come up in the 6'th.  If he trusted Doval with a 2-1 lead in the 7'th, why not with a 4-run lead in the 8'th or 9'th?  

Jake McGee LHP would have had a 1, 2, 3 9'th were it not for an error by Wilmer Flores 3B and he ended up striking out the side, but he also was not exactly a shutdown Closer giving up Aguilar's long fly after the error.  

Brandon Belt 1B and Brandon Crawford SS both returned to action after minor injuries and did not look to be limited physically. 

Right on cue, Giants fans were wearing bunny ears to the ballpark.  Wonder if they are for sale down in the dugout store yet?

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The Padres beat the Dodgers again and guess who is just one game out of first place in the NL West?  The Giants lead the third place Padres by 2 games.  If the season ended now, both Wild Card teams would come from the NL West and by a healthy margin.

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Kevin Gausman RHP tries to keep the good times rolling tonight in a 6:05 start facing Pablo Lopez RHP and his changeup.

Game wrap 4/22/2021: Giants 3 Marlins 0

 The Giants offense put up a 3-spot in the bottom of the first inning then went back to sleep.  That was enough to win the game as Curt Casali C caught became just the 5'th MLB catcher since 1900 to catch 5 consecutive shutouts and the first to do it with 5 different SP's.  Game Notes:

Casali has been the coldest Giants hitter but drove in 2 of the 3 runs with a single to left to cap the first inning rally.

The rally started with 2 outs on a double by Mike Yastrzemski RF.  After a walk to Evan Longoria 3B, Darin Ruf LF/1B smoked a ball at 109.9 MPH directly over the head of the LF for a double driving in YtY and setting up Casali's 2-run single.

The injuries keep piling up.  Longo left the game with a tight hamstring which Kap described as being "not too bad."  

Aaron Sanchez RHP went 5 innings and allowed just two baserunners despite a fairly dramatic drop in FB velocity averaging just 88 MPH topping out at 90.  After the game Kap indicated Sanchez is not 100% physically which raises all kind of additional questions starting with why is he still pitching?

Gregory Santos RHP was called up to replace Donovan Solano IF on the active roster.  His FB was 10 MPH faster than Sanchez' but it was the slider that was the revelation as he threw it for strikes and out of the zone for swings and misses.  Santos struck out the first two batters he faced and got a GO to end the 6'th inning.

Jake McGee LHP worked a perfect 9'th inning with 3 K's for his 7'th Save.  Of note was his increased use of the slider which clearly worked to get those Marlins hitters off "dead red" like they were in Miami.

There was a "support bunny" in the stands, quite a large one!  Maybe it was also a Magic Bunny and kept the magic going for the Giants.  I'm thinking the players might want to get together and find a way to keep that bunny coming back every game, at least until they lose again.

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Alex Wood LHP tries to keep his magic going tonight as he draws the start against Sandy Alcantara RHP.

Game Wrap 4/21/2020: Phillies 6 Giants 5

The Giants took a lead with a 4-spot in the 7'th inning and looked like they were once again headed for a come-from-behind win, but there's a reason why Bryce Harper(Phillies RF) is making all that money.  He tied the game on a HR off Camilo Doval RHP in the bottom of the inning, then drew a leadoff walk in the 9'th and came around for the walk-off win to spoil Giants fans dreams of a sweep.  Game Notes:

Alex Dickerson LF had 3 singles and raised his BA to .239.  He also made an error in LF leading to an unearned run that was ultimately the difference in the game.

Darin Ruf PH has a job with the Giants to be a potent bat off the bench.  He does that well an popped a 3-run HR batting for the pitcher in the 7'th.  Would you rather have him do things like this off the bench or do it more often as a DH?  

Anthony DeSclafani RHP was only able to go 4 IP allowing 3 runs which probably put more pressure on a tired bullpen than they could handle.  

Camilo Doval RHP gave up his first MLB run but it was a HR by Harper who has hit a lot of those.  Stil, it was on what looked like a hanging breaking ball.

Wandy Peralta LHP has been used quite a bit.  He's won 2 games and saved 2 but he lost this one after coming into a tied game in the 9'th inning.

Mickey Moniak CF was the #1 overall draft pick in 2016 and has been widely derided as a bust.  He's still just 23 years old and hit his first MLB HR, a 3-run jack, in the second inning.

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Donovan Solano 2B pulled up with a sore calf and will likely miss some time, maybe on the IL.  Brandon Crawford SS came out as a precaution after tweaking his side.  Giants are much thinner at SS than 2B.  Fortunately it sounds like Crawford is OK.  

