It was like Candlestick Park East today in Sacramento as the Giants and A's played in gale force winds blowing from left to right. Adrian Houser pitched a Quality Start and the lineup broke open a 2-1 game with an 8-run 8'th inning to win a game that was a lot closer than the final score looked. Key Lines:
Harrison Bader CF- 1 for 4, HR(4), BB, 2 R, 4 RBI. BA= .153. Bader bounced back from a tough last night and capped off the scoring with a wind-aided grand slam home run to RF. Bader is batting .250 since coming off the IL but has hit 3 HR's in his last 4 games and just missed one last night.
Luis Arraez 2B- 3 for 4, HR(2), BB. BA= .328. Arraez started the Giants scoring with a wind-aided fly down the RF line that cleared the fence in the third inning.
Casey Schmitt DH- 2 for 5, R. BA= .297. Schmitt continues to show consistency in his hitting with two singles after a huge night at the plate.
Matt Chapman 3B- 2 for 4, 2 2B, BB, R, RBI. BA= .223. Two hard-hit doubles for Chapman so maybe he is finally breaking out of his slump?
Adrian Houser RHP- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 3 K's, 8/1 GO/AO. ERA= 5.25. The walks are ugly but Houser made up for it by keeping the ball on the ground and getting a couple of GIDP's. Houser now has 2 QS out of his last 3 starts with the other falling 1 out short of a third QS in a row. That's the pitcher the Giants hoped they were signing this offseason. Can he keep it going?
Sam Hentges LHP, Keaton Winn RHP and Joel Peguero RHP pitched a scoreless inning each.
Houser and Mahle aren’t going to be starting pitchers for playoff caliber teams. Need to trade them both at the trade deadline and just roll with Whisenhunt and McDonald/Seymour
ReplyDeleteIf you by "playoff caliber teams" you mean the Dodgers and nobody else, you might have a point. Almost every team that makes the playoffs has at least one or two SP's that fit Houser and Mahle's profiles.
DeleteSigning free agents in general, and pitchers in particular, is a dangerous crapshoot. About half the top ten are doing well but the other half are doing poorly, worse than Houser and Mahle. The Giants were linked to pitchers like Bassitt, Gallen, and Kelly all of which have ERAs over 5. Also, Framber Valdez has an ERA of 4.32 and had a suspension (which would make one think twice after last season's cross-up with his catcher). At least with Houser and Mahle, the Giants limited their financial obligations.
DeleteAnd out of the 2024-2025 free agent pitching class, only four of the top ten pitchers are decent at the moment. It is attractive to spend money on free agents but at the time when a pitcher reaches free agency, their best days have already happened and teams are pay for the down side of careers and often it is a steep slope.
DeleteBlake Snell may have helped the Dodgers win a championship in 2025 but he now has had loose bodies removed from the elbow and they are on the hook with Snell until 2029, with a club option for 2030. Of course, he has deferrals going until he is 53 years old (2046).
Those who wish for the Giants to "spend more" need to be careful what they ask for. Its not as simple as merely opening up the checkbook but the risk is to get a pitcher (or any other free agent)who might be good for a year but the team might end up paying him for 20 years total. Most businesses are not run like that, let alone MLB teams and a catastrophic signing could inhibit a team's flexibility for a decade. Fans might say "its not my money" but fans have also invested their time. A lot of the players that the Giants could have signed but did not seem to have been the right decisions.
Admittedly emotionally subjective on my part, but I wouldn't want to have anything to do with Valdez after that thing with his catcher. Under any circumstances.
DeleteOne of my in-laws who is a Dodger fan was surprised when I told him that Snell quit after 1 inning in a September game against Arizona and declined to make his last 2024 start. He said that if what I said was true, he wouldn't have signed Snell. Even though Snell helped the Dodgers win a World Championship, the Giants might still be better off having not signed him. As it was, the Giants did not approach Snell after the 2024 season.
