Big games from Matt Chapman and Michael Conforto supported another strong start by Hayden Birdsong as the Giants success on the road against playoff-bound teams continued. Key Lines:
Heliot Ramos RF/LF- 1 for 5. BA= .264. Sometimes it's not about how many hits you get but when you get your one hit. Ramos singled with one out in the 3'rd inning. Jerar Encarnacion DH then hit a booming double to RF. Ramos was on the move and cruised home with the score from 1B and Jerar took 3B on the throw. After Conforto lined out Matt Chapman hit one off the deepest part of the ballpark in L-CF, the ball caromed all the way to R-CF and Chapman rounded the bases for his 27'th HR of the season. Speaking of Jerar, Is he a viable option to be the primary DH next season?
Michael Conforto LF- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(19). BA= .234. Conforto is having a great road trip batting .246 with 3 HR's over his last 7 games. Overall though, it's still been a disappointing season for him. He is a pending free agent who the Giants are unlikely to resign.
Matt Chapman 3B- 2 for 4, 3B, HR(27). BA= .249. As described above, the HR was a mad dash around the bases which was wildly entertaining, especially after watching Heliot motor around to score from 1B earlier in the inning. Chapman later tripled on a very similar drive that banged off the CF wall. He had 7 total bases but only half of a cycle. As Vin Scully would say, "go figure!".
Casey Schmitt 2B- 1 for 3, HR(6), BB. BA= .240. Schmitt looks like a completely different hitter this time up. He's not swinging at everything. He's working he count, drawing walks and looking for a pitch to hit. The HR came on a short, quick swing that pulled it down the LF line and it rocketed past the foul pole in what seemed line a split second. Wow! Schmitty is batting .375 over his last 7 games and .364 over his last 15.
Hayden Birdsong RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.66. Another strong start for Young Hayden. I saw 3 plus pitches: Mid-90's FB, curveball that drops out of the sky and a tailing, sinking changeup. He has a 3.77 ERA over his last 7 starts.
4 relievers allowed a run over the final 4 innings with Ryan Walker collecting his 10'th Save. And what happened to Camilo Doval in Sunday's game while the umps were trying to figure out what if a foul ball was reviewable and Bob Melvin yelled at them? Something metaphysical happened there and Doval was suddenly out of his funk.
Logan Webb RHP tries to keep the good mojo going tonight facing Brandon Pfaadt RHP.
Together We're Giants is an excellent blog linked to the left with skilled writers, thoughtful posts and strong opinions about Giants baseball. Yesterday one of their regular commenters copied and pasted my Sunday's Down on the Farm post in its entirety into his comment without acknowledging where it came from. We know it's someone who reads this blog so whoever you are, I am calling you out. I don't mind if you copy and paste my posts but please acknowledge your source.
Jerar could play a little LF, too, he's not terrible bad OFer, like maybe Burrell bad.
ReplyDeleteAlthough he has a good arm, Ramos ≡ LF
ReplyDeleteNot RF, not CF, he IS a LFer.
With or without Snell, the Giants have an abundance of homegrown riches for 2025 pitching, very much including Hayden Birdsong "... certainly went out on a high note. In his 15th big league start, Birdsong allowed two runs on four hits over five innings, earning his fifth win. He struck out six and ran his fastball up to 98 mph while showing off a nasty changeup."
ReplyDeleteAttribution: https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/mlb/san-francisco-giants/observations-matt-chapman-hayden-birdsong-diamondbacks/1785719/
If i am an evaluator/GM for another team, I'm thinking that perhaps Conforto has had a sneakily better season than we think...16 (of 19) HRs on the road...Oracle is (still) death on LH hitters.
ReplyDelete