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It's nice to have the favorable time difference flying back across the country.  Hopefully the lads got home in time for a good night's sleep because they start a homestand tonight agains the Marlins in what will be a 4 game weekend series in Oracle Park.  Aaron Sanchez RHP faces soft tossing Daniel Castano LHP in Game 1.  Probably not much rest for the bullpen as Sanchez is not known for going deep into games.

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mlb.com has a mock draft up with the Giants selecting Sam Bachman RHP out of Miami(Ohio) at #14 overall.  Bachman is 6'1", 235 lbs. and has a grade 70 FB with a 65 Slider to back it up and a decent changeup for a third usable pitch.  

Game Wrap 4/20/2021: Giants 10 Phillies 7

 Buster Posey C had his biggest game in 5 years and the Giants offense exploded for 6 runs in the 8'th inning for a come-from-behind win as it was the offense' turn to pick up the pitching.   Game Notes:

Buster Posey!  Where have you been and what took you so long?  OK, nevermind.  Just happy to have you back!  3 hits, 2 HR's, raised is season BA to .316.  Statistically his best game since hitting 2 HR's in Coor's Field in 2016.  That's 5 years, folks, 5 years!.  He sure picked a heckuva game to announce he is back as the Giants pitching faltered and needed that run support.

The 8'th inning outburst featured a pair of 3-run HR's, one from Alex Dickerson LF and the other from Wilmer Flores PH/2B.

Tommy LaStella 2B added a 2-run HR of his own.

Logan Webb RHP had a rough return to the rotation allowing 7 hits and 2 BB's for 4 runs in 4 IP.  Webb will probably get one more chance to get his ship headed in the right direction but will likely be either back to the bullpen or out to Alternative Camp as soon as Johnny Cueto RHP comes off the IL.

Jarlin Garcia LHP gave up 2 runs in his first inning of work but came back out to pitch a scoreless 6'th inning.  Gotta wonder how long his leash is right now too.

Jake McGee LHP pitched the 9'th inning despite no Save situation.  He gave up a run on a HR.

Brandon Belt 1B who carried the Giants offense for a couple of games, left this one late with a "tight quad".  We'll probably have a better idea of how much time he'll miss today.

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The Giants guaranteed themselves a series win and no worse than a split for the road trip, both very good things!  Anthony DeSclafani RHP goes for the sweeeeep tomorrow afternoon, well, morning out here on the left coast facing Zach Eflin RHP.

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As I am sure all you longtime Giants prospect watchers know by now, the tragic life of former Giants prospect Gustavo Cabrera ended this week at age 25 due to COVID 19.  It's very hard to wrap my head around how a young man with that much innate talent could have that many staggeringly bad things happen to him, apparently through no fault of his own.

Game Wrap 4/19/2021: Giants 2 Phillies 0

The Giants followed the same playbook as Sunday's game.  Get a run(or two) on the board early and let the pitchers shut it down the rest of the way.  Game Notes:

The big blows were a 2-out double by Evan Longoria 3B in the third inning followed by a blast from Brandon Belt 1B.  Belt got a very late start to spring training so a slow start was not unexpected.  He seems to be coming out of that with 2 doubles and 2 HR's in his last 3 games. 

Giants ace, Kevin Gausman RHP was not his sharpest today allowing a total of 10 baserunners in 6 IP, but he savvily navigated his way through the congestion on the bases to record 6 innings of shutout ball on 108 pitches.  I'd say that qualifies as a day's work and a Quality Start. Gausman has an ERA of 2.34 through 4 Starts.

The bullpen shut it down once again, this time for 3 IP 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  Matt Wisler RHP pitched a scoreless 7'th inning.  Camilo Doval RHP kept the good vibes going with another scoreless inning, albeit with no K's.  Wandy Peralta LHP got the Save Opp and didn't blow it.  It was his second Save of the season to go with 2 W's.  Hmm....That's actually a valuable fantasy baseball asset there!

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Before the game, the Giants sent Chadwick Tromp C and Steven Duggar CF out and brought up Trevor Gott RHP and Sam Selman LHP.  Neither of them got into the game.  There will have to be another move tomorrow if Logan Webb RHP comes off the COVID IL as expected to start game 2 of the series against Zach Wheeler RHP.

Game Wrap 4/18/2021: Giants 1 Marlins 0

An unearned run scored in the third inning as all Alex Wood LHP and four relievers needed to avert a series sweep and send the team off to Philadelphia on a high note.  Game Notes:

Alex Wood made his season debut after undergoing a medical procedure to relieve nerve pain in his lower back.  When he's healthy, Wood is an ace-quality pitcher.  He sure looked healthy today!  5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 7/1, 61 pitches.  Kap lifted him for Wilmer Flores PH with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the top of the 6'th inning.  That was a decision that could have been second guessed if the bullpen had another bad game, but it's doubtful Wood was going beyond 5 IP anyway and the bullpen was nails the rest of the way.

