What We Learned in Week Two

 It's really the end of the first full week but since we did early takes on the first weekend, we'll call this week two.

1.  The pitching looks better than good.  Giants pitching had a good first weekend but it got even better this week.  We are approaching two trips through the starting rotation and the Giants have the lowest team ERA, FIP and fWAR in MLB.  So far, Logan Webb and Carlos Rodon have lived up to their co-ace status and the rest of the rotation has been solid.  Coming into the second weekend series the Guardians had the best offense in MLB by a large margin. The Giants pitching shut them down holding them to a total of 4 runs in 3 games.  If you break it down into component parts and secondary stats, it all looks sustainable and deep enough to withstand an injury or two down the road if necessary.

2.  The bullpen is still unsettled but coming into focus.  The bullpen had a rough opening day and a shaky first weekend but is showing signs of settling in.  Rather than rely on a single Closer, it appears Kap is either going with matchups or some sort of rotation system or maybe some of both.  Doval, Leone and McGee have gotten Save Opps.   It looks like those three will mix, match and rotate until/unless one of them emerges as more dominant than the others.  Doval is the guy who appears to have the tools to do just that, but is still working on trusting his stuff.

3.  The kids are still alright....sort of.  Joey Bart had a big night on Friday and Thairo Estrada leads the team in RBI's, but Heliot Ramos got sent back down, though not his fault, and Mauricio Dubon has all but disappeared.  Bart will continue to get every opportunity to establish himself as a start.  I expect we'll see Ramos back to stay before the season is out.  Estrada has positioned himself as the #1 infielder off the bench after rosters are reduced which may come at Dubon's expense.

4.  Brandon Belt is in the peak of his career.  Since the beginning of 2020, Belt has hit 41 HR's in 594 PA's.  That's pretty much one full season of PA's.  He is not just hitting for power.  Those HR's come with a cumulative BA of .288 and an OBP of .396.  The Captain just needs to stay healthy for a full season and we will see something special.

5.  If it looks to you like the Giants are hitting in bad luck, they are.  While the Giants are 13'th in BA but rank #3 in Average Exit Velocity and #4 in Barrel%.  BTW, guess who has the highest Average Exit Velocity in MLB:  That would be Joc Pederson at 102 MPH.  In short, the Giants hitting is better than it looks and should get better when regressions set in.