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.
If Yaz is going on the IL, perhaps it's time to call up Ramos. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI'd be down with that.
DeleteGreat to see Webb pitch a great game and crush a 2 run triple to boot! I was disappointed that Curt Casili just missed catching shutout #6. Congrats to Jason Vosler on his 1st MLB hit. Good to see Kap tried to give McGee a day off today and brought Wisler and Rogers to close the game. That's encouraging. Too bad they don't have a healthy Reyes Morontha. Feels like the bullpen after McGee and Rogers is a problem, but Kap seems to be sorting out his bullpen options, so things could turn around with a bigger sample size of games.
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention Casali in the post. Before his streak came to an end in the 8'th inning, he nursed Webb through his 7-innning gut check which might have been more impressive than any of the 5 prior shutout games. Maybe Casali really is the pitcher-whisperer!
DeleteWhere is Caleb Baragar?
ReplyDeleteGood question. I thought I saw him warming up at one point yesterday but not sure.
DeleteAfter tonight’s game the season will be (almost exactly) 1/7 done. Win or lose, SF has outperformed all expectations even with some bullpen meltdowns and another couple of near misses. Plus pretty crummy hitting nearly across the board.
ReplyDeleteAt 14-8 they are “on-track” to win 103 games! They are but a single game behind the acclaimed "Best Team of the Century" and #2 in the NL, and tied with 2 teams AL teams at 6 wins over losses for 2nd best record in all of baseball.
Their strength has come from astute acquisitions (and signings) of SP’s plus Cueto’s resurrection. Not quite ready to say Webb has arrived but someone is knocking at the door. We will soon see who is there.
It seems the hitting will improve on its own (it has somewhat) and the starting pitching will regress (probably has to), but why are the first callups for relief the youngest, least experienced kids on the 40-man roster? Will Kevin Castro (actually between Santos and Doval in age) be next?
Not to douse SF’s great team performance, let’s hope the relief pitching doesn’t melt-down completely, or the few bright spots burn-out. Is being .667 (6-3) in one-run games sustainable without more help? Giants are 1st in MLB in Saves (11), Holds (22), and Save Situations (40) but also tied for 1st in Blown Saves (7). They are 6-6 in Games Won/Loss in relief.
There is a lot of Stress building.
According to the infallible Internet, the name Sclafani is derived from a Latin phrase meaning “sacred to Aesculapius,” the Roman god of medicine. Maybe the Giants’ IL problems have an internal solution, if they can get DeSclafani to invoke his ancestral namesake successfully; or at least get an Aesculapian referral to the Roman god of orthopedics.
ReplyDeletehaha
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