Organizational Depth Charts: First Base

Brandon Belt is a free agent so won't be listed on the depth chart.  It seems likely the Giants will make a QO.  It seems like if he accepted it would be a good deal for both him and the Giants.  They could also work out a 2-3 year contract at a lower AAV but his injury history is scary.  That's the only think hold him back from very large multi-year deal.

MLB:  

Wilmer Flores($3.5 M team option/$250 K buyout.  Expect Giants to exercise option) Flores can play multiple positions.  Giants could do worse than making him the RH side of a 1B platoon.

Darin Ruf(arbitration eligible, year 2.  Projected arbitration award- $2.6 M).  Ruf and Flores are similar players.  Both kill LHP's and are decent against RHP's.  After Belt got hurt, Ruf might have been the best hitter on the team!  Seems like a no-brainer to tender him a contract.

Lamonte Wade Jr(Pre-arbitration; Options?).  Wade Jr sure had a tremendous breakthrough season playing almost exclusively against RHP's.  A couple of big holes in his swing emerged late in the season and postseason casting a cloud over how much the Giants can count on him for 2022.  

AAA:  No MLB caliber prospects.  Jason Krizan played the most innings at 1B for the River Cats.  I think he's a minor league FA.

AA:  No MLB Caliber 1B prospects.  David Villar played mostly 3B but most likely could move over to 1B.

A+:  

Logan Wyatt- Lefty hitting 1B.  OBP .386 but with a low BA and little power.  Needs to hit for more power to be considered a serious MLB prospect at 1B.

Sean Roby- listed as 3B but played significant innings at 1B which is where his future probably lies.  Hit just .241 but with 19 HR's.  Future Value will increase significantly if NL adopts DH.

A:  No MLB caliber 1B prospects in San Jose.  Luis Toribio could move over from 3B in future.  Toribio is another prospect whose future value increases if DH adopted.

Rookie:

Garrett Frechette(ACL)- Frechette is a major sleeper prospect for the Giants with a sweet swing.  Hit .331 for his Arizona Complex League team.

Jacob Gonzalez(ACL)- Slashed .301/.360/.497 which is the right idea.  He's just getting a bit long in the tooth for Rookie ball.

If Belt turns down the QO and the Giants can't work out a deal with him(personally I would not sign him for longer than 1 year), they will likely look on the free agent or trade market for a lefty hitting 1B.  Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber or Yoshi Tsutsugo would be options.

Organizational Depth Charts: Catcher

OK team.  I'm back from a much needed break.  We're expecting a busy offseason of transactions to start almost immediately after the World Series so not sure if we'll have time to finish this before all that starts.  This exercise reviews the Giants positional depth charts including minor league players even though some of them would not be promoted even if a need arose at the MLB level due to level of experience.  It will not include free agents. We'll start it off with the Catcher position which for the first time in recent memory is deep enough to consider some trade options.

MLB:

Buster Posey(Last year of contract, Team Option for $22 M with $3 M buyout):  Buster is coming off one of the better seasons of his career.  The Giants will surely pick up the option if Buster does not retire.  Look for him behind the plate in Oracle Park in 2022. 

Curt Casali(Arbitration Eligible):  Casali's projected arbitration value is low enough and his contribution in 2021 big enough the Giants will almost certainly tender him a contract.

Joey Bart(Pre-Arbitration/AAA):  Bart got just 6 MLB AB's in 2021 with 2 hits.  He slashed .294/.358/.472 with 10 HR's for AAA Sacramento but with a relatively low walk rate and a K rate approaching 30%.  He could use some more refinement in his approach in AAA but is a nice insurance policy should a need arise.  He potentially could be traded if FZ got blown away by an offer.  His future value could increase if the NL adopts the DH.

AAA:  See Joey Bart above.  It's kind of tough to stash a veteran for depth at AAA due to Bart's need for regular AB's.

AA:  There were no MLB-caliber prospects on the roster.

A+:  

Ricardo Genoves:  Genoves has been in the organization 5 years which means he has to be added to the 40 man roster or exposed to the Rule 5 Draft.  I doubt he will be added or selected so should stay in the organization off the 40 man roster.  His 2022 season was the mirror image of Patrick Bailey's as he hit .338 in 136 AB's for San Jose then switched places with Bailey and hit just .217 for A+ Eugene.  He also got 22 AB's for AAA Sacramento and hit .455.  

