Just when it looked like the Giants might be setting themselves up for another late-game comeback, the wheels fell completely off in a disaster 6'th inning in which the Brewers scored 8 runs. Key Lines:
Heliot Ramos LF- 2 for 4, SF, RBI. BA= .232. Ramos reached base twice from the leadoff position but did not score a run, a failure of the batters behind him.
Wilmer Flores DH- 3 for 3, BB, RBI. BA= .247. Wilmer has reached base 7 out of 8 PA's the last two games.
David Villar 1B/3B- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .286. Villar had a nice game at the plate but made a key mistake on a play at first when he failed to ever get his foot on the bag. Instead of one out and a runner at 2B there was now no outs and two runners on which was like the hole the iceberg poked in the Titanic. Poor Willy Adames was charged with an error on the play. Maybe the throw was a bit high but that did not appear to be the reason Villar had his foot off the bag. As Mike Krukow put it, "that's a rough error!"
Jordan Hicks RHP- 5 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K's, 8/1 GO/AO. ERA= 6.59. This was not a good start by Hicks by any stretch as he gave up a 3-spot in the third inning, but his pitch count was already getting long in the tooth by the start of the 6'th inning as noted by Kruk and Kuip. Add in the leadoff infield single and the weird foot off the bag play at 1B which put two runners on everybody but Bob Melvin knew disaster was looming. A wild pitch plus a throwing error by Patrick Bailey C and a walk later, Melvin finally went to Lou Trivino RHP but by that time I think the whole team was frustrated and the roof caved in. Trivino got a flyout but then allowed an RBI groundball single, HBP and a grand slam HR by Christial Yelich DH and the route was on. So yes, I get that Melvin is trying to instill some toughness in his SP's but that didn't seem to be the situation for it.
Christian Koss 3B/RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 0.00. How fun! Koss initially came in to give Matt Chapman a breather at 3B but was pressed into service as a mop up guy in the blowout loss. Now he can say he pitched a scoreless inning in a major league game! That must have been quite a thrill. too bad it was in a blowout loss but that's the only way it was going to happen.
The Giants will try to regroup and shake it off by 6:45 PM tomorrow when Logan Webb RHP tries to get back on the winning track facing Freddy Peralta RHP.
The error was clearly on Villar, not Adames. With Bailey's error and Ramos throwing to the wrong cutoff man, this was a really sloppy defensive effort by the Giants ... maybe chalk it up to the grind of too many games without a break? Anyone ready to swap Hicks for Birdsong in the starting rotation? And Matos keeps hitting into double plays ... too early to bring someone up from Sacramento?
ReplyDeleteAnother start or two like this from Hicks and the pressure to swap him out for Birdsong will become intense. Birdsong is making a compelling case for himself. As for Matos, there's nobody exactly tearing it up in AAA. McCray has been the best so far. Maybe it comes down to the coaching staff and what they see as why Matos has gone cold and whether he is listening and working to get past it?
Deletei might consider swapping trivino for beck with how bad he's been so far.
DeleteI'd give Matos until June to get things going. I like that Buster is trying not to give a quick trigger like Farhan did. I think upgrades may need to be done via trade instead of cycling through the same players over and over again.
DeleteVery questionable to let hicks start the 6th. He was at something like 90 pitches in a bad start. He’d already toughed it out to get through 5. Not the first time BoMel made a mistake in letting a starter hang on too long recently.
ReplyDeleteVillar is still learning 1B...
ReplyDeleteSeveral things.
ReplyDelete1. Hicks has shown us, over 1+ seasons, that he's not up to snuff as a starter. He's a huge FZ signing. And we're stuck with him, at $12.5 m per season, through '27. Perhaps he and Birdsong can swap spots. I predicted that he'd be out of the rotation by the end of May. I say that he'll be lucky to make it that far.
2. Wade is awful, right now. I've never been sold on him. But management still prefers to trot him out there.
3. No idea what happened with Villar at third base. But his stick is good. Wait and see, I guess.
4. Was anybody actually shocked that Matos killed a second potential rally with a DP? I wasnt. Perhaps he could use some more seasoning.
5. Fitzgerald should be moved up in the lineup. Perhaps to 7th.
Hicks was a significant signing. I would not use the word "huge". I agree pressure is growing to swap him out of the rotation for Birdsong but a big part of that is how electric Birdsong has looked. Once again, Wade has the second highest average exit velocity on the team. He has hit into epically bad luck. There is not clear upgrade on Matos. He will be on the hot seat when Encarnacion comes back but that won't be for another month or more.
DeleteI meant huge in as much as the years attached. True that Birdsong has gotten off to a hot start. However, he's topped out at three innings. Hopefully he can stretch that a bit. However, I think that Hicks will be given a little more rope. Two more starts, at minimum. Thankfully the rest of the team is playing well enough to support him, as yet. I trust that Birdsong will be in the rotation soon enough.
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