The combined bullpen line was 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R 0 BB, 5 K's.  4 perfect innings.  The big news was an electric MLB debut by Camilo Doval RHP who drew a loud F-bomb from the first batter he faced, Jesus Aguilar 1B,  after striking him out on 3 pitches.  I mean, grab some pine meat!  Doval comes at batters from a low arm slot. Which produces a lot of lateral movement on the slider.  Think Sergio Romo but with a 98 MPH FB!  IDK if that bad boy is a no-dot slider like Romo's but the arm slot and movement are similar.  

 Tyler Rogers RHP got his first Save of the season with 3 GO's in the 9'th inning.  Rogers unscored on in his last 6 appearances covering 7 IP.  His overall GO/AO is a dominant 2.00.  Over his last 3 appearances his GO/AO= 8/0.  

The Giants lone run scored in the 3'rd inning after Brandon Belt 1B smoked a 2-out groundball through Jesus Aguilar's legs(yikes!) for an error to get Tommy La Stella 3B to 2B for Alex Dickerson LF to single him home.

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The Giants move on to Philadelphia for a 3 game set against the Phillies.  Kevin Gausman RHP get the first game against Chase Anderson RHP.

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The Giants placed Logan Webb RHP and Jake McGee LHP on the COVID IL due to vaccine reactions.  Those moves made room for Alex Wood and Chadwick Tromp C.  Since it was COVID IL, Webb and McGee can be activated anytime.  Webb will almost certainly make his start game 2 of the Phillies series on Tuesday.  Tromp will be sent down as soon as Buster Posey C is ready to go.  Posey reportedly felt significantly better from his elbow contusion today.  Got all that? Good!

Game Wrap 4/17/2021: Marlins 7 Giants 6(10 Innings)

This was a game the Giants probably had no business winning anyway after being completely dominated by Sandy Alcantara RHP for the first 6 innings.  But after a 5-run outburst in the 7'th inning started by Brandon Belt 1B's HR and capped by Austin Slater PH/CF's 3-run blast to straightaway CF, it should have been a cruise to the finish.  It wasn't because the Giants Closer is a one-dimensional pitcher and it caught up with him in the 9'th inning.  

 Jake McGee has a very good fastball which he throws over 90% of the time.  I'm not saying he shouldn't.  He's a lot more successful than most pitchers with it and very likely more successful with that approach than if he threw it less.  Before today's game he's been able to simply blow it by hitters with location and movement.  What was different today was the Marlins lineup which is full of young, fast-twitch hitters who were sitting "dead red" and knew they didn't need to worry about being crossed up.  Add in a bit of just slightly subpar command and boom!  A two-run lead disappears.

Maybe McGee just had an off day or maybe he's going to have to make an adjustment it's not apparent he is capable of making now that hitters around the league are lying in wait for the FB.

Game Wrap 4/16/2021: Marlins 4 Giants 1

The Giants offense failed to support another fine start by Anthony DeSclafani RHP and the bullpen lost it in the bottom of the 8'th inning on a 3-run HR by Starling Marte CF.  Game Notes:

Mike Yastrzemski RF doubled and tripled for the only Giants XBH's.  He scored on Evan Longoria 3B's single in the 4'th inning.  He was left stranded after the triple. 

DeSclafani allowed just 1 run in 6 IP in his 3'rd Start of the season.  He's pitched like an ace with a 1.06 ERA over 17 IP.  

Matt Wisler RHP retired the first 4 batters he faced but was lifted after walking Jesus Aguilar PH with 1 out in the 8'th.  Wandy Peralta LHP then gave up a single to the lefty hitting Corey Dickerson LF and Marte followed with a bomb to left-CF.  Game over!

Seems like Miami has been a tough stop for the Giants from day one of the Marlins franchise.

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Aaron Sanchez RHP tries to get the Giants back on track in game 2 of the series tomorrow facing Sandy Alcantara RHP.  Game time is 3:10 PM PDT.  

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I am excited to read the Giants called up Camilo Doval RHP from the Alternate Site to replace Johnny Cueto RHP on the 26-man Active Roster.  Doval will pitch out of the bullpen while Logan Webb RHP moves back to the rotation.  Cueto is on the 10-day IL and is expected to miss just two Starts.  