A:

Patrick Bailey:  The Giants 2020 first round draft pick's bat finally caught fire and hit .322 after a demotion to San Jose.  So far he's continuing to hit in the Arizona Fall League.  His and 2019 first round pick Hunter Bishop's hitting struggles early in their pro careers are worrisome but they still have time to develop.

Rookie:

Adrian Sugasty(ACL):  19 yo.  .358/.405/.439 in 148 AB.  From Panama.

Blogger's Note

 I will be taking a much needed break here.  Will resume posting approximately 10/30/2021.

Burning Questions For Farhan Zaidi's Offseason: What To Do With Joey Bart?

Before we get started, to be clear, FZ does not have to do anything with Joey Bart.  Joey could probably use at least a wee bit more seasoning in Sacramento and there's nothing stopping the Giants from assigning him there for the whole season if necessary. Buster Posey's resurgence has created some interesting options where Joey Bart's dynamic has shifted from "we must have him ready by 2022" to "what do we do with him until Buster retires?"   

Before we look at those options, let's catch up on the season Joey had with Sacramento in 2021 at age 24: 

.294/.358/.472, 10 HR, 7.5 BB%, 29.4 K% in 279 PA.  He missed the better part of August with an injury.

That's an OK line but in the extremely hitter-friendly PCL, you ideally want to see more domination.  The K rate remains worryingly high and the walk rate is pedestrian.  I don't think anyone would blame FZ for thinking Bart needs to work on some things in Sacramento, but what other options are out there?

Again, we are assuming Buster is on board for at least another season.  Curt Casali and his Magic Fingers are free agents but should be re-signable at a reasonable price.  The Giants had a fantastic W-L record in games Casali was behind the plate including an impressive number of shutouts against the opposing teams.  Offense was more of a concern.  Early on he was still recovering from hamate surgery and and was an automatic out at the plate.  He came back from the IL to hit over .300 in June and July but slumped badly in August and September to finish with a .210/.313/.350 line with 5 HRs in 231 PA.  I know there are fans out there who want Casali gone next year but IMO, the Giants could do lot worse than bring him back with Bart getting polished up in Sacramento.

What about letting Casali walk and bringing Bart up to be Buster's backup?  As challenged as Bart has been at the plate at the MLB level, the argument goes he would still be an upgrade on Casali at the plate and could learn at the feet of the master while seeing and making adjustments to MLB pitching rather than taking PCL batting practice.  FZ seemed to lend some credence to this thought process by declaring at his postseason pressor that Bart is now "ready".  More on that later.

The last option that has some people intrigued is what about a trade?  The Giants have a multitude of roster holes to fill this offseason and it's likely prohibitive to try to fill them all with free agents.  FZ will likely have to explore the trade market to bring in a SP or two or a lefty bat upgrade for the OF.  What could Bart fetch on the trade market?  The Marlins for one have openly said they are looking to upgrade catcher and Bart would appear to be a nice fit with years of salary control.  The nice part for the Giants is FZ does not have to trade Bart.  He can afford to let the market come to him.

Here's my take:

1.  Re-sign Casali.

2.  Ticket Bart for more work in Sacramento.

3.  Trade Bart if the right deal comes along.

Burning Questions for Farhan Zaidi's Offseason: Upgrade Lefty Bats In The OF?

 OK, now we're really getting into some touchy territory because some of these names are major FZ success stories and fan favorites, but collectively YtY, Lamonte Wade Jr, Steven Duggar and Alex Dickerson went a combined 1 for 30 in the NLDS against Dodgers RHP's, leaving the distinct impression of a need for a serious upgrade.  Let's break it down:

Alex Dickerson:  Dude has had some serious hot streaks which carried the team for awhile but he never really got the bat going in 2021 and seemed overmatched by high 90's heat.  If he's not hitting, he's a liability as a negative fielder who is limited to LF.  Good chance he's not coming back in 2022.  Wish I didn't have to say that because I am a big fan.

Steven Duggar:  Best defender of the four.  The bat runs hot and cold but the D is probably good enough for him to be the lefthanded half of a CF platoon.

