Austin Slater LF and Mauricio Dubon CF batted 1-2 at the top of the Giants lineup and accounted for 6 of the Giants 8 runs to back the dominant pitching of Carlos Rodon LHP.
Austin Slater LF- 2 for 4, 3B, BB. BA= .275. Slater led off the Giants half of the first inning with a triple off the CF wall that bounced away from the Garrett Hampson CF. Thanks for the heads up to MCC for the factoid that Slater leads the Giants in fWAR at 0.8, 0.1 over Brandon Crawford SS. He's done that in just 61 PA, a little over half of Crawford's. That's a pace for almost 8 fWAR over 600 PA, not that he'd likely get to that if he did play that much. Still, Slater has been really really good in a semi-platoon role so far with positive contributions at the plate, on the basepaths and in the field.
Mauricio Dubon CF- 3 for 4, HR(2), SF. BA= .244. Dubi has gone 6 for 12 with 2 HR's in his last 3 games to raise his BA from .138. Man! Does he ever look like a ballplayer when he's going good!
Darin Ruf 1B- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .217. Brandon Belt 1B was scratched late again with the stiff neck. Ruf is hitting .358 over his last 7 games.
Carlos Rodon LHP- 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 12 K. ERA= 1.80. Another dominant start for Rodon who leads MLB in K's with 53 in 35 IP. He had to overcome an extremely tight strike zone with multiple Statcast strikes called balls by the home plate ump. And yes, the opposing SP seemed to be getting strikes called in the same locations.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, GO/AO= 3/0. ERA= 2.13. The GO ratio does not tell the whole story with Rogers. I don't recall any pitcher who consistently gets as many extremely weak groundballs. The last out of his 8'th inning went about 6 inches in front of home plate.
Jake McGee LHP- 1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 9.64. Kap brought McGee into the 9'th inning with a 6 run lead. I was throwing things at the TV before it was over. Yes, he threw some good pitches and there was an error behind him but there were some line drives that were smoked too. McGee seems to have lost a tick off his FB and just does not have enough secondary stuff to make up for it. Strictly mop up pitcher for now.
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Alex Wood LHP tries to exend the Giants winning ways tonight against Antonio Senzatela RHP.
Overall, a good game. Three criticisms.
ReplyDelete1. Per Rodon, he seems to be relying heavily on the strikeout. He skills take a page from Crash Davis and try to induce more groundouts. More democratic. Also, strikeouts send his pitch count up. I was shocked he came out for the sixth inning. After five, he was at 100 pitches. Need to think long term here. Don't want him burning out as we get into the hot days of the summer.
2. When Bart was due to come up with the bases loaded and one out, I was excited as it could've been a good confidence building moment. Then Kapler pinch hit Joc for him. Sac fly, yes. But also perhaps a crusher for a young player. Gotta keep him in there to sink or swim in that situation.
3. McGee really appears done. Perhaps he could benefit from a stint on the IR but I doubt it. He's a vet and might truly be done. Sad.
I'm pretty sure the Giants pitching gurus are happy to sacrifice innings for K's. Given the situation I am sure Bart understands why Kap wanted Joc up there. Not quite ready to write off McGee but it's not looking good.
DeleteWith 8 strikeouts in Bart's last 11 ABs (plus a walk and a HBP), not sure that batting with the bases loaded would to be confidence building: he's hitless in his last 19 PAs.
DeleteAdequate behind the plate, he looks lost at bat.
Getting some hits in Sacramento might give him some confidence.
Unfortunately, FZ's C pick, Patrick Bailey, isn't doing much better in Eugene in his 2nd try after a good year in San Jose.
1. Agree with Doc, absolutely would take 5 or 6 dominant innings of Ks.
Delete2. It could've been a confidence builder or if he had struck out, more crushing than being pinch hit. So you make the move that gives you the best chance to win the game and I believe Kapler made the right move there.
I think as long as Bart is handling the pitching staff well, he should be given a long leash. And just hope he can run into about 15-20 hrs. He needs to buy into launch angle because even when he hits the snot out of the ball, too often it's a line drive that finds gloves.
3. Yeah, the zip and life in the fastball is not there and if he doesn't have that, he's toast. He's been through these "dead arm" periods before though so hopefully it's a mechanical issue he can sort out.
I was pretty ready to give up on Dubon, so it's nice to see him come around
ReplyDeleteLOL, Krukow was touting Giants "situational hitting" last night, and Kuiper repeats "Giants are not afraid to bunt" often which might be "situational hitting" — perhaps anytime a batter does his job by hitting a sac fly or bunts to get on "anyway he can" is "situational hitting"!
ReplyDeleteOTOH, is not getting a run home when trying to, which every batter does, "situational failing"?
When a batter fails to get a run home, is that because of "situational pitching"?
Bart's strikeout rate is 46% this year. In 2020 (which everyone agrees was a disaster) it was 37%. Kap pulling Bart was the absolute right move. Bart is 25, four years out of college. He's a big boy. I'll keep with the Bull Durham theme and say, right now Bart "couldn't hit water if fell out of a f'n boat." He's on the roster right now because of Posey and his pedigree. His minor league numbers really don't support him being in the majors. We all want Bart to succeed, but that shouldn't cloud our judgment. In the end it's pretty simple: if he doesn't get the K's under control, he's not going to stick.
ReplyDeleteThe player he's been comped to the most, Mike Zunino, put up 3.4 and 3.8 bWAR with 35%+ K rate so there's still hope Bart can be a productive player.
DeleteAgree with both Mojo and Anon here. What I find troubling about Bart is he is not swinging wildly out of zone which is a good thing, but why isn't he able to make contact with pitches pitches that are not only in the zone but in what look like very hittable areas within the zone?
DeleteI mean it's not like he's barely missing and fouling them straight back. He's just whiffing completely. Sometimes it looks like his bat opened up and the ball went right through it!
DeletePerhaps Bart needs to be Matt Williams part 2. Remember in 89, Williams was handed the 3B job out of spring training. He completely failed in every sense of the word and was sent back to AAA. He proceeded to murder the PCL for about 3 months. When he came back, he was more mature and able to hit at a major league level. Perhaps Bart could use this. Send him down to Sacramento to get his head straight. Let Casali start until Bart is ready to return and actually produce.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember Matt Williams problem was pitch selection. They had him do a drill where he stood in the batter's box and without swinging called out swing if the pitch was one he should swing at. Right now, Bart does not seem to have a pitch selection problem. He is swinging at the right pitches but missing them.
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