Game Wrap 4/14/2021: Giants 3 Reds 0

Austin Slater CF/LF had the big hit to back shutdown pitching from Johnny Cueto RHP and the bullpen, but Cueto left the game early with lat discomfort.  Game Notes:

Slater broke open a scoreless game in the 5'th inning with a double up Triples Alley to drive in the first run.  Slater took third on a passed ball and scored on a Fielders Choice with Curt Casali C reaching first base.  R-CF has become quite a power alley for Austin Slater!

Cueto was cruising through two outs into the 6'th inning when he suddenly grimaced after a pitch and signaled that he was done.  He's being evaluated for a possible lat strain.  Fingers crossed it's not a prolonged IL stint for a rejuvenated Cueto.  

Logan Webb RHP was used for one inning in relief signaling the Giants are confident Alex Wood LHP will be ready to join the rotation and Webb is the odd man out.  Of course, Cueto's injury may mean Webb goes right back into the rotation.  Got all that?  I'll break down the rotation further later in the post.

Tyler Rogers RHP got his 6'th Hold and Jake McGee earned his 6'th Save.  They both need the Giants travel day off tomorrow.  

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The Giants head east for a spring road trip starting in Miami for a weekend series agains the Marlins.  The travel day allows Logan Webb's rotation turn to be skipped with Anthony DeSclafani RHP starting Game 1 vs TBD.  Aaron Sanchez RHP also moves up to take game 2 on Saturday with Wood dropping in on Sunday.   Kevin Gausman RHP will presumably start Monday against the Phillies.  That postpones the day of reckoning until next Tuesday, April 20 when Johnny Cueto's next turn falls.  That would be where Webb steps back in if Cueto has to skip a start or 3.  

Game Wrap 4/13/2021: Giants 7 Reds 6

Giants starter Kevin Gausman RHP broke their string of consecutive starts with at least 5 IP and 3 or fewer runs allowed when he was rocked for a pair of 2-run HR's in the first inning.  Most Giants fans had to be thinking "game over" at that point, but the Giants struck back with a pair of 2-run bombs of their own off Luis Castillo RHP.  If that seems just bit unusual, it's the first time in Pac Bell/AT&T/Oracle Park history there have been 4 HR's hit in the first inning.   The perfect symmetry just added to the wonder of it all.  Gausman stayed in the game and ended up pitching 6 innings and the Giants won the rest of the game 3-2.  Game Notes:

Giants leadoff batters reached base 5 times.  Tommy La Stella 2B went 3 for 3 with a 2B out of the leadoff spot.  Donovan Solano 2B replaced him later in the game drew a pair of walks.  All that effort resulted in two total runs scored.

Mike "YtY" Yastrzemski RF broke out of a brutal early season slump with  two hits and a walk including the first 2-run HR for the Giants side of the ledger in the first inning.

Brandon Crawford SS has just 6 hits on the season and a .171 BA but those 6 hits include 2 doubles and 3 HR's.  BCraw hit the Giants second 2-run HR in the bottom of the first inning to give Kevin Gausman and the Giants a do-over on the start of the game.

Evan Longoria 3B continued his torrid early season hitting with two hits and another solo HR.  He's hitting .316 so far.  

Good to see Austin Slater PH/CF/LF get untracked at the plate with two hits including smoked triple to.....Triples Alley!  

The Giants offense gave Kevin Gausman a clean slate to work with to start the second inning which was also shaky but he settled down after that and retired the last 13 batters he faced including 5 K's.  

You don't generally think of submaweenie pitchers as strikeout artists but Tyler Rogers RHP struck out the side in one inning of work to give him 7 in 7 innings on the season.  He now sports an ERA of 1.29 and recorded his 5'th hold.  His pitches had such crazy movement and had the Reds swinging so wildly, Kevin Gausman as quoted as saying "He's going to hit a lefty in the face someday and the guy is probably going to swing at it, which is crazy to think about."  Uh....OK!  

Jake McGee LHP recorded his 5'th Save and has yet to even come close to allowing a run.  He's allowed just 2 walks in 6.1 hitless IP on the season.

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Johnny Cueto RHP tries for a series win this afternoon facing Tyler Mahle RHP.  

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Alex Wood LHP went 4 innings and 74 pitches at the alternate site.  From Maria Guardado's reporting on sfgiants.com, the plan is to activate him from the IL if he has a normal recovery.  Kap sounded definite that he will join the rotation and the Giants won't go to 6 SP's.  Logan Webb RHP seems to be the odd man out and headed for a bulk-inning relief role.

BTW, anyone else impressed by the thoroughness and nose for what's important in Maria Guardado's posts for sfgiants.com?