YtY:  Despite a down year with the bat, he finished with 25 HR's, second most on the team.  He seemed to get pull happy in the second half and hit more long foul balls than I can remember.  Of course some of those drives stayed inside the foul pole and made for some great moments.  He's probably still cheap enough to keep around and see if he can straighten out some of those hooks.

Lamonte Wade Jr:  Recent Willie Mac Award winners have come checkered subsequent histories and Lamont Wade Jr may be one of those.  He had a lot of great moments but two big holes in his swing got exposed down the stretch and into the postseason:  1.  High heat on the inside corner above the hands.  2.  Backfoot breaking balls.  MLB pitchers are going to keep pounding him with those until he proves he can handle them.  Do the Giants have time to let him work through that?

The imperative for an upgrade here is pretty obvious.  Joc Pederson would seem to be a worthy target.  He grew up in Palo Alto and has a solid postseason track record.  On the other hand, FZ had a chance to go after him as a FA last year but let him go the Cubs instead.  There is not a whole lot else in this category on the market so we may need to Churn On!

Burning Questions For Farhan Zaidi's Offseason: What To Do About The Rotation?

We'll tackle this in one post rather than spread it out over each individual member.  Logan Webb is the only SP in the rotation certain to return next year and he's a heckuva dude to be the ace or anchor of the rotation.  Beyond that, FZ has a range of options including bringing the gang back on free agent contracts to letting The Churn do it's work with another collection of 1 year/"bounceback" contracts like Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood started with.  Without taking the time to go into too much detail, here's approximately what it will take to "keep the gang together":

Kevin Gausman RHP: One early FA prediction pegs him for 4 yr/$100 M.  We all know the story:  Cy Young candidate in first half, regression in second half, nice recovery in final two starts of the regular season, disappointing start against the Dodgers in the postseason.  Is the enough to make the 9 figure commitment?  He's not eligible for a QO.

 Anthony DeSclafani RHP:  DeSclafani's season mirrored Gausman's.  He actually did great against all teams but the Dodgers but he did terrible against them including an extremely disappointing NLDS start.  He's eligible for a QO and I would say is on the bubble for one.  I'm thinking the Giants can either re-sign him at a lower price or get equal to better value with other FA pitchers.

Alex Wood LHP:  Wood has had a long up-and-down career with injury marred seasons following good ones.  Age alone precludes a long term deal.  Like DeSclafani, probably not quite worth a QO despite an excellent season which clouds his likelihood of coming back.

Johnny Cueto RHP:  It was another mostly lost season for Cueto but he made an intriguing appearance in the last week of the season.  The Giants will certainly exercise their $5 M buyout of his option.  I read an interesting idea on another blog that maybe instead of the buyout, the Giants tack on an extra $2-3 M and sign him to a 1 year "bounceback" deal.  That makes a lot of sense for both sides.

The Giants don't have any Logan Webbs in the upper minors ready to step up.  FZ will likely have his pick of many FA pitchers looking to parlay a 1 year contract into a future payday.  Lastly, he might be able to trade Joey Bart for a high end pitching prospect or two but that's another post.

Burning Questions For Farhan Zaidi's Offseason: Is Kris Bryant The Guy?

 After bringing Kris Bryant over from the Cubs at the trade deadline, Farhan Zaidi now has a big decision to make.  Bryant is a free free agent.  In other words, FZ can't make a Qualifying Offer, not that a QO would make much difference in Bryant's situation.  

Despite a slump in September which may have been related to a hammy injury, Kris Bryant did what FZ acquired him to do.  Maybe he didn't quite carry the offense in Augusta, but he came close and his bat came alive in the postseason too.  He was not the reason the Giants lost that series to the Dodgers.  

So, where does that leave us in terms of his free agency?  I just looked up a 2021-2022 free agent prediction which had Bryant signing with the Phillies for 7 years/$250 M.  Now, Bryant is well known to strongly prefer playing on the west coast and has expressed a sense of happiness with the Giants organization so, it seems like the ball is in FZ's court and he can have Bryant if he's willing to pay the price.  I'm guessing Scott Boras is not Bryant's agent because Bryant is willing to give a big discount for sentimental reasons.  7/$250 M seems like it's about what it's going to take although it would not surprise me if he's looking something that will take him to retirement and maybe a little beyond.  A 10 year deal would take him through age 39 so I'm going to say 10 yr/$300 M will make him a Giant for life.  

