The Giants scored 10 runs in the first inning of a doubleheader(7 innings each game) and gave up 6 in the final inning to come away with disappointing split, but still managed to gain ground on the Dodgers. Game Notes:
Brandon Belt 1B was the biggest hitting star of the day going 4 for 7 with 2 HR's(6) and a walk. He became just the second player in SF Giants history, the other being Willie Mays, to hit a HR in the first inning of two games in one day! He ended up with 7 RBI's on the day.
Buster Posey C went 3 for 4 with a HR(7) in the opener to raise his BA to .382.
Brandon Crawford SS went 2 for 2 with a HR(5) and reached base 4 times in the opener.
Wilmer Flores 2B went a combined 3 for 7 with a HR(2) and a walk and 4 RBI's.
Steven Duggar CF/RF went a combined 3 for 7 with a 2B and BB.
Unfortunately, the most notable pitching story is a negative. Jake McGee LHP couldn't hold a 4-run lead in the 9'th inning and looked awful in the process. By the time he gave up his 4'th hit of the inning to Ryan McMahon, his pitches looked like batting practice pitches. McGee does not look right and Kap keeps hinting that he is not physically 100%. If that is the case, it might be better to give him a stint on the IL than to keep running him out there because he is not helping the team now. In 6 appearances since April 14 when he sported a 0.00 ERA, McGee has allowed 8 ER in 5.2 IP and pitched just 1 scoreless frame out of the 6 appearances.
Camilo Doval RHP who has been impressive so far, appeared to get the 3'rd out of the inning and his first MLB Save but a pop fly by CJ Cron fell between Steven Duggar and Wilmer Flores in short RF. Charlie Blackmon followed with his walkoff 3-run blast. I believe all but 3 of Doval's pitches were sliders so by time he hung one to Blackmon, it was like it was set on a T. After the game, Shawn Estes noted that Doval has thrown very few FB's since giving up a leadoff HR to Jurickson Profar in San Diego which allows batters to sit on the slider.
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As crushingly disappointing as the walkoff loss in game 2 was, the blow was softened by the Dodgers getting swept in their twinbill by the Cubs. Giants lead the NL West by 1.5 games over the Dodgers and Padres.
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Giants try for a series win in an early game today with Logan Webb RHP facing Jon Gray RHP.
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Down on the Farm:
Patrick Bailey C (High A): 3 for 5, HR, SB.
Sean Roby 3B ( High A): 2 for 5, HR.
Diego Rincones LF (High A): 3 for 5, 2B, HR.
Caleb Kilian RHP (High A): 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K's.
Alexander Canario RF (Low A): 2 for 2, 2B, 3B, 2 BB.
I believe in Patrick Bailey's bat which I think could end up being better than Joey Bart's. Alexander Canario got notices for a nice catch up against the RF wall. I have Caleb Kilian as a major system sleeper on the pitching side.
I have much more faith that Bailey will be an above average starting catcher than Bart. Bart is going to be a solid backup catcher (not what you want from the 2nd spot in the draft), unlike that guy they have now who is in his third year of horrific, declining batting stats. I don't want to hear about his 5 shut outs, pitchers are dominating the game in this era and catchers only make suggestions about selection. How can they expect to compete with the best teams running him out every third game?
ReplyDeleteCatcher is not a big issue right now given that Buster has found the fountain of youth! But the front office HAS to do something about the bullpen. The Giants rotation has been well above average so far but there is no way they are going to carry this through the whole season. If the Giants do not have a deeper bullpen in place once the rotation starts to come back down to earth, they are going to be hurting. The Giants have been winning with starting pitching and the long ball(how odd does that sound?). Jake MeGee is not the answer as the closer given how incendiary he has been the last two weeks and the amount of long balls he is giving up. The bullpen needs help NOW before things fall back to earth.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct
DeleteThis is not to suggest that the Giants' Steve Duggar is equal to the Cardinals' Harrison Bader. (Full disclosure, I am a full blood Gator, but have no animosity to Clemson - they're not SEC.)
ReplyDeleteSt Louis made a commitment to Bader as their CFer even if he didn't hit a lick.
OTOH, Duggar has had "some" injury problems along without hitting a lick, but has never been anointed.
I wonder if the Giants had committed to Duggar through thick and thin, as the Cardinals did with Bader, would CF not be a Giant humongous question mark today? Until who? Ramos? Bishop?
Has the old theory to be "strong up the middle" become secondary to "matchups"?
Will we see Dubon, a good IFer, be squeezed into CF because he's the RH CFer? Or is it Slater?
Giants might realize CF isn't a future strength, so Slater, Duggar, Dubon (28,27,26 yo, respectively) might just hang around, at least one of them IS a true CFer.
Who calls the day-to-day for the Giants, Gabe or Farhan?
Does Kapler even have a plan of his own?
2021 has been a surprise - except the 'pen: no one expected that to be better although money was dumped into it (McGee, Wisler, Alvarez, Garcia) without particularly good results - 11 Saves 8 Blown Saves.
Will we see 2016 redux?
Between injuries at key times and lack of hitting, it's pretty tough to say the Giants should have made more of a commitment to Duggar. I'd say it shows some degree of commitment that he's still in the organization at all. I think we've seen enough of FZ's MO to be confident he and Kap will keep cycling through CF options until someone owns the position.
Delete