Game Wrap 4/12/2021: Reds 3 Giants 0

Giants pitchers continued to do their job holding a good-hitting Reds team to 3 runs.  On average in MLB, if you hold an opposing team to 3 runs, you should win  at least 2/3 of the time which would be 101 wins.  This one is squarely on the offense which managed just 4 baserunners on the evening.  Game Notes:

Aaron Sanchez RHP had a shot at a QS but was lifted for a PH after 5 innings of work to try to find some offense.  In two 5-inning starts he has an ERA of 2.70.  He only had 3 K's in this one but got 8 groundball outs to just 2 flyball outs.  

Jarlin Garcia LHP is apparently the long reliever now as he logged 2.1 IP while allowing 1 run.

Overall, the bullpen has an ERA of 1.98 in 27.1 IP since their Opening Day meltdown.  

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Kevin Gausman RHP tries to get the Giants back on the win track facing Luis Castillo RHP tonight in a matchup of aces.  

Game Wrap 4/11/2021: Giants 4 Rockies 0

 S. W. E. E. P!  What's that spell?  Sweeeeeep!!!  The Giants offense showed signs of life and the pitching was again sensational as they swept the weekend series from the Rockies, extended their win streak to 4 and upped their record to 6-3 on the season.  Game Notes:

Anthony DeSclafani RHP had a dominant start with 8 K's against just 1 BB in 6 shutout innings.  In the process he got strikeouts with sharp breaking stuff and also reach back velocity on the FB.  He notched his first W of the season.  

Maybe this level of performance from the SP's is not sustainable but if you squint at each one of the Giants SP's, everyone has a narrative which could very reasonably point to an All-Star level season or better.  As always, it's not likely the narrative holds for every pitcher, but it's within the realm of possibility and might be even likely that at least 20 or 3 achieve it.

Giants SP's now have 9 consecutive games with at least 5 IP and 3 runs or less allowed to start the season.  The last times that occurred was 1937 and 2002.  How do you like that?

Alex Dickerson LF got the Giants on the board first with a line drive HR to straightaway CF in the first inning.  He's still hitting just .200 but should heat up soon.  Alex Dickerson can hit!  

Brandon Belt 1B had himself a day with a walk and SB which set up the Giants second run, then homered on a line drive into the arcade that had both Jon Miller and Kruk and Kuip saying it looked like a carbon copy of Brandon Crawford SS's shot on Saturday.

Lamonte Wade Jr  CF/LF was called up before the game after Reyes Moronta RHP was sent to the IL with a forearm strain, which does not sound good.  Wade Jr. may have postponed his return ticket to Sacramento with a single, double and walk, although he did not figure in the scoring.  He also made some plays in CF but might have had a shot at catching one he missed had he judged it a bit quicker off the bat.  He was moved to LF late in the game with Mauricio Dubon CF coming in as the defensive replacement in CF.

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The hot-hitting Reds come to town for a 3-game series starting tomorrow evening with Aaron Sanchez RHP trying to keep the train rolling against Wade Miley LHP.

Game Wrap 4/10/2021: Giants 4 Rockies 3

The Giants got great pitching from their bullpen, great defense from Buster Posey and a clutch HR from Brandon Crawford to take game 2 of the weekend series from the visiting Rockies.  Game Notes:

Logan Webb RHP's stuff might have been too good in this one as his 2-seam FB was diving out of the strike zone.  This led to familiar command problems as he tried to compensate.  He managed to keep it in reach for 5 innings and the bullpen and Crawford picked him up. 

Buster Posey C gunned down two fast baserunners with perfect throwdowns which may well have prevented a run or two or more.

Brandon Crawford SS is hitting just .160 overall, but has made his hits count.  Today he absolutely smoked a HR into the RF arcade of a LHP no less.  There were two runners on base which converted the score from 3-1 Rockies to 4-3 Giants and the bullpen made it stand up.  Ballgame!

Gabe Kapler seems to be settling into some bullpen roles.  The sequence of Caleb Baragar LHP, Reyes Moronta RHP, Tyler Rogers RHP and Jake McGee LHP seemed quite predictable and they came through with 4 shutout innings while allowing just 1 hit, 1 walk and scoring 5 K's.  McGee got his 4'th Save and I am happy to have drafted him for $1 in my auction fantasy baseball draft.

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Anthony DeSclafani RHP goes for a series sweep tomorrow afternoon facing German Marquez RHP

Thoughts on Johnny Cueto and His Home Opening Day Start

Johnny Cueto's pitching performance yesterday is why I continue to watch baseball games after all these years.  When many games are over, I feel like I just wasted 3 hours of my life I will never get back.  This was not one of those games.  This one was inspiring to watch.  I feel like a better person for having witnessed it, even if it was via TV.  It's what keeps me coming back and wanting to watch more games.  I have Johnny Cueto to thank for that.  