One team can generally only afford one or two contracts like that, so the question for FZ is if Bryant is THAT guy? The guy you construct your team around for the next 10 years? When fully healthy, yes, he is that guy but he's been a bit injury prone over the last 4 seasons.  Is that the beginning of a physical decline or a series of flukes that don't predict future injuries?  

These are the very big questions FZ has to answer to himself and to ownership.  Bryant is probably the top non-shortstop on the free agent market.  Looking ahead to next year's free agent class the only player who tops Bryant in value is Trea Turner.  The Dodgers appear to be likely to let Corey Seager go in favor of Turner which only makes sense if they sign him long term, so the probability that he gets to the open market would appear to be small.

My prediction:  Giants sign Kris Bryant for 10 years/$300 M.

Burning Questions For Farhan Zaidi's Offseason: Does Brandon Belt Get The QO?

 Here's another one where if you asked this question in 2019 the answer would have been a resounding no!  Then The Belter had a strong if shortened 2020 season then an astonishing 2021 and in so many ways.  To my eye, Belt backed off the plate by 2-3 inches which enabled him to get around better on inside fastballs.  He's got long enough arms to still cover the outside corner.  The result was some truly crazy good offensive numbers with a slash line of .274/.378/.597 and 29 HR's and an fWAR of 3.3 in just 381 PA's.  

So a QO or contract extension is automatic, right?  The problem is The Captain's longstanding durability issues continued to dog him.  He's got a chronically bad knee which at one point in the season seemed to be a serious threat to end his career then and there.  He must have worked really hard in rehab and came back looking friskier than he has in years then went on an incredible offensive tear that carried the team for several weeks.  Then as the end of the season approached, he found yet another way to run into a pitch with his hand and missed the postseason.  It's both inspiring and depressing to think about how his presence in the lineup against all those Dodgers RHP's might have changed the outcome of the series.  

At this point a 1 year contract for the QO price of $18.4 M seems like it would be a great deal for both the Giants and The Captain.  If he's healthy, he's worth way more than that.  If the knee goes bad again, it's only a 1 year risk.  I would prefer that over a multi-year deal at a slightly lower AAV, but who knows what kind of a contract he can find on the open market?

My verdict is yes, offer Brandon Belt the QO and I think there is about an 80% he's a Giant in 2022.

Burning Questions for Farhan Zaidi's Offseason: Pick Up Buster Posey's Option?

I've decided pose a series of "burning questions" as the Giants-less postseason grinds on, and there are so many!   The Giants incredible success this season comes with some surprising dilemmas for Farhan Zaidi.  It's one thing to upgrade a roster with The Churn when there are no expectations of a winning team.  Upgrading or even maintaining a roster that just won 107 regular season games and possibly came within a blown check swing call of taking down the consensus best team in baseball is another.  There is uncertainty and room for improvement in almost every corner of the roster.  Veteran players who seemed ticketed to move on somewhere else are coming off career years.  Can surprise performers turned up by The Churn be trusted to maintain or improve their success?  We'll start with perhaps the biggest of the burning questions although possibly the easiest one to answer.  

Should the Giants pick up Buster Posey's option?

A year ago, this one was not looking like the slam dunk it is now.  Buster was coming off a weak 2019 season with a chronic hip condition apparently still bothering him.  He sat out the 2020 season raising questions about how badly he wanted to keep doing this.  Then 2021 happened.  Buster came back rested and rejuvenated.  Gabe Kapler found a way to pace his workload to keep him from wearing down as we have seen happen throughout his fabulous career.  Buster put up a batting line of .304/.390/.499 with 18 HR's in 454 PA.  Add in amazing defense behind the plate and he got to an fWAR of 4.9 which was #1 for all MLB catchers.  He as one of the few Giants who hit well in the NLDS against the Dodgers.  He currently sits at #8 in all time catching fWAR at 57.6.  Depending on how much longer he plays, he's within striking distance of all but Johnny Bench who finished his career with 74.8.

Here's the deal:  Buster has one year left on his contract which calls for a salary of $22 M with a team buyout of $3 M.  That's a no brainer folks!   Whether the Giants simply pick up the option or work out a 2-3 year extension like they did with Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey is going to be a Giant in 2022 and that's a very good thing.

