An error by Matt Chapman 3B and a passed ball by Tom Murphy C led to two unearned runs which were the difference in the game. Key Lines:
Lamonte Wade Jr 1B- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .333. LMWJ did not figure in the scoring. I do think pinch-hitting with Flores against the lefty closer was the right move.
Thairo Estrada 2B- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .249. Estrada's double in the second inning drove in 2 runs and temporarily gave the Giants a 2-run lead. That was the last of their scoring until they added a run in the seventh inning.
Matt Chapman 3B- 0 for 3, BB, 2 E(5). BA= .220. a bit over 1 month into the season, Chapman has an fWAR of 0.3. It appears baserunning is the only positive contribution to his fWAR score. He is essentially replacement value on defense and negative on offense. How does that compare to J. D. Davis who he replaced? Well, not surprisingly Davis is slightly worse across the board and has a negative fWAR. Davis was activated from the 10-say IL yesterday. So, Chapman was an upgrade on Davis so far but neither has been very good and the Giants invested a of money in Chapman.
Jordan Hicks RHP- 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.89. Not a great line but obviously some bad luck involved. In addition to the unearned runs, all 4 of the hits were on ground balls. Hicks recorded 4 GB outs so his BABIP on groundballs was .500.
Sean Hjelle RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 2/0. ERA= 3.38. Melvin seems to like Hjelle and is giving him an extended opportunity. He's had two good appearances since getting roughed up against the Mets. His K/BB is 7/1 in 8 IP and his GO/AO= 3.25.
With the Loss, the Giants are now 5.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West and 1 game behind the Padres and 1 game ahead of the D'Backs.
Keaton Winn RHP tries to continue his winning ways today against Ranger Suarez LHP who is off to a sensational start for the Phillies.
Patrick Bailey C left the game early after experiencing blurry vision after taking a foul tip off the mask. He has not been placed on concussion protocol but will undoubtedly be re-examined before game time today. Bailey has probably been the Giants best position player over the first month so they can ill afford to lose him for an extended time.
ThHe 7th and 8th inning were the Giant hitters in nutshell for this season...Bases loaded and no outs ..Big time FA Soler continues his funk and a GIDP and last years FA Conforto whiffs.. Then the next inning...Melvin's favorite and another big FA so-far disappointment (well, not really, it's his norm) Chapman whiffs meekly long with Yaz and Murphy. Game over. Maybe they are just waiting for COLORADO to hit?
ReplyDeleteHicks was due for a so-so start but the RP, including and especially Hjelle pitching for his Giant career, were good.
Still, given the Giants lineup, they can't have either of the SP or RP to fail
SteveVA
I guess it’s still a small sample size but Chapman suuuuuucks! Not a great look when the catcher you sign that essentially seals Barts fate looks like an angry hipster with no talent. Also Soler is a disaster so far but I feel like he is capable of making up for his slow start as well as Snell but the others not so much. Lee is still swinging that wet newspaper for $118 million. There are 4-5 guys on this roster who wouldn’t make 90% of other MLB rosters.
ReplyDeleteDesperate moves and average players gets you right around .500 which is where this team will be plus or minus until they get out of baseball purgatory. Said it before and every time I get criticized for my comments but only way to fix this is fire Farhan and rebuild over next 4-5 years. People still think sample size is too small to jump to conclusions but it’s been over 5 years time to wake up!
blake sabol could be on the taxi squad today. austin slater may be in jeopardy of being DFA'd with heliot ramos raking it in sacramento.
ReplyDeleteAccept that Flores was the right move but with just a 25% chance of success it didn't make any difference.
ReplyDeleteThe lineup mistake was placing Soler where he would have runners on base: give him his at bats until he clears his funk, but maybe just 3 times a day rather than 4 and maybe not where he's most likely have runners to strand.
Likewise Austin Slater: he should not be leading off -- at best he's the 13th best choice. Why start the game with a 90% chance of starting with an out? Put him at the bottom and if no one can lead off, just push the line up one slot.
Lineup 101: put your best hitters at the top.
Corollary: put your bad hitters where they get the fewest ABs
Geez, Melvin, you have 20 years experience, they say