DeleteI'd be happy if Houser can come close to his 2025 pitching line 8 wins 5 losses 3.3 ERA. I'm sure Giants would be happy too He started only 21 games last year, so he might run out of gas in August?Sam Hentges pitched 3 good years with Guardians. If he's fully recovered from surgery, hed be a nice addition to the bullpen. I'm happy Casey Schmidt continues to hit well, hope he keeps it up, small sample size. His Homer's last night one to left field and the other to right field was very impressive
ReplyDeleteHouser is on a 2 year deal with a club option for 2028 so those clamoring for Houser's release probably will not get it unless the bottom totally falls out for him. I can see them shutting him down at some point if the team falls out of contention but no release.
DeleteLuis Arraez is on pace for something like a 5-6 win season 1.8fwar already. Great offseason pickup. He is the type of player I would love for the Giants to keep around, sadly this is not the season or the roster that would allow that to happen.
ReplyDelete- Fan
My vote would be do dump chapman and eat part of his salary, have schmitt play his natural position, and extend arraez. Reward good play.
DeleteDon't need to do that, It's Eldridge who's clogging the roster, but whatever Buster wants...
DeleteI think Chapman, like Bailey, being a former GGer and just "going through a rough patch" he could net a lot more than Bailey did, and that's good enough for me.
DeleteCasey was and is a strong defensive infielder, particularly at 3B with a sweet arm. These are the value moves the team needs to make..
Morning Doc.
ReplyDeleteAs you said the game was closer than it looked, but the good guys prevailed in the end. Watching the game, and particularly I was watching the infield play and the player interactions. I drew the conclusion Luis is one very happy camper. He looks to be having fun. Willy is Willy > how can you not like this guy! Devers looked good defensively > gotta say there was oneof his at bat which ended poorly for him and he goes into the dugout and throws his bat > that S@$t I cannot stand.
Your and Effing adult making a Cajillion $. Act like a pro and go talk to your coach for insight and help for the next at bat.
Chapman had a solid game overall.
Having said all of that > in my view if I were going to pull the trigger on anything > I would move Chapman > And forgot about using Luis as a trade play for draft move whatever. I would push hard to try and sign in season > go hard on a rich 3year deal (if we can ). I stress 3years big pay because the funnel sez we have likely 2nd base of the future in the system.> we cant move Willy or Devers contracts.. That said I would hold the line and go with the pitching we have now and bring Whiz/whomever up as needed. Thats my thought for today.
Richard in Winnipeg
How much good does it do Eldridge (or the Giants) that he plays a little more than every other game?
ReplyDeleteHe is 0-11 with 5 strikeouts in his last 4 games, and the Giants are 2-2.
His 2026 2 for 24 is actually worse than last year's cameo when he went 3-28.
The Giants actually have a better record in the games he hasn't played since he came up (4-1) than the games he has played (3-5).
This is SSS, but the Giants are not eliminated (yet).
Agreed, Kid needs to go back down to AAA to hone his craft and close those 6'7" holes in his swing. He's got to get to a max 25% K rate in AAA, otherwise MLB pitchers will always have a bead on his swing...
DeleteEldridge's BABIP is .071 so he's hitting into a lot of bad luck.
DeleteThe ten runs were impressive but the wind was blowing out for the A's, also. The pitching of Hentges, Winn, and Peguero should not be minimized.
DeleteGood point
DeleteWe know Eldridge can hit the ball hard but while the Giants have a chance to make the Playoffs, should opportunities to win games be jeopardized by playing a rookie who can't (yet) hit .100?
DeleteWe know what he is potentially able to do, but the Giants need to win games now, not develop at the major league level someone who has a contact problem.
Dave Kingman won more strike outs seasons (3) than HRs (2), and had but a single losing post season appearance. The Giants don't need another Kingman.
Giants start their series in Arizona with 3 up, 3 down in the 1st inning.
DeleteThat's with their top 3.
They still have a bottom 3 in this game: Chapman, Eldridge, and Bader, the 3 combined averaging Mendoza quality.
Less than 30% of the season has been played, do the Giants really want to win?
I am not buying the Giants as playoff contenders at this point.
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