The Showdown: Frustration with Umpires Boils Over

Well that was not a good way to end the biggest series in the history of the biggest and oldest rivalry in baseball.  I think by now almost everybody agrees Wilmer Flores did not swing on that pitch.  Yes, we all know the probability he was going to hit a 2-run walkoff HR or a game-tying double was extremely low, but hey!  We've all seen him do it and more than once!  We were not given a fair chance to see if that could happen.

On top of that outrage, there were more questionable and inconsistent ball-strike calls throughout the game, more of which seemed to favor the Dodgers.  Ball-strike calling was a problem throughout the series.  Once again, if the electronic strike zone is the gold standard, it should be used as it is for line calls in tennis.  If it's not, then it should not be shown in TV broadcasts or used to educate and grade umpires.  Oh, and managers should by able to ask for replays of check swing calls with the usual limits.  If it's the last out of the game and it's a questionable call, it should be a no-brainer.

The best team won the series.  The Dodgers were the superior team on paper and on the field, although we all know the best team does not always win a series.  The number of pitchers Gape Kapler could rely on dwindled down to about 2+ by the end of the series while the Dodgers had a seemingly endless supply of elite pitching.  In the end, that was the difference in the series, not the umpiring.

Logan Webb RHP clearly established himself as a star in the league and a big game pitcher.  Barring injury of course, we get to enjoy watching another great career unfold in front of our eyes.  

Gabe Kapler deserves to win NL Manager of the Year and it's not a close call.  I do have a quibble with his management in the 9'th inning, though.  Camilo Doval RHP did not have his best command from the get-go.  The HBP on Turner was a huge red flag and may have contributed to his decision to rely almost exclusively on the slider which he also had shaky command of and which requires respect for the fastball to be most effective.  If Kap was going to go to the trouble of warming Alex Wood LHP up in the pen, he should have been the guy facing Gavin Lux and Cody Bellinger.  Possibly not Lux but definitely Bellinger.  Not only is Wood a lefty but he has extensive big game experience both as a starter and reliever.  I mean, his performance in relief for the Dodgers last year was the whole reason FZ signed him in the first place!  

This was a fantastic season that was must-watch incredibly entertaining baseball from Opening Day to last night.  I honestly don't remember a season like this and I've been following for 55 years now.  I am grateful for the experience.

Well, that's it for me.  I have pretty much zero interest in the rest of the postseason.  I'll start putting together ideas for offseason posts and keep them coming as I get the inspiration.  I'll probably post most days but am not going to feel obligated.

Thanks to everybody for reading and commenting over the course of the season.

The Showdown: On To Game Five

 There's not much to say about this game and probably the less said the better.  I've been toying with whether the Giants should offer Anthony DeSclafani RHP "The Gausman".  This game pretty much put that notion to rest.  I'm OK with him coming back next year, but not nearly at that price.  I mean, right now I'd be more OK with a QO for Alex Wood LHP but I wouldn't do it for him either. Which means FZ has a major rotation rebuild job on his hands for the offseason, but he did last year too, so why am I worrying about it now?

As others have said, I would be pretty confident about Game 5 with Logan Webb RHP on the mound except Julio Urias LHP is the latest Giants Dodgers nemesis who they just can't seem to find a way to beat even thought he looks like he should be hittable.  This one could have a crazy ending like we saw in 1951 on 1962.  Hey!  It's a tradition we have to keep alive!

The Showdown: A Star Is Born!

 There are multiple incredible storylines from last night's potentially pivotal Game 3 of the 2021 NLDS, but the biggest may be the arrival of Camilo Doval RHP as a star in MLB.  When Manager Gabe Kapler brought in Jake McGee LHP to get two outs on the 7'th inning after bringing in Tyler Rogers RHP in the 5'th inning, I realized that Kap assumed he wasn't getting any more runs and he was rolling the dice with the one reliever who gave him the best chance of getting through two more innings with the shutout intact.  That would be young Mr Doval who is young, inexperienced and occasionally erratic in his command but has electrifying, unhittable stuff when he's at his best.  I texted a couple of friends saying I thought that was the plan.  For better or worse, I so respected it!

