They say it's a game of inches. The difference in this one was a slightly offline throw to first base by Matt Chapman on a do-or-die barehanded infield dribbler, the exact same play he won a game with about a month ago. That and Mauricio Dubon. Key Lines:
Brett Wisely SS- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .304. Wisely's HR with one out in the third inning which tied the score at 1 would prove to be the only run the Giants would score on the night as they mustered just 2 other hits and 2 BB's.
Jordan Hicks RHP- 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 6/1. ERA= 3.01. Hicks deserved better. He got through 4 innings on 45 pitches getting K's and groundball outs while conserving his pitches. Then Mauricio Dubon, who has become a real Giants nemesis, hit his second of two doubles to put runners at 2'nd and 3'rd with no outs. Hicks struck out Victor Caratini and Jose Altuve. Alex Bregman then hit the dribbler up the 3B line which Chapman barehanded but threw slightly offline to Wilmer Flores at 1B. Wilmer tried to stay on the bag to get out, and if caught, the throw had the runner beat. Instead the ball got past Wilmer and both runners scored. It was scored as a hit and an error on Chapman. I don't see how Chapman could be charged with an error, yet both runs were charged as earned to Hicks. In the end it didn't matter because the Giants didn't score another run in the game.
Taylor Rogers LHP- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.39. Rogers looked like the nasty closer he was a few years ago with an unhittable curve and a sneaky fastball. His ERA is 0.00 in 7.1 IP over his last 7 appearances and 1.20 in 15 IP over his last 15 appearances.
Sean Hjelle RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.51. You have to wonder if Hjelle could be stretched out into a SP but he seems to be in a good place in his current role of multi-inning reliever. He seems to have finally figured out how to use his dominant height to his advantage. The picture on the TV screen of the height differential between him on the mound and Jose Altuve at the plate was well worth the time spent watching.
The Loss drops the Giants 9 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West and into a tie with the Pirates for the third Wild Card playoff spot.
Logan Webb RHP tries for a series win this afternoon facing another tough opponent in Framber Valdez LHP.
3 hits from the top of the lineup, then 0-18 for the guys who might drive them home, including 0-8 for the 4 & 5 "hitters" - Soler continues his futility with 2 Ks and a walk on a 3-2 pitch that was too far outside for even him to swing at.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants are stuck with him for 418 more games – if they make the playoffs, do they have to add him to the roster for post season?
What a waste he is: 3rd in ABs and 9th in RBIs – even behind Matos who has about 1/3 of his ABs! To his credit, he does hit some pretty hard foul balls!
On an entirely different subject:
If Heliot Ramos keeps up even a portion of what he's doing for the year, the Giants will have an interesting situation next year: Ramos with fewer PAs (-32) is outperforming Jung Hoo Lee in nearly all Fangraphs categories, offense and defense.
His one large deficiency is in K%.
With his .433 BABIP, Ramos will certainly come back to earth.
I have to confess I was just thinking to myself last night: How on Earth did Soler ever hit 41 HR's when he can't lay off sliders a foot outside and in the dirt to save his life and every pitcher in the league seems to know that? Did pitchers just not throw that pitch that season? Reminds me of when Michael Tucker came to SF with a reasonable good track record and suddenly couldn't hit a changeup and every pitcher knew it. LOL! I remember after Eric Gagne, who could throw a pretty good changeup, struck him out and Tucker yelled at him saying "throw a fastball and see how far it goes!".
DeleteSoler has moved up to 2nd place on the MLB Baseball Player Stats - Left On Base.
Delete2nd to whom? Teoscar Hernández of the Dodgers who has 17 HRs and 62 RBIs (Soler: 7 & 18).
Hernández has 62 more PAs than Soler, and far more runners on base when he's up. He bats 5th behind Betts, Freeman, Othani, and Smith, who have OBPs of, respectively, .412, .401, .384, & .364: many, many more opportunities for leaving runners and also lead the Dodgers in RBIs.
Source:
https://www.teamrankings.com/mlb/player-stat/left-on-base
Good to see the top of the order kids with the only offense...but then the vets 4-9 with bupkis...That has to change..for the Giants PO chase or the trade deadline...Ditto when AHMED comes back after his rehab stint in SAC......Gotta love What RAMOS (and Wisely) is doing...Maybe they have finally got it after several ups and downs..Eamos will come back a bit, but he just looks like a MLB player now,,,,.Not much more to add on SOLER..Maybhe a visit to the Eye Doctor??? FA is always about results and not rationale (for fans or the GM) and boy are Snell and Soler looking as bad as it gets....But...more than enough time to change that narrative for both...
ReplyDeleteSteveVA
Tim Kawakami (The Athletic paywall) floats a trade of Soler to Anaheim for Trout. Doesn't get much fan support: Trout $37,116,667/year through 2030 (LOL, my 90th year!).
ReplyDeleteAnd LAA also wants something useful!
Kawakami sounds serious but that idea is abjectly insane, even if the Angels were to pick up half.
Be nice to be rid of Soler, though, but he's "only" costs $32,000,000 after this year, which is a lot for you, maybe, and me, but sounds like nothing compared to
$222,700,002 for Trout!
Giants estimated payroll obligation for 2029 is $21,333,333 (per Fangraphs RosterResource) which is 2/3 what they would pay Trout for that year!
No matter how he votes, pretty sure Johnson is not that crazy!
So, the problem with for-profit blogs, even as one as respected as The Athletic, is their writers are contractually obligated to write something, anything, whether they have something to say or not. That's how get get garbage content like a Mike Trout for Jorge Soler trade proposal.
DeleteCan we fire Farhan and rebuild yet? I want off this roller coaster but am addicted so can’t stop but I’m also ready to suffer a few years to get a competitive team that isn’t boring to watch. Still think we could get some good prospects for Webb and Doval and then maybe we can be bad enough to get a top 5 pick…. Suck 2 more years and start winning in 2027-2028 at the latest
ReplyDeleteI don't think Farhan is going anywhere soon, especially if Hunter Bishop and Will Bednar continue their comebacks, and one top 5 draft pick is not as much of a difference maker as we want to believe.
DeleteDoc - I don't think players like Bednar or Bishop will (or maybe should in my opinion) make an iota of difference in a FZ decision, it's minor leaguers turned major leaguers and especially Farhan picked FAs and as well as Manager, that must make the Giants a much better team (playoffs) at the major league level. I like what I am seeing in the minors and the POTENTIAL both pitchers and position players, but IFFF they never excel in the majors and he never puts together a Major League wInner with all his resources, he should be gone. That doesn't mean I am calling for his head now, but something that should be reviewed after this season plays out (and the year after).
DeleteSteveVA
Sure, lets return to 2017-20, that was a lot of fun.
DeleteFact 1: Giants are "IN the WC" at this moment without spending LA money that they will never ever spend.
Fact 2: Two WC teams made the 2023 World Series
Fact 3: This team will get better, more pitching is coming, kids are settling, and Johnson-Zaidi can and will add at the deadline if feasible, just as they did in 2021 which almost worked.
Enjoy, we've been through Torture before.
SteveVA: When Greg Johnson discussed FZ, he specifically pointed to improvement in the farm system. He's paying attention. If he sees Bishop and Bednar continuing to improve, that will bolster his confidence and reduce any resentment he may have about paying big signing bonuses to those guys. And if they continue to play well they could become two of those minor leaguers turned major leaguers so in that sense I agree with you.
Delete...but there's a lot more good going on in the minor leagues than just Bishop and Bednar.
Delete