Whoo boy! It's getting mighty hard to write these up, but let's try to make some sense out of this utter mess of a game. Justin Verlander pitched a Quality Start but the Giants lineup continued to sputter and a bullpen failure in the 7'th inning doomed them to a loss and another lost series against a team they should have swept. Key Lines:
Christian Koss 3B- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, SB(2). BA= .266. Once again, Christian Koss is the only hitter in the lineup with multiple hits. No offense to Christian who I am rooting hard for but if he's the best hitter in your lineup, your team might not be better than the White Sox. BTW, this was Christian's fourth consecutive multi-hit game.
Justin Verlander RHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K's, 2/11 GO/AO. ERA= 4.26. Verlander benefitted from some serious BABIP luck as he gave up some drives that ended up in gloves that looked like they were going to be home runs or gappers off the bat. What he didn't get was run or bullpen support.
Ryan Walker RHP- 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 0 K, ERA= 4.64. Erik Miller LHP inherited a 2-1 lead in the 7'th inning. He got one out on a line out but then gave up a line drive single and groundball single. A ground ball to the right side by Benintendi was too soft for a GIDP or to get the lead runner so the out moved runners up to 2'nd and 3'rd. But, there were 2 outs.
I don't know what relief pitchers were available today but I do know that when I saw Walker entering the game my daughter can testify I muttered "I don't know about this!" at the TV. Personally I would have just left Miller in the game there. When Walker walked the righthanded hitting Miguel Vargas and the lefty hitting Kyle Teel C, who already had two hits, came up, I turned to my daughter and said, "this is where they lose this game!" Before she could finish admonishing me about my bad attitude Teel ripped a double into the RF corner for a 2-run double and the game was effectively over. A balk and another single later and it was a complete disaster.
I am not sure where the Giants go from here with Walker but he hasn't looked right all season and I don't see how he can be brought into close games with runners already on base.
The Giants lose the first series of the road trip and just went 1-5 against two of the weakest teams in MLB. They now go to Arizona to start a 4-game series against the D'Backs. Logan Webb RHP tries to set things right against Ryne Nelson RHP in Game 1.
Maybe the Giants have found a 2Bman...
ReplyDeleteBill Laskey on KNBR after the game said Walker’s slider didn’t have much break on it and he started overthrowing to compensate, which totally messed up his launch point. He also thought Melvin was trying to save Rodriguez for the eighth inning, which might’ve been a mistake. Rather than blame the coaches, though, he said he’s been in the locker room before games and the players are getting plenty of hitting support … through reviewing videos and stats to figuring out individualized batting approaches. He emphasized that it’s the players who aren’t adjusting their swings/approaches at the plate. He also said Adames is going to keep seeing a steady diet of sliders until he makes swing adjustments and proves he can hit off-speed pitches.
ReplyDeleteThat all makes a lot of sense. Laskey is smart and speaks his mind.
DeleteI don't think Walker should on the squad right now, I think you have to send him to Sacramento to go get right there. Schmitt is looking like that he won't be able to avoid an IL at this point which could be good news and bad news in a way. The bad news is that Meckler will likely be the next man up as your emergency 2B behind Wisely. The good news in a way is that Meckler can rotate in with Lee and Yaz who could benefit from some rest days.
ReplyDeleteIn the Grand Scheme of should of's, Giants should have let Bochy take a sabbatical and then brought him back
ReplyDeleteBochy was not going to come back as long a FZ was the POBO. I honestly don't think bringing Bochy back now is the answer. I think this should be Melvin's last season managing and then Buster chooses his replacement. Two names that come to mind are Stephen Vogt if he's available or Nick Hundley.
DeleteWe need a younger manager, I would love to snag Vogt, Skip Schumaker is who I'd want, he is a player's manager and got the shaft in Miami. We need everyday players but, we also need to embrace some analytics.
DeleteVerlander pitched well, I think this is like the 4th game the bullpen blew a lead for him. He is snake bit. A couple of abs with the bases loaded frustrated me as a fan. Ramos swinging at the 2nd pitch grounding into DP. Lee swinging at the 2nd pitch at his knees popping out to 2nd base. I wish they took a couple more pitches to maybe put more pressure on the pitcher.
ReplyDeleteHard to believe that just 14 games ago the Giants were tied for 1st place with U-NO-WHO, and tonight they are 7½ games behind!
ReplyDeleteDevers, brought in to even things up a bit, played in 12 of them!
There are 13 games until the break: 7 with the D'backs and A's and 6 with LA and Philly.
All of them are better than the White Sox and all but the A's are better than Miami.
Without a miracle or 2 or 3 or 5 or 6, the Giants will find themselves where they were after the first 2 games of the season: a .500 team.
I hate blaming coaches for players performance but where is the spread tossing/bats throwing/old school manager who scares the living piss out of his team to get them out of the funk? I see Melvin in the dugout looking lost and quite frankly overwhelmed. If Bochy were managing I bet by now he would have gotten in a few players faces. This team doesn’t seem to have a leader on the field and if they don’t find a spark soon they could lose all confidence and desire to even play together. This is the biggest test they have faced and they are falling on their faces instead of finding a way to overcome. I have faith that Buster will do what is necessary to right the ship but if I were him I would first send Walker down to work on things, then tell Melvin that he no longer has the option to use who he wants in the 7,8,9th it’s Rogers/Rodriguez/Doval when we have a lead and dont use any of them if we dont, and then I would sit the entire coaching staff down and ask them what they plan to do differently since nothing they have done up til now has worked. If they don’t have any answers or if they don’t execute on what they say by the ASB then make changes.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if Buster will see the need to read the riot act to the players in the locker room. If I remember reading that Brian Sabean did that at least once with his teams.
DeleteAt some point this can’t be good for your health.
ReplyDelete