Doval came through and came through big time.  It was the first 2-inning postseason Save in the history of playoff baseball dating back to 1969.  Yes, he got help from the wind on the last out, but the dry, cold wind may have been what caused the hanging slider that Gavin Lux hammered to left-CF in the first place so the wind giveth and the wind taketh away.  Doval's performance brought back memories of K-Rod and Mariano Rivera who themselves were young, relatively unknown pitchers before shining in postseason play.  Make note, though that neither K-Rod nor Mo Rivera pitched 2-inning Saves in the postseason as rookies.

And what about Gabe Kapler?  Camilo Doval is not the only star born last night.  Coming into this job Kap's biggest weakness was widely believed to be pitching management.  Word was he was too tied to sabermetric dogma and not able to read the room or the game situation.  Well, he put THAT behind him last night!  I was shocked when I saw it was Tyler Rogers warming up in the 5'th inning and even more shocked when Jake McGee came into the 7'th.  That's when I realized that Kap assessed the state of the game, the weather conditions, the probability the Giants would not score again and was going for the kill shot.  He was going to bring in the pitcher who gave him the best chance of getting through two more innings with a 1-0 lead preserved.  I absolutely LOVE it!  This game just proves what we already knew.  Gabe Kapler is currently the best manager in MLB and should be the runaway winner of the NL Manager of the Year award.

Everybody is talking about Brandon Crawford's leaping, perfectly timed catch of Mookie Betts' bid to tie the game in the 7'th inning but Crawford has made at least one play at least that impressive in almost every game this season, often making multiple such plays in single games.  I don't know how he moves that 34 year old body around like that, but his defense this year has been incredibly athletic, brilliant, savvy.  Oh, and the arm is special!  I've said it before, combine the D with a strong season at the plate for a team that won 107 games and I believe Brandon Crawford is the NL MVP!

Time to see if Anthony DeSclafani RHP can shake off some subpar performances against the Dodgers and close this bad boy out tonight.  Go Giants!  Beat LA!

The Showdown: The Tipping Point

If it's extremely important to win Game 1 of a 5 games series then it's critical to win Game 1 of a 3 game series and that's what the split of Games 1 and 2 in San Francisco created here.  Whoever loses tonight faces 2 consecutive elimination games.  Not that the Giants are unfamiliar with that territory.  I've lost track of how many elimination games they won in their 3 championship runs but still, they'd much rather the Dodgers face that situation than them.

The Giants send Alex Wood LHP to the mound.  Wood had a strong year for the Giants and finished the season strong.  In 3 starts after coming of the COVID IL list, he allowed 2 runs in 13 IP while striking out 17 with 0 BB's.  In his final start against the D'Backs he stretched out to 6 IP of shutout ball.  So I'm happy with Alex Wood starting.  He gives the Giants as much of a chance to win as anyone Kap could put out there.  The one caution is the Dodgers lineup used to be heavily lefthanded but with Max Muncy injured and Joc Pederson and Alex Verdugo long gone and Cody Bellinger having a terrible, injury plagued year, the Dodgers are now much more of a RH hitting lineup.  I mean, their 3, 4 and 5 hitters agains RHP's were Trea Turner, Justin Turner and Will Smith, all very good RH batters with Mookie Betts another great RH batter at the top of the lineup.  So, Alex Wood better have that back foot slider and changeup working, and working early.

On the other side, Max Scherzer RHP gave up 10 runs in 10.2 IP over his last two regular season starts and was shaky in in the Wild Card game although he gave up just 1 run in 5+ IP.  If Alex Wood can hold the line for 5-6 innings, the Giants lineup has a chance to scratch out a run or two off Mad Max or even a little more.  We'll just hope Kap isn't tempted to use Zach Littell RHP in a high leverage situation.  He's given up something like 5 HR's to the first batter he's faced this season. Dominic Leone RHP seems like he's might be out of gas too.  The winning formula for the pitching might be for Wood to go 6 followed by Tyler Rogers RHP and Jake McGee LHP in the 7'th and 8'th depending on where they are in the Dodgers lineup with Camilo Doval RHP taking the ninth for a glorious Save.  If he needs to go to the pen earlier, I might favor Kervin Castro RHP over Littell and Leone.

The Showdown: No, Angel Hernandez Did Not Lose This Game For The Giants!