Here was someone who is very good at what he does, doing it in the best way possible.  In the process, he showed me things I have not seen before in all my years of watching the sport.  His fastball may have topped out at 94 MPH, very good but not great, but he used it to maximum advantage.  He varied the velocities on it by as much as 5 MPH to keep hitters off balance.  He threw it exactly where he wanted to throw it, at the edges of the strike zone where the hitters could not get the "sweet spot" of the bat barrel on it.  He varied his pitch tempos like only he can with quick pitches, normal tempo, hesitation and the "shimmy."  He even broke out a "triple shimmy" where he dipped his shoulder once, twice and three times before delivering the pitch.  On top of all that, he mixed in other pitches, curveballs, sliders and changeups to further disrupt hitter's timing and swing location.  

If all that was not enough, he projected that he was having fun out there while staying focused and competitive inning after inning.  The early innings clicked by in rapid-fire fashion, three up, three down.  He got ahead in the count on almost every batter and did not get to ball 3 until later in the game.  

It all reminded me of another Giants pitcher from long ago, Juan Marichal, who had a similar mix of pitches and delivered them with a flair and joy that made you feel like you witnessed something special.  Even though it was on radio instead of TV, you could hear and feel that wonder and joy coming through the descriptions by the radio announcers.  

Johnny Cueto's pitching yesterday was inspiring to watch.  I feel like a better person today for having seen it.  Now I can't wait to see the next game!

Game Wrap 4/9/2021: Giants 3 Rockies 1

 Wow!  I am starting to get a feeling about this Giants pitching staff and it's not a bad one!  Johnny Cueto RHP rolled back the years and found a peak career performance to outlast an equally electrifying Austin Gomber LHP who cracked first in the 7'th inning with 2 walks that scored on Brandon Crawford SS's game-winning double to the CF wall.  Game Notes:

Cueto had a strong FB that reached 94 MPH and he pinpointed it to all quadrants of the strike zone while mixing up his velocities and tempo as only he can.  We even saw a triple-shimmy that ended in a swinging strike 3!  Cueto finally faltered a bit in the 9'th inning but by then the Giants had built a fairly safe 3-run lead.  

Jake McGee LHP got his 3'rd Save on 3 pitches, all upper-90's FB's to K Sam Hilliard RF to end the game with a runner on first base.  

Crawford's bases-loaded double was the big blow of the game and all Cueto/McGee needed.  It was a huge flyball to the gap just to the right of straightaway CF and one-hopped against the fence.  Alex Dickerson PH/LF who was the trailing runner starting at 1B held up at 3B.  He and Crawford were left stranded but the Giants added on an insurance run in the 8'th which is probably what enabled Cueto to get a shot at a CG.

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The Giants have the 8'th best Team ERA in the major leagues at 3.05.  Take out those 5 ER's from the bullpen meltdown on Opening Day and that comes all the way down to 2.36 for all other innings.  Gotta think the hitting will catch up sooner or later.

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Logan Webb RHP tries to find his spring training magic tomorrow afternoon facing Chi Chi Gonzalez RHP

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Maria Guardado of sfgiants.com reports Alex Wood LHP pitched 3 innings of a scrimmage against the A's at Alternate Camp.  He is expected to make one more longer start in camp before the Giants have to make a decision on activating him from the IL.  With the Giants current 5 SP's going so well, it makes for some interesting decisions.

Game Wrap 4/7/2021: Giants 3 Padres 2

The Giants got another ace start from Kevin Gausman RHP and a home run from Darin Ruf LF to set up a tight extra-inning win.  Game Notes:  

 The bullpen blew another potential Win after a dominant Kevin Gausman performance:  7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  This time, though his effort was not in vain as the Giants were the team to take advantage of the "designated runner at second base" extra-inning rule and come away with both the game and series wins.

The Giants have not had many offensive bright spots so far, but two they have had, Evan Longoria 3B and Ruf combined for 4 hits and a walk in 10 PA's.  They accounted for both of the Giants runs in the regulation 9 innings in the second inning against Blake Snell LHP when Longo led off with a double and Ruf homered one out later. Stay hot, guys!  Gotta think the rest of the lineup kicks into gear soon.

Hot tip for fantasy baseball players:  Out of 88 MLB games played so far relievers were credited with the W in 45 of them.  If you play in a K/9 league, you just might be better off rostering a bunch of non-closer relievers with SP eligibility than stocking up and streaming SP's.  

