The Giants were shut down by Shohei Ohtani RHP and a baserunning blunder by Willy Adames SS erased their last, best chance to stage a comeback rally.
Luis Arraez 2B and Rafael Devers 1B had 2 hits each and 4 of the Giants total of 6 hits. Adames and Matt Chapman 3B led off 7'th with singles. Drew Gilbert CF sent one into the gap that looked like a double but Andy Pages CF tracked it down and doubled up Adames who was trying to score on what he thought was a double. Probably didn't affect the outcome of the game but still........
Bryce Eldridge started the game at DH and went 0 for 4 while striking out 3 times including once with runners at first and third and 2 outs. At the start of the series, Tony Vitello seemed to say Eldridge would be used in limited situations such as pinch-hitting and starting against a tough RHP. A day later he seemed to reverse course after an uproar from the more vocal segments of the fanbase. Look, I don't agree with the limited role thing. Eldridge needs to be batting every day either with the Giants or in AAA. This team was figuratively on life support when he was called up but circumstances change. Devers started hitting and Casey Schmitt remains the most consistent hitter on the team. There isn't room for Devers, Schmitt and Eldridge right now and Eldridge has a very high learning curve ahead of him. He needs to go down to AAA and play every day there. There may come a time in the near future where it's worth just putting Eldridge out there to make his strikeouts and learn and several scenarios in which that might happen. But that time is not now. All too often over the past several years, Giants management appears to make significant course changes based on fanbase reaction. Whether the fanbase is right or not is almost beside the point. A team that allows the fanbase to dictate baseball decisions is a failing team.
Landen Roupp RHP tries for a series win tonight facing Emmitt Sheehan RHP.
Yeah, the fan base and the radio guys went crazy over the Eldridge situation. I agree with your analysis above. What is annoying is when the guys on sport talk radio go on and on about a topic. There are many other topics to discuss in the Bay Area. Steve Kerr’s contract, the 49ers and how about the first place Sacramento A’s? TV has a tough row to hoe, bu the fan base and the radio guys are not helping the SF Giants. If Roupp can continue pitching the way he has, the Giants could take 3 of 4 from the Dodgers
ReplyDeleteRight on Eldridge, Doc...rushing these guys a bad idea. Bart coming up in 2020 was a great dis-service to him, and the org. Don't do it again. Unfortunately, the biggest mistake was adding Devers to block your top prospect. And Have you been watching what Dom Smith has been doing in Atl? I know just 81 ABs, and mostly platoon, but he's at .358/.386/.543...and was great all-around for us last year....
ReplyDeleteI get sick to my stomach thinking about the miss opportunity w/Dom Smith. I think Dom would have come back priced right. Someone pulling the strings is screwing up. Bob in Dixon
DeleteThe Giants were one of 28 teams who passed on Smith.
Delete....and Alex Anthopoulos is widely regarded as one of the elite GM/POBO's in the business and scooped Smith up for a song.
DeleteI'd send Eldridge down with some homework and keep him down until after the trade deadline. Give Bericito a look and see if he can stick.
ReplyDelete"Eldridge needs to be batting every day"!
ReplyDeleteAmen.
But where?
If he goes back to Sac, he can work on contact (9 Ks in 23 PAs, just a skosh shy of 40%) and defense but he has little else to prove at that level.
If he stays "up" he has a painful learning curve and might well wreck the already weak Giants slight chance of making the playoffs.
The apparent current plan to play him periodically is nuts.
C'mon, Buster, you can do better than this!
Been saying since the second DEVERS was obtained (and I like Devers) that it caused a huge problem for the Giants when Eldrdige was ready...Forget that Eldridge is not even near ready and should never have been called up....Posey painted himslef into this corner..The best thing is to get Eldridge back down to AAA as soon as possible and get him going again and build up his trade value---because that is where he will be able to help the Giants most..unless some other crazy GM loses his mind and trades for either Devers or Just Hit The Ball Chapman.
ReplyDeletesteveVA
Devers' signing is a problem because Schmitt is having a career year.
DeleteIf he was repeating 2025, he'd be on the bench and there would not be a question.
The real problem is Chapman whose year is on the other end of the scale.
If he didn't have his 6 yr/$151M contract, Schmitt would be playing 3B and Chapman would be a defensive replacement.
The Devers trade is also a problem because of the sheer size and length of the contract. We're in the middle of what should be the excess value years of Devers' career and what are the Giants getting for that?
DeleteThe Chapman and Adames signings and Devers trade made sense at the time . There was no help from the farm who could take over those positions. The Giants are a big market team ranked #12 in payroll, little above average. They need to get better at player development which would make Busters job a lot easier so he doesn't have to sign too many free agents.
Delete