 There was a moment in this game where I had a bad trepidation, and no, it did not involve Angel Hernandez calling balls and strikes.  It was after Gabe Kapler called for an intentional walk to the Dodgers 8'th place hitter, AJ Pollack and Julio Urias LHP stepped to the plate.  The TV graphic showed a BA of .208 or something like that.  I said to myself, "uh oh!  Thats pretty good for a pitcher.  This might not go so well!"  Kevin Gausman RHP hung a splitter and Urias roped it into RF to drive in the Dodgers first run and we already kind of knew where this game was headed.

Angel Hernandez is widely believed to be the worse umpire in MLB, and he may well be.  He did not get off to a good start in this game when he called Giants leadoff batter Darin Ruf out on a pitch that had a lot of air between it and the strike zone graphic on the TV screen.  The Twitter outrage machine went into high gear and the charge was led by Jalynne Crawford.  Now, I'm generally quite judgmental with umpires and the strike zone.  I'm on record supporting the use of an electronic strike zone.  I mean, it's either the gold standard and they should use it or it's not and they should not show it on TV broadcasts or use it to grade umpires.  From that point on, I was paying pretty close attention and I honestly thought Angel Hernandez called a pretty good game.  Yes, there were some apparent missed calls, but keep in mind the umpire grading system allows a 2 inch gray area on either side of the electronic margin which is actually quite large when you are looking at the graphic on TV.  After the Ruf miss, almost all of Hernandez' subsequent questionable calls were well within the accepted margin of error and honestly could have been called either way.  The questionable calls seemed to be evenly divided between hurting/helping both teams.  I've seen way worse home plate umpiring just within the last two weeks!

My advice to Jalynne Crawford is to pipe down on Twitter.  The last thing the Giants need right now is for the umps to feel like the Giants and/or their families are unfairly or even fairly, showing the up.  Angel Hernandez did not cost the Giants this game and I am pretty sure Brandon Crawford would be the first person to say so.

The Showdown: Logan Webb Dominates The Dodgers

 I was actually quite bullish on this game leading up to it.  My one big concern was with getting Webb through the first inning without falling too far behind, or behind at all!  When Mookie Betts led off the inning with a single it was like uh-oh!  But the way Webb pitched out of it with 3 GB outs I was pretty confident he could match goose eggs with Walker "Tight Pants" Buehler deep into the game.  As it turned out, Dodger fans were the ones who needed to worry about falling behind early as "Tight Pants" seemed to forget he was pitching around Buster and Buster came this close to being the first right-handed hitter in history with a splash hit.  As it was, the 2-run bomb knocked the Dodgers on their heels and they never recovered.

The game was more than just Logan Webb although his performance was truly remarkable.  It was one of the great pitching games for a franchise with a long, long history of great pitching performances.  This game was complete domination of the Dodgers in every phase of the game, pitching, defense and hitting, specifically hitting for power.  It's just one game and the Giants have to win 2 more but historically the winner of game 1 in a 5 game series wins the series over 70% of the time and it certainly was a statement game in so many ways.

Speaking of statements:  Wow!  Did Logan Webb just announce himself to the world as the next great Giants pitcher?  He has to stay healthy but health may be the only thing standing between him and a whole lot more games like this and a whole lot of pride and joy for Giants fans to watch!

And what about Camilo Doval?  He made quite a little statement himself.  Yeah, he had a 4-run lead and a non-Save situation but he faced Trea Turner, Justin Turner and Will Smith and totally dominated them with a triple digit heater and a devastating slider.   2 pop ups and a K, game over!

I'm just a bit concerned that Gausman is on 100% physically but if he is, Giants have a great chance to go two up tonight.  The world will get a chance to see how the Giants play matchup baseball as they send out their righthanded platoon to face Julio Urias with the Gas Man on the mound.  I can't wait!

Bring On Da Bums!

 Wow again!  I am super-excited to witness the first ever meeting of the Giants and Dodgers in a postseason series in the divisional era.  As we all know they had two previous 3-game series for the NL Pennant after finishing the regular season tied in 1951 and 1962.   The Giants won both of those in historically dramatic fashion as we will never forget.  So this is historic and incredibly exciting.

Don't have much to say about the Dodgers-Cardinals game last night.  The Dodgers pitching looked tough and intimidating, especially the bullpen.  The only thing I have to say about that is I feel like the Giants would have given Jansen tougher AB's in the 9'th inning, but he's clearly not the same guy who blew two Saves against the Giants earlier in the season.  He's completely revamped his stuff and it looks nasty!  