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The Giants get a much needed day off at home before the Home Opener Friday night agains the Rockies.  SP's have not been named but it's Johnny Cueto RHP's turn in the rotation.

Game Wrap 4/6/2021: Padres 3 Giants 1

Giants bats mostly flailed at a steady stream of junkballs from Yu Darvish RHP while Matt Wisler RHP's slider-heavy approach once again failed to impress opposing hitters.   Game Notes:

Kruk and Kuip pointed out that the solo HR by Brandon Crawford SS in the third inning came of the last fastball Darvish would throw for a strike all evening.  Giants hitters couldn't hit his offspeed stuff and couldn't lay off enough to force him to go back to the FB.  

Aaron Sanchez RHP looked really good for 4 innings spotting a FB that went 91-93 MPH on both sides of the plate mixed in with effective offspeed stuff.  He lost velocity in the 5'th inning and the Padres hitters squared him up but some nice BABIP luck got him through the inning.  Nice start to the season for Sanchez considering he only pitched 5.2 innings all spring.

Matt Wisler RHP was once again ineffective with his one-trick-pony slider approach.  I'm no pitching coach or scout, but that pitch just does not look effective enough to be a stand alone pitch for anybody.  Maybe he'll find some bite to the slider and be an effective hold guy but right now he looks like he could be one of the first guys in the pen who are replaced.

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Giants ace Kevin Gausman RHP tries for a series win today vs Blake Snell LHP.

Game Wrap 4/5/2021: Giants 3 Padres 2

The Giants hit three solo home runs, got strong pitching and survived a nail biter finish, while the Padres may have lost much more than the game with an apparent serious injury to young superstar Fernando Tatis Jr.  Game Notes:

Darin Ruf LF showed why the Giants wanted to hang onto him as he started in LF against the lefty SP and homered to CF to start the Giants scoring in the 2'nd inning.  

Evan Longoria 3B hit his 3'rd HR of the young season and I believe all three have been out to the opposite field.

Mike Yastrzemski PH struggled in the first series in Seattle but hit a HR to straightaway CF in a PH appearance for the game winner in the 7'th inning.

Anthony DeSclafani RHP did not have great command but made pitches while allowing just 1 run in 5 IP.  

Jake McGee LHP made his second Save a nail biter with a walk and HBP ahead of Tommy Pham.  Gotta say, I thought Pham's drive to CF for the final out was gone as it came off the bat.  Whew!  

Fernando Tatis Jr SS(Padres) appeared to be badly fooled on a breaking ball for a swinging strike three in the third inning and hyperextended on the backswing.  He immediately crumpled to the ground and appeared to be in extreme pain reminiscent of Reyes Moronta RHP in 2019.  Like Moronta, Tatis Jr. appeared to be holding his elbow or wrist but the injury was to his left shoulder.  Word is a subluxation aka dislocation.  He apparently has a history of multiple smaller subluxation incidents so we'll see how this one plays out, but you have to wonder about a more serious structural tear with the way he went down.

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Aaron Sanchez RHP gets the final call for the rotation tonight facing Yu Darvish RHP in Game 2 of the series.

Game Wrap 4/3/2021: Mariners 4 Giants 0

Logan Webb RHP pitched essentially the same game as Johnny Cueto RHP the night before.  The difference was Cueto got excellent run support while Webb got none.  Game Notes:

 In addition to the standard line, Webb had a 9/1 GO/AO.

I mentioned in the preview yesterday that I wanted the Giants to sign Chris Flexen RHP.  Well, now that you all want to know who Chris Flexen, let's take a deeper dive into why I wanted him to be a Giant.  Flexen came up through the Mets organization after being drafted out of HS in 2012:

He had 3 seasons of experience at AAA and pitched really well there.  In 2019 he went 5-3, 4.46, 10.53 K/9, 2.40 BB/9, FIP= 3.98, xFIP= 3.88.  Short stints with the Mets did not go as well with ERA's of 7.88, 12.79, 6.59, but in a total of 68 IP over 3 seasons.  What caught my eye was an average FB velocity of 94.3 mph in the 2019 MLB cameo.

He pitched for the KBO in 2020 and put up really good numbers:  8-4, 3.01, 10.18 K/9, 2.31 BB/9, FIP= 2.74.   

So to recap, we had a solid minor league track record, strong FB velocity for a SP and experience in Asia which often forces a pitcher to polish up their game. Oh, and he's still just 26 yo.  The Mariners must have been looking at the same things because they gave him a 2-year contract for $4.75 M with a club option for 2023.  

