Jung Hoo Lee's two home runs were the key to a Giants win in Yankee Stadium. Key Lines:
Jung Hoo Lee CF- 2 for 3, 2 HR(3), BB, 2 R, 4 RBI. BA= .352. Wow! Jung Hoo Lee is a star! Dude plays the game with flair and backs it up with results. He pretty much singlehandedly won this game. He may be looking at that short porch in Yankee Stadium and thinking to himself he should have signed with them.
Christian Koss 2B- 1 for 4. BA= .100. Koss got his first MLB hit on an infield single that ticked off the glove of Anthony Volpe SS and then scored on Lee's second HR. He later hit a sharp grounder that went under Paul Goldschmidt 1B's glove and Casey Schmitt 1B scored from 2B but that play was ruled an error so Christian did not get credit for a second hit or for his first MLB RBI.
Logan Webb RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 5 K's, 7/2 GO/AO, 97 pitches. ERA= 2.63. It was better weather than the first two games of the series by a lot but game time temperature was 54 F with a 13 MPH wind blowing out to RF. In that context, this is a good line, although I am sure Webb himself would say he did not have his best stuff or command.
Hayden Birdsong RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00. It was pretty amazing to see how easy Birdsong breezed through his 2 innings and on just 20 pitches. Although there is no glaring need right now, it does seem Birdsongs's immense talent is underutilized. Fun Fact: The surname Birdsong is germanic in origin and derived from the same root word as Vogelsang or Vogelsong.
Ryan Walker RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(4). ERA= 1.29. Walker had to face the Yankee's #1 and 2 batters including Aaron Judge and had no problem recording 3 outs and his fourth Save.
The Giants win the weekend series in an extremely challenging environment. They now move down I-95 to Philadelphia for a 4-game set against the Phillies. Landen Roupp RHP starts tomorrow evening facing Taijuan Walker RHP.
Routine commentary in the press says the Giants' lineup is at least one impact bat short. That may be so but I always wonder who from the starting lineup should be benched, traded, or released.
ReplyDeleteThe starting OF seems pretty solid so far, so do you pull from there? Oddly at this point the worst line is Ramos's, but he still shows the potential for a dominant year.
Starting catcher Bailey is scuffling to start the season, but I don't think anyone would pull the gold-glover. Huff doesn't look like much of a hitter so in theory they could look for a RH catcher who can hit. Pittsburgh has a good-looking RH catcher - I wonder if he's available? :)
The left side of the IF isn't going anywhere, so that pretty much leaves the "impact bat" complaints on 1B and 2B. Having Schmitt on the RH side of a platoon is fine defensively but he isn't an impact bat, and Wade hasn't been tearing it up on the LH side (though he seems to be on the verge of breaking out).
So I googled around a bit to look for trade options. Doesn't look like a ton is out there. Best bet for 1B may be the Rays' Yandy Diaz, who at 33 been a good but not great RH 1B for almost a decade (career OPS .801, big year in '23, slumping this year) and is in a walk year (team option for '26). Not sure how much I'd give up for him, but suspect they'd want Birdsong and Doval, something like that. I don't think I'd give them Birdsong.
The same Rays' Brandon Lowe at 2b looks more interesting -- a 30 y.o. LH hitter with a .810 career OPS, also in a walk year. Hit 21 HR last year and 39 in '21, and there's supposedly talk of the Rays dangling him for pitching. My guess is it would take a LOT of pitching to get him. If we had to give up that much of a haul I might look instead to the Marlins' Xavier Edwards, a 25 y.o. (not a FA until '30 who plays SS, is a SH who hits a solid .300 with no power but lots of SB (31 last year). But of course it would take EVEN MORE pitching, and probably more, for Edwards. (I'm thinking maybe Loupp + Whisenhunt + Black + McCray, ... and more.) Everyone will likely want Birdsong and Eldridge but I think Buster will refuse to move them.
It all makes me wince to think of it; there are no easy fixes. Maybe they just wait until Encarnacion heals up and gets some rehab ABs and see where they are.
yes, wait for jerar and give fitz more time
DeleteThe hit past Goldschmidt looked to Koss Fans as tough as the hit off Volpe.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the deal, Official Scored already gave Koss his first MLB hit, why not give him two!
Ha ha. Koss' first three potential hits went to the official scorer...1 for 3.
DeleteKoss gotta get himself some barrel.
Taijuan Walker has been so-so against SF in his career (11 starts, 4-4), mirrors an up-and-down career, but he has a very good start on this season.
ReplyDeleteWow! Didn't expect Lee to hit 2 homers against a good lefthanded pitcher Rodon, very impressive. Webb wasn't at his best, but he kept the team in the game and got a win. Glad Koss got his 1st ML hit. He had good abs. Maybe time to give Ramos a day off after 3ks againt lefty Rodan, and play Matos tomorrow, don't like him spending too much time on the bench. He's a young player. They have 14 games remaining in 14 days anyway.
ReplyDeleteKoss should’ve gotten the RBI. WTF. - Anne
ReplyDeleteI agree and the hit that was ruled an error was a great at-bat regardless of how it was ruled.
DeleteDoing all this without Chapman and Ramos hitting the ball ((1 for their last 46) is just amazing but not sustianable....maybe as early as this huge upcoming 4 game series with Philly
ReplyDeleteBirdsong the super reliever and Walker getting back to being as nasty as they come..
SteveVA
I know it was a win and this might be too nitpicky … but one decision that made me feel a little uneasy was when Melvin pulled Birdsong, instead of letting him go another inning (or two) … to Doc’s point of him being underutilized, if you’re going to keep him in the bullpen, why not use his experience and let him go longer? To be fair, maybe Melvin didn’t think Birdsong’s arm had been stretched out enough, especially in such cold weather. Still, you’ve got four straight games coming in Philly …
ReplyDeleteI had the same thought but I think Melvin probably wants to keep Birdsong available on shorter rest rather than pushing him into 3-4 inning appearances which would make him unavailable for several games.
DeleteThe next day off is the 28th so Melvin probably wants to keep everybody fresh.
DeleteWatching Rodon breeze thru the the first 4 innings, I told the cat,
ReplyDelete"Just wait. He'll blow that lead in one inning."
She was unimpressed, but it a little sting out of the Dubs loss for this Giants / Red Sox fan.
That’s a Robbie Ray thing, also.
DeleteRegarding Melvin and pulling Birdsong, and this based on no factual evidence at all, I feel the SF manager is dead average at best. Probably a good choice to pivot from Kapler but also lacking the button pushing genius of Bruce Bochy. -es
ReplyDeleteBochy is a shoe-in Hall of Fame Manager so comparing Melvin unfavorably to him is not exactly a dis.
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