What was true in spirit for over a week became official as the Giants were mathematically eliminated from postseason competition while losing in embarrassing fashion to a Cardinals team that underperformed this season itself. Key Lines:
Heliot Ramos LF- 2 for 5, HR(20). BA= .259. Ramos is putting on a little surge here at the end of the season and became the fourth Giants batter with at least 20 HR's on the season(third if you only count Rafael Devers 18 HR's as a Giant). Is Ramos a candidate for the Willie Mac Award?
Willy Adames SS- 2 for 5, 2B, SB(12). BA= .226. Good things happen when Willy Adames uses the whole field. Of his 4 batted balls, 2 went to RF, 1 to CF and 1 to LF.
Patrick Bailey C- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= ..224. Bailey is batting .308/343/.538 for the month of September.
Christian Koss 2B- 1 for 3, BB, SB(4). BA= .268. Koss finished the game with the highest BA in the lineup ahead of Jung Hoo Lee by .007 and Heliot Ramos by .0009. Is Christian Koss a candidate for the Willie Mac Award?
Logan Webb RHP- 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.30. In his final start of the season, Webb fought back from a 3-spot in the first inning to finish with a Quality Start and 201.2 IP on the season, his third in a row with at least 200 IP.
The bullpen got lit up for 6 runs over the final 3 innings with Joel Peguero RHP recording the only scoreless frame. Ryan Walker recorded his 7'th Blown Save of the season. The Giants cannot go into spring training 2026 with Walker as the presumptive Closer. Peguero should be tried in the role over the final four games if a Save Op arises.
Robbie Ray LHP won't make his last start of the season as J. T. Brubaker RHP tries to stave off a sweep against Sonny Gray RHP in the series finale.
MLB announced that the Automated Ball-Strike(ABS) Challenge System challenge system will be implemented next season. It's about time!
Giants go Walkered again!
ReplyDeleteIf framing is Bailey's best skill, how much will challenge opportunity hurt him?
ReplyDeleteMaybe a small impact. Each team only gets two unsuccessful challenges per game and Bailey has other defensive skills and his bat seems to be marginally improving.
DeleteI expect Bailey to platoon with Jesus Rodriguez next year
DeleteGee, remember when the Giants rushed Joey Bart into MLB, twice when Posey opted out of playing in 2020 and 2022?
DeleteJoey Bart would be a decent back up catcher but it's not like he's making anyone forget....Buster Posey.
DeleteChallenge management is going to become a very important skill. Success rates are going to easily evaluated.
DeleteMy guess is managers turn their catchers loose with the challenges, protecting their pitchers. It will be like make-it-take-it when playing basketball! A good enough challenger gets unlimited challenges!
Koss turned out to be a real find this season and should be a valuable utility player next year. Hopefully, Bailey will dump the switch hitting and work on his hitting over the offseason, especially with competition now from Rodriguez.
ReplyDeleteI am curious to see what Rodriguez brings in the final 4 games of the season but I feel like a lot of people are just a bit irrationally exuberant about him.
DeleteSusan Slusser floated a rumor that the Giants will be interested in acquiring Sonny Gray next season. I'd be good with that. Biggest need is closer whether they sign somebody or find one within, which is preferred. Bullpen arms are hard to predict future performance.
ReplyDeleteSeems like they could stand to get Rogers back as well. A reliable set-up and closer would probably net a decent amount of wins.
DeleteRogers is not a Closer and will be on the open market as a free agent with plenty of interested teams. There may be some mutual interest in him returning at an agreeable price for both sides.
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