Bob Melvin left Jordan Hicks in one batter too long but in the end that was not the difference in the game as the Giants offense again flailed against less than Cy Young caliber pitching. Key Lines:
Heliot Ramos CF- 2 for 4. BA= .290. Heliot must have heard me talking about him in yesterday's wrap. BTW, I saw a couple of X posts today pointing out how pitchers around the league figured out he can't lay off high fastballs. Hmmm....wonder where they might have gotten that idea? In fairness, it's been pointed out on at least a couple of broadcasts.
Tyler Fitzgerald SS- 3 for 3, HR(6), BB. BA= .322. The hot hand du jour. 5'th HR in 5 games. Last Giants batter to do that? Barry Bonds. Last rookie to do it? Well, nobody! Oh! And Fitz and Heliot had all 5 of the Giants hits in the game.
Jordan Hicks RHP- 3.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 5 BB 7 K's. ERA= 4.01. OK, I think it's fairly safe to say Hicks is cooked for the season as a SP. Probably needs to hit the IL for a R&R stay then come back as a reliever to finish out the season. Send him back out as a SP next spring. Hicks was approaching 90 pitches as the 4'th inning unfolded. OK, the Dodgers have a lot of hitters who can beat you but in what was close to a must-win game, Melvin can't give Shohei Ohtani a chance to put the game out of reach against an obviously gassed SP. Tyler Rogers LHP should have been warmed up and ready to face Ohtani.
I think the sell off is about to happen, the question is how much will of a sell off will ownership allow.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is the Giants have nothing to sell. None of the veterans Farhan has acquired have trade value. Chapman is the most productive but no one is trading for his contract. If he does trade away any of the unsurprisingly underperforming veterans he acquired, he’s going to be giving them away for free basically. Robbie Ray and Cobb have no trade value currently because of their injuries and wouldn’t be able to net them anything. Lamonte Wade and Dovall would be their top two trade options, Dovall could potentially net the most but I doubt they want to move away from him while Wade’s value is low because of his injuries and inability to prove he can hit lefties
DeleteI think they have to consider any reasonable offers even if they win the next two. I am disappointed at how the veterans started the second half.
ReplyDeleteeven though hicks is likely moving to the bullpen, they need to get an inning number in mind to target a shutdown for the season same with kyle harrison.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants claiming Derek Hill OF off waivers is reminiscent of the flailing about last year as FZ tried to stave off elimination.
ReplyDeleteWhen He admits to no post season, the knives that are still in their sheaths will join the plenitude already drawn.
Derek Hill may be roster filler while Matos works on things in the minors.
DeleteThe Giants could have the best rotation in MLB, and they might when Ray and Cobb join, but nothing short of an interceding Miracle will get this veteran offense off their snide.
ReplyDeleteWhat a disgraceful performance headlined by no leadoff batter, followed by no punch, completed by hopelessness.
Johnson opened his wallet, Zaidi signed proven veterans, maybe the best that would come to SF, a successful manager was in place: then the battle was lost on the field.
Really, was there a way to do this better? Who didn't have good vibes going into this season?
They say you can't fire a team? Well, they might try/
Ownership is the one who should take the blame for this season. Greg Johnson should not scapegoat Farhan for his failures this year.
DeleteAs Shania Twain says, "That don't impress me..."
ReplyDeleteAbout a month ago, I said with seven of Farhans vets hitting between .220 and .230 and still getting all the ABs, this team was sunk unless they made drastic improvements..Well, nothing has changed and probably has become worse..Yeah, two were jettisoned in Slater and Ahmed (but receiving nothing in return, which I think will be theme going forward), but you still have six inconsistent failures still hitting between .215 and .230 with little power in Chapman, Soler, Conforto, FLores, Yaz and the mind boggling one, Estrada. No reason to believe nay of them will do any better as things hear up.. Even if Ray and Cobb come back and we get the best from all the pitches, it still won't matter. Of course, the guy to blame for all this is FZ, it is his team, his baby.
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious that the team just needs to forget this year and play for 2025 and beyond. Which would normally mean sell, sell, sell. Unfortunately, the Giants have been giving the vets every chance to help the Giants or raise their trade values and they fail at every turn. More than likely, the Giants will get little for any of them. Saying it's a bad situation, created by the GM, is an understatement. Maybe one of these days he (or ownership) will realize that he is not the smartest guy (in terms of baseball) in the room like he thinks he is.
SteveVA
The Jordan Hicks started experiment has been predictable. Been saying all along that he’s going to hit a wall. It’s just common sense because he’s been a reliever for so long and has very low innings pitched, which means that when you try to suddenly make these guys a starter and have them pitch way more innings than they’ve been used to the last 6 years to the point where in half a season or less he’s already passed the normal amount of innings he pitches during a season, he’s going to get hurt. We will be lucky if he doesn’t require Tommy John surgery by the end of the year. They should’ve removed him from the starters role as soon as he hit a wall and just roll with Mason Black
ReplyDeleteIMHO any trades they make now should be made to improve their chances for this year. There are only 2 teams that are out of reach for the playoffs. The Giants have the easiest schedule in the NL for the rest of the year. Yes, their hitting is abysmal right now. Yes, the bullpen looks tired. Yes, they have lost 5 of 6 to the Rocks and LA. Trade the underperforming players in the offseason. For now, stay the course. Even if they don’t make the playoffs,at least go down swinging. Who do you think they can get anyway that will help them in the future? Derald Cook
ReplyDelete