Terrible pitching, sloppy fielding and not much hitting is a losing formula we've seen too often this season. Tonight it all came together in a harmonic convergence which ended in a blowout loss to the D'Backs. Key Lines:
Robbie Ray LHP- 4.1 IP, 11 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.28. Ray gave up line-drive singles to the first two batters in the first inning then Matt Chapman's error loaded them up for long time Giants nemesis, Nolan Arenado. Arenado hit a grand slam home run and for all practical purposes the game was over before an out was recorded. In Tony Vitello's world, if you are a starting pitcher and get blasted early, you are going to wear it, and wear it Ray did, for 4.1 awful innings that were not fun for anyone to watch and I sure not fun to play. In the TV close ups I saw, Ray did not look happy and I got the feeling he was not just angry at himself. The thought occurred to me that approach is going to either toughen up the starting pitchers or it's going to spark an open rebellion in the clubhouse.
Maaaybe two bright spots were Bryce Eldridge getting two hits and Harrison Bader getting two doubles. Beyond that it was a thoroughly demoralizing game to watch or write about.
That was a tough game. I was concerned that Ray got hurt afer being hit by the comebacker, but he seems to be ok, their road trip record is 4 wins 4 losses which is good. Lee and Adames injured so thats concerning. It'll be upsetting if McDonald is sent down again, they have relievers like Brubaker whom they can send down instead
ReplyDeleteMcDonald would be wasted in the bullpen...go six-man until one of them eliminates themselves...or we can unload one of them on an unsuspecting contender
DeleteAre my eyes lying: Is Chapman now hitting .218 for the season — .206 against righties and .256 vs. lefties — and is striking out at a rate of 25.3%? RotoWire forecasts an eventual rebound to his career norms, which would leave him at year's end around .240 with 15 homers and 54 RBIs. Apparently, his hard-hit stats and bat speed remain relatively high.
ReplyDeleteIs Adames the team leader at this point? If he is, that could be one of the main problems. In the 2010's Buster was the clear face of the team, before that Bonds, Celebrini with the Sharks, Steph with the Warriors. Obviously those guys are the cream of the crop but if you put Adames on that list it looks terrible. Devers? But he doesn't look like he's embraced being the face of the team.
ReplyDeleteDoc, you might be right about Ray, but the dude never looks happy on the mound and he grunts a lot (insert smiley face). hard to read him as he never looks like he's enjoying himself. -es
ReplyDeleteI'm very against leaving pitchers out there to suffer. That is how opposing batters ending getting in the ribs out of frustration. I would have gotten Ray out of there and let Brubaker be the innings eater.
ReplyDeleteyou might be right but i think pitchers have been whittled down by pitch counts and metrics and other stuff and a reminder that their job is to Compete. under favorable and not so favorable circumstances. i think Ray can endure a little misery.
ReplyDeleteDoc here is an example of what i think you mean about Giants making bad baseball decisions throughout the years. Someone reminded me that a pretty good Miami marlins Middle infielder Otto Lopez was in Giants camp in 2024 , he was DFA'd so Marlins picked him up. He's been between a 2 and 3 war player for them which is average mlb starting player I think, correct me if I'm wrong. They probably didn't give him a chance. If they had Lopez at Shortstop maybe they don't sign Adames.These kind of player evaluation mistakes bother me the most.
ReplyDeleteYes, I saw that note and thought exactly the same thing. That was the downside of FZ's Churn and a pretty big one at that. I would also point, as others have, to Dominic Smith. At least so far, he would have given the Giants everything they've gotten out of Rafael Devers for a fraction of the cost and and fraction of the time commitment.
DeleteI was thinking the same with regards to Dominic Smith. He is better defensively than Devers.
DeleteAnd maybe the Giants would still have Kyle Harrison...
DeleteYup.Doc I thought about Dominic Smith as a good off season pickup, but guessed they passed due to playing the same position as Bryce Eldridge
DeleteTrue, but I was thinking farther back when they could have used Smith as a bridge to Eldridge rather than acquiring Devers.
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