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The Giants have Easter Sunday off before heading to San Diego for an early 3-game test against the Padres.  Anthony DeSclafani RHP faces Adrian Morejon LHP in Game 1 Monday evening.

Game Wrap 4/2/2021: Giants 6 Mariners 3

Johnny Cueto RHP looked like he was going to be on the losing end of a blowout after 3 innings but got stronger as the game progressed and fell one out short of a Quality Start.  The bats did their thing and the bullpen was stellar.  Game Notes:

Donovan Solano 2B hit over .300 the past two seasons and is back at it again.  "Donnie Barrels" rapped out 3 hits including a scorching double down the LF line that drove in the go-ahead runs.  Is there another Silver Slugger Award in his future? 

Just when it looked like Buster Posey C's third inning HR was going to be the Giants scoring, Evan Longoria 3B unleashed his second oppo field HR of the season to tie the game at 3 in the 6'th.

Austin Slater LF/CF looked like he wasn't seeing the ball well going 0 for 5 with 3 K's.

YtY RF is 0 for 9 with a walk over the first two game and I wonder if the hand contusion is bothering him.  I thought he looked a bit more comfortable at the plate in this game than Opening Day.

Cueto wasn't fooling anyone in the 2'nd and 3'rd innings but found the right mix of pitches, velocity and tempo and kept the game within reach through 5.2 IP.  

Memo to Kap:  If you bring in a reliever to finish an inning and their stuff looks good and they end the inning with a K, you might want to send them back out to start the next inning.  That's what he did with Wandy Peralta LHP in the 7'th inning. Peralta responded by dominating with exceptional looking stuff.  

Jake McGee LHP has been unhittable in two 1-inning appearances so far.  He nailed down the Save dominant fashion last night.  BTW, McGee is one of my Closers for my fantasy team.

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Logan Webb RHP tries to build on his spring training success tonight facing Chris Flexen RHP, a dude who I wanted the Giants to sign.  Game time is an hour earlier at 6:10 PM.

Opening Day Game Wrap 4/1/2021: Mariners 8 Giants 7

 The Giants have had some spectacular bullpen meltdowns over the years.  I suppose if I think long and hard enough this one might not make the top 10 but wow, that was an implosion!  Game Notes:

So, the first Burning Question I posed yesterday was, "Is Kevin Gausman RHP an ace?"  Well, he sure pitched like one in this game: Shutout ball for 6 innings.  1 runs allowed in 6.2 IP with 4 baserunners.  If he keeps pitching like this, he'll win his share of games although I am not overly sanguine about FZ and Kap solving their bullpen situation.  I mean, you get what you pay for.

4 players hit solo HR's, Austin Slater LF, Alex Dickerson PH/LF, Evan Longoria 3B, Buster Posey C.  Longoria keeps his hot spring going into the season.  When was the last time you saw Buster pull a ball over the LF fence?  

Donovan Solano 2B and Wilmer Flores DH had 4 hits between them, 3 doubles.

YtY looked like his hand was not 100% which made him overmatched at the plate. If that is the case, it might be better to give him a few more days to get right.  He's their best player when healthy, but he's not helping when he looks like he did last night.

Bullpen:  You had to have a feeling this was all headed south about one batter into Jarlin Garcia LHP's appearance.  All I can say is I don't think the current group is quite this bad and I'm pretty sure this is not the bullpen they are going to finish the season with.  IMO, they did not even bring their best options north out of spring training due to FZ's obsession with inventory preservation.  I get inventory preservation, but that only works if the inventory you put on the shelf is as good or better than what you keep in the warehouse.

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The Giants face another LHP in Game two tonight with Johnny Cueto RHP looking to re-establish himself as an ace against Yusei Kikuchi LHP.

Thoughts on Opening Day and the 2021 Baseball Season

I'm excited because Opening Day game is a night game.  They are almost always day games and I forget to take a vacation day so miss the game due to work.  I get to watch this one!  With that, I offer some burning questions for Giants fans for the 2021 season.

Is Kevin Gausman RHP an ace?

Will Logan Webb RHP break out?

Is Buster Posey C done?

Do the Giants have enough depth at shortstop?

Will the lineup(s) continue to hit like they did last year?

Can the Giants finish in third place in the NL West and still make the playoffs?

Can the Gants coaching staff work their magic again and revive the careers of Anthony DeSclafani RHP and Aaron Sanchez RHP?

Does Heliot Ramos OF or Joey Bart C have a chance to win ROY?

Can we get enough people vaccinated in time to avoid the "Fourth Wave" of COVID and finally get back to close to normal attendance at ballparks?

What is your burning question for the Giants in 2021?