In the end, the Giants can only control what they do.  In that regard, I think getting a couple of extra days off and not having to play the Wild Card game was something the Giants needed more than other teams.  Wish The Captain was at full health to face Buehler and Scherzer but otherwise the team has had time heal and rest up and should be close to full strength.  I like how the starting pitching came around at the end of the season after leaking oil for much of the second half.  I feel like they are ready to match goose eggs with the Dodgers aces. For their part, the Dodgers are without Max Muncy and Clayton Kershaw so the injury factor is pretty close to even.

As we all know, anything can happen in a 5 game series and winning game 1 is critical, but I'm pretty comfortable with the Giants chances here.  On paper, the Dodgers have an overwhelming advantage in talent but the Giants more than made up for that in the regular season by playing matchup baseball with role players perhaps better than it's ever been done before.   

Play Ball!  Beat LA!

Exhale. Wow!

Well, what a season!  The Giants ended up with an astonishing 107 Wins, an all time franchise record, and yet they needed every single one of them to stave off the Dodgers.  This season harkened back to the brutal pennant races of the 1960's except I think this one topped them all.  Just electrifying baseball from Opening Day until Fan Appreciation Day.  Every single game was must-see!  IDK, are there any other superlatives I can use to describe it?  

Of all the teams in the postseason I think the Giants benefit from an extra couple of days off the most.  I love how their starting pitching came around at the end.  With a bit of rest for the bullpen and a few beat up position players, I really like their chances in the NLDS and beyond.  Just wish The Belter was in that lineup.

Now, who you got in the Wild Card game?  Do we root for the Cardinals to once again knock the Dodgers out before the Giants have to play them or do we root for one of the most epic postseason matchups in the entire history of MLB?  Personally I suspect the Giants think they match up better against the Dodgers and have the Big Mo on their side from the season series.  It think they are in the Dodgers heads a bit although the Mo could shift in an instant.

With that, I am going to take a few days off from posting.  Can't wait for Friday! 

More Torture

 I was all set to write a post about how much I disagreed with Kap pulling Gausman after 7 innings, then read it was a mutual decision and his hand was cramping up.  Nevermind.  It came down to lack of hitting by the Giants and great pitching by the Padres.  On any given day, Musgrove can pitch a no-hitter and his stuff was that good yesterday.  Giants just have to get it done today and give Gausman a chance to do this thing in the postseason because he was really really good too.

Giants Tie Franchise Win Record; Need One More

 Not much else left to say about this season.  Giants tied a franchise record for wins with 106 and it looks like they are going to have to break that record to win the NL West.  They seem to be set up pretty well to do just that.  The offense took a hit with Belt's injury but the pitching, which hit a rough patch after the All-Star Break is coming back around just in time for a postseason run and hey, the pitching it tired all around the league.  Postseason is a crapshoot but is usually won by pitching and I like where the Giants pitching is right now.  

Congrats to Lamonte Wade Jr on winning the Willie Mac Award.  He's given Giants fans quite a few unforgettable moments this season and is a big part of why they are on the cusp of winning the NL West over one of the most talented rival teams I can remember.

105 Wins Is (Probably) Not Enough

I've said for awhile I thought the over-under for number of wins to take the NL West is 105.  Well, we're at 105 Wins and the Giants somehow still have a magic number, of two to be exact.  I suppose the Giants could get swept this weekend and still win the division,  but I wouldn't want to count on that.  More likely we're looking at 106 minimum and probably 107 for the winner. (BTW if it's 107, it WILL be the Giants).  So here we are.  Final 3-game series of the season.  If the Giants win the series, they win the division.  Simple as that. If they win one game out of 3 they get at least a tie, but we don't want no tie!

Random thoughts from last night's game:

Scott Kazmir was not a MLB pitcher last night.  Hopefully the Scott Kazmir era ended when he left the game with 1 out in the first inning.

As great as it was to see Madison Bumgarner last night, he's not the pitcher he once was and FZ was right to let him go.

Matt Cain!

With Brandon Belt on the shelf, Longo and Kris Bryant need to step it up.  They both looked lost last night and have for the last several games.  

Brandon Crawford showed once again on both sides of the ball why he is the MVP on the best team in MLB and therefore should be the league MVP.  What a stupendous season!