A bullpen collapse and a continued failure to hit turned a game that was scoreless after 4 innings into an embarrassing route to spoil Bryce Eldridge's first MLB home run. Key Lines:
Bryce Eldridge CH/1B- 1 for 4, HR(1), R, RBI. BA= .154. Eldridge's first MLB home run came on an inside fastball which is often Kryptonite for tall hitters. He pulled his arms in close, spun on it and sent it over the RF wall. I don't think it was technically a splash hit because it looked like it bounced into the water but it was an impressive shot and an encouraging sign for his future.
Landen Roupp RHP- 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 3.09. Roupp pitched scoreless ball for 4 innings but ran up his pitch count in the process. Joey Bart led off the 5'th with an infield hit after winning a pitch challenge and that was it for Roupp after 94 pitches. What ensued was nothing short of a humiliation for the entire organization. With a couple of lefthanded batters coming up, Tony Vitello went with Ryan Borucki LHP who gave up a ground ball single to Oneil Cruz and a sac fly to Brandon Lowe. Switch-hitter, Bryan Reynolds then singled through the left side to drive in Cruz.
Ryan Walker RHP got out of the inning on a CS by Eric Haase C, but Walker came back out for the 6'th inning. After getting the leadoff batter on a K, he went Walk, Wild Pitch, RBI single, Single(Joey Bart again). Walker was lifted for Matt Gage LHP who gave up a single to.....Oneil Cruz, but then got out of the inning on a K and GO. JT Brubaker came in to start the 7'th inning which ended with the Pirates holding a 10-1 lead.
Look, I get Tony Vitello has to work with the roster he is given and he can't run his top 3 relievers out there in the 5'th inning so this is on Buster. Why is Borucki still on the team? And Ryan Walker needs to have the same questions asked about him.
Christian Koss RHP- 1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 13.50. Poor Christian Koss was called upon to throw slow-pitch softballs up there in the 9'th amid all but catcalls from Kruk and Kuip. He was helped out by a GIDP to keep the score from ballooning to something in the high teens. To top all that off, Koss replaced Rafael Devers in the line up with Eldridge moving from DH to 1B(I didn't know that was allowed), so Koss batted in the bottom of the 9'th and got beaned on the helmet flap. Was that a purpose pitch? Kruk and Kuip seemed to think it might have been. Kuip's immediate reaction was "well, that makes tomorrow's game interesting."
Tyler Mahle RHP tries to salvage a series win this afternoon facing Bubba Chandler RHP, a top prospect who has struggled in his early MLB career and we know what that means for the Giants. His FB averages 98.7 MPH per Fangraphs.
Was super intrigued by Roupe's insane lateral run (left to right) he had in the first couple of innings to lefties. He didn't want it...pitches were running 2 feet outside. But if he could count on that movement and start that pitch inside to lefties, it would be unhittable.
ReplyDeleteLogan Webb first trip to the IL since July of 2021
ReplyDeleteVitello was pissed off in the press conference and deservedly so. It's more than time to bring back Sam Hentges, he can't be any worse than Tweedle-Dee & Tweedle-Dum (Borucki & Walker). Maybe switch Walker with Seymour, Walker's confidence looks shot at this point.
ReplyDeleteAs Grant pointed out in The Athletic, "James Tibbs III has a 1.017 OPS in the Dodgers’ system. Kyle Harrison has a 2.12 ERA in six starts for the Brewers."
ReplyDeleteI hated the Devers trade at the time..giving up on a young lefty with a great arm made no sense. i didn't care about Tibbs going, but he outperformed Eldridge at AAA (even as good as Eldridge was there)...Devers has always been out of shape -- you can get away with that at23, but not 28/29...and his pouting in Bsn did not show him as a team-first guy....and joey Bart is at .259 and a starting C.....
If I had a dollar for every Dodgers prospect with a 1.000 OPS over the years I'd be very rich. Again, the problem with the Devers trade is not the players they gave up but who they got and for how long.
DeleteI've read that James Tibbs had a 29% strikeout rate, Dodgers might not have room for him so another trade is possible. Harrison went to a team the Brewers who are good at developing young pitchers, hope he does well. Bart and Henry Davis time share at catcher. Maybe Bart playing more lately since he's been hitting better, Davis is the better defensive catcher but hitting below mendoza line. Bucs value his defense since they have good young starting pitching. He always catches Paul Skenes.They had similar problem with Giants until Bailey trade
DeleteVery intrigued on what the long-term plan is with the team. With the trading of Bailey, it sure looks like it's about adding to the farm system and developing from within. It's too bad those three albatross contracts will be on the books for so many more years. Just not sure how the team addresses that elephant in the room. If things continue to go south, I'm sure Ray and Arraez will be traded. Chapman may be open to a trade to the right team and may consider waiving his no trade clause. I can't see any possible way someone would want Devers or Adames. Nevertheless, things may turn around and they could catch fire, but I seriously doubt it. The team is below par in all phases of the game.
ReplyDeleteBob Nightengale, in a USA Today article this morning, shares that they would "love" to unload the Jung Hoo Lee, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and Rafael Devers contracts and start over. He also said they don’t have that luxury and that Ray is probably the only real option.
DeleteNightingale wrote another interesting item that part of the objective of the Bailey trade is the additional $3,27 mil bonus pool money which is part of their grand plan to draft Roch Chlowsky UCLA SS, Giants could secretly tell his agent that they're willing to go overslot to draft and sign him, so he could drop to them at #4. I usually don't believe Nightingale, but Jim Callis also said the Giants #4 pick is the talk of the industry. Like Doc said there are different angles they can put the extra pool $ to good use.
DeleteF. P. Santangelo said he talked to Giants coaches and Bailey was the one who kept calling the same pitches over and over in multiple games. The coaches thought his focus on offense had taken too much away from his defensive preparations. If that was the case, then this trade might prove beneficial to both team -- Cleveland gets the defensive catcher they coveted and the Giants get two promising prospects and can continue to work towards developing catchers who can play defense and contribute offensively. Interesting in that Cleveland as an organization has decided to emphasize defense at catcher while Buster wants a more well-rounded player behind the plate.
ReplyDeleteIf any of them catch fire, I pray we trade them. Bob in Dixon
ReplyDeleteIsn't it pretty inane to challenge a ball call to the first batter of the game?
ReplyDeleteThat play, and the sequential misplay, is a fair microcosm of the season.
In a normal year, giving the opponent a free run to begin the game, would not be disastrous, but this is not a normal year.
At least SF waited until the 5th inning to lose Saturday.