Mike Yastrzemski led off the game with a home run and Hayden Birdsong showed some grit while pitching in bad weather. Key Lines:
Mike Yastrzemski RF- 1 for 5, HR(17). BA= .246. YtY is only the fourth Giants player to hit game leadoff HR's in consecutive games and the first since Dan Gladden in 1985. Whitey Lockman and Bobby Bonds did it previously. YtY seems to have found a home in the leadoff spot in the lineup. His leadoff split is .241/371/.586, 6 HR in 77 PA. He's .250/.379/.750, 3 HR in the first inning and .455/.600/1.364, 3 HR in 15 PA as the first batter of game. He's accumulated an fWAR of 1.9 and a bWAR of 2.4. The Giants should tender him a contract in his final year of arbitration. If there isn't room on the roster for him that contract is tradable for a decent prospect.
Michael Conforto DH- 3 for 4, HR(17). BA= .232. Despite this game Conforto is batting just .250 over his last 7 games and .206 over his last 30. He's a free agent after the season and it''s unlikely the Giants resign him.
Casey Schmitt 3B- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .213. Casey filled in for Matt Chapman who is on paternity leave and made a couple of Chapmanesque plays on defense. At the plate, he laid off several very tough sliders and worked the count better than I recall ever seeing him. Schmitt is another example of a player who was rushed once he got to the higher minors and we're seeing him learn the game at the MLB level.
Hayden Birdsong RHP- 5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 8/4. ERA= 4.74. Birdsong was on the ropes in the third inning. With a run in and runners at 2'nd and 3'rd with no outs, he struck out Gunnar Henderson on a high 97 MPH FB. A groundout scored a second run but another groundout to Anthony Santander got him out of the inning. He went on to fall just one out short of a Quality Start. Add in the steady drizzle that made the dirt on the IF and mound shiny on the TV and this was the kind of a gritty start you want to see from a young pitcher.
Logan Webb RHP goes for the sweep in an early game facing Zach Eflin RHP.
Funny thing: when Giants hit a nadir they go on the road to play two playoff bound teams who are both, guess what? On their own nadirs!
ReplyDeleteBaltimore has won but 2 of 10, and KC is 6-14 in their last 20.
stathead.com has an interesting tool which allows comparison of 2 (or more) players.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants have two young CF candidates (there are actually more but McCray and Lee seem to be the odds-on favorites).
Unfortunately, they only have 28 and 37 games, respectively, but it is still interesting to see.
If McCray plays 9 of the Giants' last 10 games this year, they will have the same number, still a SSS, but something to chew over in this off-season.
If McCray can clean up his pitch selection (more W's, fewer K's), he will be the clear better choice.
With fewer games and PAs, he has a decisive lead in HRs, slugging, and OPS (& OPS+).
Will the Giants play both?
see:
https://stathead.com/baseball/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&player_id1=mccray000gra&player_id2=lee---009jun