The bad news started before game time with this one as Blake Snell LHP was a late scratch and IL placement for an adductor strain turning this one into a bullpen game, something Giants fans like about as much as a teeth cleaning. it went about as well as expected. Key Lines:
Tyler Fitzgerald CF/2B- 1 for 4, HR(1). BA= .269. Fitz has some pop in his bat. He needs to find a position he can field and give him regular playing time.
Ryan Walker RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.21. Walker has been the Giants most successful Opener when they need one.
Sean Hjelle RHP- 2.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 4/1. ERA=5.79. Not what we were hoping to see. I wonder in this situation why you don't just start Hjelle rather than bring him in from the bullpen?
Landon Roupp RHP- 1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 3/0. ERA= 6.17. Ditto Sean Hjelle above.
Mitch White RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 6.55. White gets roughed up in his first Giants appearance. Ideally you would want him to figure things out in AAA but he is out of options so the Giants will try to catch lightening in a bottle. That did not happen here.
The Loss dropped the Giants to 3 games behind the NL West leading Dodgers and tied with the D'Backs for 3'rd place. They are 1.5 games behind the second place Padres.
The Giants get a rare day off at home tomorrow before starting a weekend series against the Pirates with Kyle Harrison LHP facing Quinn Priester RHP.
Churn Watch:
As mentioned above, Blake Snell LHP was placed on the IL with moderate left adductor strain. Landon Roupp RHP got the call to replace him on the Active Roster.
Luke Jackson RHP was activated from the IL and Mitch White RHP, who as acquired in a trade with the Blue Jays for cash, as also added to the Active Roster. Kai-Wei Teng RHP and Nick Avila RHP were optioned to AAA Sacramento.
Slater has been beaten up by Giants' fans all over the blogosphere lately, but don't blame him for yesterday — at least not completely.
ReplyDeleteYes, he did inexplicably get picked off 2nd base, and that did contribute something to the loss (maybe, see below), but he did get on base twice in 3 PAs and did not leave any runners on base.
On the other hand, Soler, Estrada, and Fitzgerald left an aggregate 15 runners on base.
RBI-man, Soler, by himself, left 6 which happens to be the margin in the game. And, had not Slater been picked off in the 3rd inning, Soler would have had 7 LOB, and, to exercise hyperbole, he singularly lost the game with maybe an assist from Slater!
Incidentally, Soler has 58 LOBs* (4th in MLB), Chapman is 22nd (46 LOB), and Conforto & Estrada are tied for 41st (42 LOB).
The Giants have 4 of the 50 worst offenders in MLB, and they have lost 6 games by 2 runs or less — might they have won a few of them by getting the runners home?
* https://www.teamrankings.com/mlb/player-stat/left-on-base
It's not all Soler: Chapman, Conforto, and Estrada combined add 130 LOB.
DeletePercentage-wise, in 50 worst offenders spread over 30 teams, there should be less than 2 per team, not 4 for one team.
Of course, bad teams won't even have as many runners as good teams, but 4 in 50 means there's a lot of scoring missed.
At 12-14 W/L, SF is just one win rather than a loss from being .500, and a couple wins, 14-12 rather than 12-14, puts them ½ game from being a playoff team.
Get those guys home, team!
LOB should regress to mean and fairly quickly, but it does seem to be a persistent problem the Giants have battled since 2021.
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