Faced with an unexpected bullpen game after the unexpected placement of Kyle Harrison LHP on the IL, the Giants lit up the Angels bullpen game pitchers with a 9-run 4'th inning to give Spencer Bivens an MLB Win to his lifelong credit. Key Lines:
Brett Wisely SS- 2 for 6, 2 2B. BA= .313. I think it's pretty clear Wisely should. be the starting SS against all RHP's and maybe should be the fulltime starter. If you go back through his minor league record there's a reason why FZ acquired him and we're seeing it now.
Heliot Ramos CF- 2 for 6. BA= .326. Ramos showed his versatility as a hitter by going the other way for two early hits even though neither hit figured into the scoring.
Jorge Soler DH- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(8), BB. BA= .224. Maybe Soler reads this blog? He drove in 3 of the 4'th inning runs by going above the strike zone to take a Not-Forever Giant Hunter Strickland pitch well over the LF wall. He definitely did not chop down on THAT pitch! He doubled later in the game. Hopefully this is the breakout game for him we've been waiting for.
Austin Slater PH/RF- 2 for 2, HR(1), BB, HBP. BA= .230. The Angels were in bullpen game mode too. When Soler walked and Wilmer Flores doubled off a LHP to start the 4'th inning, Bob Melvin pullled a move out of Gabe Kapler's playbook and pinch-hit Slater for YtY. Slater contributed to the rally by reaching base on a HBP which set up successive doubles by Thairo Estrada 2B and Brett Wisely to give the Giants the lead and they just kept adding on.
Spencer Bivens RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.00. What a great story here. Bivens pitched for an unknown college program at age 24 then kicked around multiple indy ball teams before the Giants signed him as a free agent in 2022. He's worked his way up the Giants system and finally got his call when Harrison got hurt in the weight room Saturday. He not only threw his first MLB pitch but recorded a Win in the process and undoubtedly earned himself a refill on his cup of coffee. Hey! He probably would have gone a 4'th inning if he hadn't had to sit for so long during the Giants half of the 4'th inning! Maybe he can be stretched out to be a bulk innings guy or even a starter? Bivens has a long, lean, athletic body and a MLB repertoire anchored by a mid-90s FB. Why not?
We won't talk about Camilo Doval's embarrassing performance in the 9'th inning.
The Win kept the Giants at 8.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West and left them 0.5 games behind in the Wild Card playoff race.
The Giants hit the road to start a series against the Cubs with Jordan Hicks RHP facing Javier Assad RHP. The Giants next 13 games include 7 against the Cubs, 3 against the Cardinals and 3 against the Dodgers. With the starting rotation hanging by a thread, this will be a huge challenge will likely go a long way toward defining the season.
So I have been chewing on this idea for a while Doc. But I don't think the Giants FO, is doing a good job developing defensive players -- we've seen their value on defense at the major league level for a while now.
ReplyDeleteBut I think also we need to look at the minor league level too. All of the Giants young prospects (with the exception of Bailey w.r.t. framing and Ramos who is from prev admin) are not defensive studs. My theory is that the FO promotes/incentivizes scouts, coaches, and the players to get good at the easily measurable. Bat speed, walk rates, launch angle, AND framing (the one defensive exception)!
They do not seem to be doing a good job of getting players who have high baseball IQs and good defensive chops (the stats don't even tisane Schmitt is + defensively either). This was something the prior admin was excellent at. I mean the Giants core of prospects Belt, Posey, Sandoval, Panik etc. were all defensive studs.
I am thinking this has to be the FO -- and probably the lost year of play during the pandemic.
- Fan
I think if they just put Schmitt at 3B he would quickly settle into being a plus defender. The bat is the big issue for him. I think McCray and Velasquez can be plus defenders. When I look at who FZ brings in through The Churn, I do think he's still very much into old school Moneyball stats.
Deleteblake sabol is where i feel they whiffed on where he should be defensively. i'm glad that are starting to find out that having sabol behind the dish is a mistake and giving him more reps at first base.
Deletethey are going to be forced to sign a starter out of the free agent pool to at least keep a warm body in sacramento. tommy milone and vince velasquez may be the best options in the scrap heap right now. great job by bivens, i envision him to be more of a bullpen arm. i don't think whisenhunt is ready yet, i think the next best option is tommy romero.
ReplyDeleteI think it's time to bring the conversation to let Hjelle start again.
ReplyDeleteI agree but Hjelle seems to be moving more into a 1-inning role.
Deletehjelle has found his stride as a bullpen arm. i really don't want to mess with that
DeleteAlthough the rookie NL pitchers seem to have a lock on the league ROY, Masyn Winn is the current position player favorite, but if Wisely gets enough ABs (has 67, needs 130 to qualify), he leads Winn in 3 of 4 % stats:
ReplyDeleteWisely .313/.329/.478/.806
Winn .294/.339/.417/.756
and OPS+ 134 to 115
Both have positive dWAR (B-R)
And then wisely takes a huge ofer
DeleteSoler, last 13 games, almost a trend?:
ReplyDelete.313/.400/.500/.900, 55 PAs, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs, 6 BBs, 12 Ks
Maybe "This could be the start of something Big" (with due credit to Steve Allen, published in 1956)
The Giants have a rotation on the IL that could be the best in MLB:
ReplyDeleteBlake Snell, Robbie Ray, Alex Cobb, Kyle Harrison, and Tristan Beck.
Can Webb and Hicks hold the fort?