Something that got a bit lost in the offensive outburst in yesterday's game was that Kevin Gausman RHP was dealing. He gave up 3 runs which doesn't seem all that great but you have to remember the context which was Coors Field on a clear day in the afternoon and balls were flying out of the park like they can only do at Coors. Gausman looked like the early season version when he was being legitimately talked up as a Cy Young candidate. He threw more fastballs more effectively which kept hitters from laying off the split change. 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 9 K's, GO/AO= 7/1.
Add that performance in to what Logan Webb RHP has been doing for weeks and the resurgence of Anthony DeSclafani RHP against the Dodgers and the Giants may be in better shape with their pitching than we feared.
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Between Tommy La Stella IF who is under contract for 2 more seasons and Thairo Estrada IF/OF who is pre-arbitration it looks like the Giants have their 2B platoon set for next season which would tend to not bode well for Donnie Barrels sticking around.
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Dave Fleming had a fun fact on the broadcast yesterday: The Giants have the best OPS in MLB at the 1B position. Players who have logged significant innings at the position include Brandon Belt 1B, Darin Ruf 1B/OF, Lamonte Wade Jr 1B/OF and Wilmer Flores IF. This after Fangraphs had them at #12 in their positional power rankings back in May. Ruf in particular has been killing it with an OPS of 1.069 in July. He slumped to .937 in August but is back up to 1.081 so far in September. He's doing it against both LHP and RHP's with 6 of his 15 HR and a .878 OPS coming against RHP's. Now they just need to keep him from chop blocking Buster Posey C on IF pop ups!
The Giants 2020 draft was, well, OK, not much heralded but interesting. (Link to Doc's 1st impression at the end of this.)
ReplyDeleteOne of them has done something quite laudatory this year in their 1st professional season.
The Giants picks:
Another college 1st round catcher just 2 years after Joey Bart, a 3Bman who can pitch in relief, 6 of 7 picks from 4-year colleges (a couple not known for baseball programs), a 17-year old nearly $2,000,000 overslot in the 3rd round who was committed to UCLA, in all 4 of 7 pitchers not including the 3Bman.
How is it 1 year in?
The pitchers have been something else!
One has made it to AA Richmond and doing fine: striking nearly 2 per inning at 2 levels.
The much heralded "kid" is lighting it up in San Jose.
A San Jose teammate is holding his own with lots and lots of K's.
And the 5th rounder, unheralded with his $22,500 signing bonus, who Roger Munter in his There R Giants had this to say:
"The biggest addition to the staff (Eugene), however, continues to be the minor league strikeout leader and perhaps the biggest story of the Giants minor league season — that 2020 draft after-thought, Ryan Murphy, who just seems to get better and better."
To date, Murphy has 156 SO in 103.1 IP. He's 21 yo, 6-1, 190 lb New Yorker. A number of players from Le Moyne College (Syracuse) have made the majors, notably former Giant Jim Deshaies. Another, Tom Browning pitched the fifth National League perfect game on September 16, 1988.
DrB's Post-Draft Giants Top 30 Prospects:
http://whenthegiantscometotown.blogspot.com/2020/07/drbs-post-draft-giants-top-30-prospects.html
Munter is a must read for G's fans interested in the future;
ReplyDeletehttps://rogermunter.substack.com/