Jordan Hicks worked around diminished velocity apparently caused by a brief pregame illness and got help from the bullpen over the last 4 innings to complete a sweep of the Rockies who came in on a 7 game winning streak. Key Lines:
Lamonte Wade Jr 1B- 2 for 4. BA= .321. LMWJ went 4 for 10 on the series after a mini-slump against the Dodgers.
Matt Chapman 3B- 1 for 2, BB, HBP. BA= .239. At one point in the game Chapman reached base for the 11 consecutive Plate Appearance. Jon Miller and Kruk went over who the last Giant to do that was but I don't remember(Hunter Pence?). Oh, and the hit was another one of those swinging bunts that help the Giants in this series.
Mike Yastrzemski RF- 2 for 4. BA= .235. YtY went 0 for 4 yesterday but got 2 more hits today so he has four 2-hit games out of his last 5, 8 for 20 in that span. Unfortunately. he did not figure into the scoring today despite the two hits.
Heliot Ramos LF- 1 for 4, HR(1). BA= .293. The Giants had several balls appear to die on the warning track today but Ramos put a charge into one in the 6'th inning that cleared the fence in straightaway CF by a healthy margin to give the Giants a much appreciated insurance run.
Marco Luciano SS- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .333. Luciano has been a bit oveshadowed by Luis Matos and Heliot Ramos and maybe that's a good thing because he's quietly doing great after taking over SS from Casey Schmitt who was good defensively but was flailing again a the plate.
Curt Casali C- 2 for 4. BA= .500. Casali continued to take charge behind the plate and added a couple of soft liners to RF for his two hits. I don't think anyone cares if he hits a lick as long as he maintains order behind the plate.
Jordan Hicks RHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 7/3. ERA= 2.38. Hicks FB was barely breaking 90 MPH early in the game causing some fretting among pretty much everybody but Mike Krukow. Turns out Hicks threw up his pregame meal and felt weakened though not sick at the start of the game. He worked on eating bananas and Stroopwafels(what?) between innings and was able to dial it back up to 96 MPH in the 5'th inning before exiting the game.
Sean Hjelle RHP got 3 groundball outs, Luke Jackson RHP struck out the side, Taylor Rogers LHP worked around 2 walks and Camilo Doval RHP closed it out for his 8'th Save.
Everybody in the NL West won to maintain the status quo in the standings. The Giants trail the Dodgers by 9 games and are 1 game behind in the Wild Card race.
The Giants hit the road and start a series in Pittsburgh with Logan Webb RHP facing the Pirates Martin Perez LHP.
How can we get off of some of those guys that are injured and let these kids play for the rest of the season. For better or worse.
ReplyDeleteThese things usually take care of themselves. It's unlikely all the kids are going to continue at this pace and it's likely someone else gets injured. But I could envision some selling of veterans at the trade deadline though not really selling.
Deleteif conforto can come back strong, you may want to trade conforto for some bullpen help. if you can move roster players for other roster players, you are in a good position. might hunter bishop become a trade chip for some bullpen help at the the deadline?
DeleteThe good thing is, the Giants will have options..Hopefully BOTH vets and kids perform, but making for some hard decisions on playing time and AAA options. And so much depends on where the Giants go in the standings..as well as more injureis of course....If they are in the thick of things, it will be about winning..If they fall off? Sell..Sell Selll (and then you want the vets playing to raise their stock)..
DeleteYou know what I thought was pretty significant yesterday....LUCIANO's AB in the 7th(?) where he got down in the count, good eye, battles, fouled off pitchers and got a solid single against a good Rockies pitcher....He's definitely maturing..
SteveVA
Agree on Luciano. He looks like a seasoned professional hitter up there.
DeleteGiants could be in virtual tie with San Diego for the 3rd WC spot without playing today: Padres have a double header in Atlanta and are already down 5 in the 4th inning of the 1st game. Should SD lose both games, SF will be 0 games behind in standings but .001 behind in pct.
ReplyDeleteAZ could be in that tie also with a win tonight over the LAD.
With the Giants playing Pittsburgh and the Cubs playing Atlanta, the #2 WC is reachable this week.
How many days ago were the Giants counted out? Perhaps last Tuesday after the SF was trounced by the Los Angeles Baseball Club:
Anonymous May 15, 2024 at 7:54 AM
This is what happens when you sign a bunch or scrubs and roll through with one of the worst rosters in the league. Obviously we all agree that Farhan needs to do what he’s never done before: sell everyone he can except Webb basically. Yes, even sell Doval, he’s going to be due for an increase in pay soon and he’s not going to be worth it. 6 years in and nothing to show for it but a train wreck comparable to the A’s
LOL, looks like Padres not having any of that! Rallied late and beat ATL 6-5!
DeleteGood article from Pavs on Hjelle's success with a new pitch to get lefties out:
ReplyDeletehttps://sports.yahoo.com/hjelles-confidence-cutter-him-pitching-171000554.html
He also covered Hicks velocity problems in a second article and how he has progressed to a starter from a high velocity reliever.