Harrison Bader jump-started the scoring with a solo home run to lead off the third inning. The bottom of the lineup added two more runs in the 4'th inning in support of Landen Roupp's stellar start and the Giants survived a shaky 9'th inning by Ryan Walker for their first win of the season. Key Lines:
Harrison Bader CF- 1 for 4, HR(1), R, RBI. BA= .143. Bader unloaded on his old college teammate, Walker Buehler RHP, to give Roupp a lead he did not give up.
Casey Schmitt 1B- 2 for 3, 2B, SB(1), RBI. BA= .167. There have been calls from within the Giants blogosphere for Encarnacion instead of Schmitt in the lineup. Schmitty quieted those calls with a 2-hit performance tonight as well as some nifty fielding plays at first base.
Landen Roupp RHP- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K's, 7/0 GO/AO. ERA= 0.00. I am pretty sure if this game was in Oracle Park, Roupp would have gotten a standing O as he walked off the field after the 6'th inning. A masterful performance of mixing pitches and locations to keep the Padres lineup off balance all evening. Once again, his curveball was particularly effective.
Keaton Winn RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00. Winn's sinker-split combo was unhittable and had Kruk and Kuip commenting that he has Closer's stuff.
Ryan Walker RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(1). ERA= 7.71. Walker picks up right where he left off last season. He's a 2-pitch pitcher and doesn't have command of either one. Do you trust him with anything less than a 3-run lead? Do you trust him with a 3-run lead?
The win improves the Giants record to 1-3 good enough for a tie for 2'nd place in the NL West.
Logan Webb RHP tries to shake off his Opening Day loss tomorrow evening facing German Marquez RHP.
The Giants made three roster moves today:
Luis Matos OF was traded to the Brewers for cash considerations. Not sure if the BrewCrew has the playing time Matos needs to succeed, but otherwise it seems like a perfect landing for him.
The Giants traded with the Tigers for Dylan Smith RHP for cash considerations. He was recently DFA'd off the Tigers Roster. He pitched at multiple levels last season including 13 innings for the Tigers with a 1.38 ERA despite a 2.77 K/9. He is a hard thrower with a FB averaging 95 MPH and had a much higher K/9 in the minors. He still has 2 options so can be assigned to AAA Sacramento.
Tyler Fitzgerald UT was DFA'd. He had one insane stretch from 7/9/2024-8/14/2026 where he hit 13 home runs. High K rates eventually caught up with him. He regressed badly and never recovered.
Winn is a great name for a closer!
ReplyDeleteI THINK WE'LL BE HEARING FROM FITZ AS A SUPER-UTILITY SOMEWHERE
ReplyDeleteWalker is not a good name for a closer.
ReplyDeleteVitello should wear the JAFO hat from the movie Blue Thunder. He truly is soaking it all in before he decides to actually participate in the game. I doubt any other team has sent the same 9 guys to the plate each game and still not a single pinch hitter. Am I being overly critical or does it seem like he is a fan most of the game?
ReplyDeleteThis team is built for a stable lineup. The bench guys are going to sit on the bench.
DeleteHe did put in a pinch runner in the last series much to the disdain of Adames...
DeleteWhat was it that Edgar Renteria said about being traded for cash? I remember something or other. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteHe said "it means you suck" to Kevin Frandsen. :)
DeleteThe Vitello haters need to lighten up. No, there has not been any pinch hitters yet, but there will be. OTOH, there have been 20 bullpen changes in the first four games. That's 5 per game. Going into the year, the bullpen was considered the weak spot on this team. So far it is looking superb. I believe the bullpen has given up only 4 runs in those 20 appearances.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more with this. There is an article on the internet with the title that "Vitello is a disaster" or words to that effect. So far, he is not. When your players only hit safely 4 times in two games and your ace gets shelled early in his first season outing, there is not a lot to manage. The bullpen usage has been about what one would expect. I just don't see where Vitello has been a problem, let alone THE problem. Players gotta put bat to ball. He has provided a environment for them to do that. Now they need to do that. Last night they finally started to...some. Devers and Adames, on the other hand, IMO, may need to take a look in the mirror and see what they can do differently. Get some hits, help the team, work in to the long ball. Bailey may just need to bunt all the time and hope for an overthrow at first. Poor guy looks terrible at the plate.
DeleteFirst win though! Go Giants!
I believe Walker still has options. Sac would be a great place to iron out those wrinkles.
ReplyDeleteBrewers could use an outfielder to take splits against lefties. It looks like that's where he'll get a shot. Ironic, considering the Giants could use much the same!
ReplyDeleteAwesome start by ROUPP and good relief work outside of Walker, who should never have been or is now being counted as a closer. The Giants are going to need lights out pitching all year if they even want to flirt with .500...Still worry big time about the bullpen but Gage and Winn make me feel a little better. Too many top IF bats are streaky and inconsistent and the OF, both starters and depth, is below average. I was against VITELLO from the get go but not gonna jump on him yet. He is in a totally different and challenging environment where he is not managing emotional kids that must agree and follow him..He is managing much older professionals and millionaires, some with long term guaranteed contracts. Hopefully, he/they figure it out..it was going to be hard at the beginning no matter what. But livelier bats would have helped him.
ReplyDeleteHope we see Logan Webb back to his old self today.. A HR from Devers would be nice too.
SteveVA
Australian based Giants fan, long time reader first time poster - thanks a lot for the blog makes following the Giants from Downunder so much easier and more enjoyable. I have a (stupid) question if Schmidt is going to play every day why do we persist with Arraez at 2nd wouldn’t it make sense to swap them.
ReplyDelete
DeleteThank you for the kind words. Not a stupid question. The Giants wanted Arraez' high contact bat and got him to sign by promising he would get a chance to be a full-time second baseman. He's going to be the starting 2B until he proves he can't handle the job. I would add that I don't think Schmitt is obviously better defensively at 2B than Arraez.
Arraez is listed @ 5'10", Schmitt @ 6'0", it is rare to have a 1Bman shorter than 6' although Steve Garvey was also 5'10" but he reportedly had no other viable position, even @ 1B he was not a defensive asset but he could HIT and most likely be a DH in today's game.
DeleteWhen a team gives a multi-year contract to a player, especially a pitcher, there should be a clause: NO PLAYING OTHER THAN WITH US!
ReplyDelete