Logan Webb pitched in front of a gassed bullpen and it cost him a win and the Giants another crushing, late-inning loss. Key Lines:
Jung Hoo Lee RF- 4 for 5, 2 R. BA= .333. Lee is now tied for 2'nd place in the batting race trailing only Forever Giant Otto Lopez SS who has a .336 BA. Lee scored 2 of the Giants 3 runs on a night they left 12 runners on base.
Bryce Eldridge 1B- 2 for 5, 2B, R, RBI. BA= .287. Eldridge had an RBI and scored in the top of the 8'th inning but he also contributed to the run in the 6'th by advancing Jung Hoo Lee to 3B on a single. So Eldridge contributed to all 3 Giants runs.
Casey Schmitt LF, Luis Arraez 2B, Eldridge and Matt Chapman 3B had 2 hits each with Lee recording 4. In spite of 5 multi-hit games, the lineup managed just one run in the first 8 innings and 3 runs total.
The Giants used small-ball to get what should have been an insurance run in the 8'th inning with Eric Haase C bunted runners from 2B and 1B to 3B and 2B, then Jonah Cox PH/CF executed a squeeze to score Eldridge.
Logan Webb RHP- 8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K's, 7/3 GO/AO. ERA= 3.88. Webb threw 99 pitches in 8 innings and appeared to have something left in the tank. Tony Vitello went with Keaton Winn RHP who appears to be the dedicated Closer now. It's just that Winn appeared in games the previous two days going a total of 2.2 IP while throwing 41 pitches. He probably should not have been available to pitch. What were Vitello's other options? He could have left Webb in there to finish it or he could have gone with Dylan Smith RHP who recorded the extra-inning Save the night before and ended up getting the final out in this game. While I think going with his Closer in the 9'th is ordinarily what 90% of Managers would do, you have to factor in Winn's fatigue and the general lack of reliability the Giants have had from the Closer role. On the postgame show, Shawn Estes was visibly emotional while saying Winn had no business being out there and Webb should have finished the game while admitting it was a hindsight opinion.
Keaton Winn RHP- 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, HB, K. ERA= 3.23. Just for the record.
The Giants try to shake it off tonight with Adrian Houser RHP facing Andrew Alvarez LHP who comes in with a 3.54 ERA.
I let out some expletives when Winn pitched the Ninth, Dumb Decision by Vitello, It may be time to delegate the pitching coach to make the bullpen moves.
ReplyDeleteIt's time for Posey and ownership to field offers for Webb. The man is deserved to be done a solid and be traded to contender not named the Dodgers.
ReplyDeleteBottom line, Webb was dealing. He was at 99 pitches. You've got to at least let him try to finish it out. Winn isn't the closer they're looking for. Smith is a better option, at this point.
ReplyDeleteCarson Seymour hadn't pitched since 3 innings on Friday, and didn't do all that well then, but he was at least somewhat rested.
ReplyDeleteTop of the lineup — 1 to 4 — got 4 hits (in 20 PAs), and, not only didn't figure in the scoring with ample opportunity, they didn't even move runners along.
ReplyDeleteAdames made a nifty defensive play but oh-for-five with 2 Ks as clean up with runners on base and in scoring position while using up a strike 3 challenge in the 1st inning.
Tony V isn’t learning at the major league level. These types of mistakes were understandable at the beginning of the season but at this point he looks clueless. Went to the game last night and every single person in that stadium knew exactly what was going to happen except Tony. He had multiple opportunities to make the right move and he stood there and watched the mess unfold without doing anything.
ReplyDeleteFirst move was to leave Webb in and see what happens. Next best option would have been Smith. Next best option probably was Miller. Instead he went with Winn but after he gave up a barrel off the wall and hit the next batter, Tony should have seen he didnt have it but chose to leave him in. Then he goes 2-0 to the guy who leads the league in RBI’s and should have gave him 1B with it open. Instead he lets gim give up the hit to tie the game. Could have pulled him there but still left him in to give up the game winner. Smith comes in after that and gets the last out SMH!!!
That’s like 6 bad decisions in one crucial inning that could have turned out differently if he had made a better decision at any of those points. I mentioned it in the first few weeks of the year that Tony looks more like a fan than a manager. One of my favorite movies as a kid was Blue Thunder and the hat that Judge Reinhold wears in the movie says JAFO. Where can we get one of these hats for Tony because he is Just Another F’ing Observer.
Couldn’t agree more, especially the last two points. Walking Abram was such an obvious move and same with the next batter. Smh!!!
DeleteThis all sounds about right.
Deletebad manager decisions can be due to inexperience or lacking a feel for the moment, etc. another key factor is roster construction and due to a lousy pitching staff the manager is constantly looking for answers which might've been solved by signing better relief pitchers or having a clearly superior pitcher waiting in the wings in the minor leagues. it's not just Vitello; it's the combo platter of a rookie manager and a sorry roster. how many games have the Giants lost by coughing up runs in the 8th and 9th. (have they all been Vitello's fault?) i would argue that they might be only 5-7 games under .500.
ReplyDeleteWinn isn’t the closer. I surprise he blew the save. Giants have some guys who could be good relievers like Killian and Winn and even Walker could be a good low leverage reliever. These guys just aren’t closers and Tony has been stuck without one all season. Still holding on to my dream that Reggie Crawford comes back throwing gas as a reliever in AAA and is healthy and dominant.
ReplyDeleteIt will be close to a miracle if Reggie Crawford ever throws another pitch.
DeleteI've looked at Crawford's IG account a couple of times and scrolling through I've never, ever seen any post vaguely baseball related. Or gym related. Or rehab related.
DeleteI thought it was just me, but saw someone else noted this on Reddit as well. It seems like he's supremely talented (obviously injury prone), but doesn't have a ton of interest in the game.
But I get the temptation to dream on the guy. 62 Ks in 37 minor league innings is juicy. (He kept that rate up in AAA). But, yeah, seems to be a good chance he won't ever pitch again.
If you go through the Giants games, one-by-one, you'll see 13 losses that came late in a game, and another 9 losses that the Giants were more or less in the game, but it got away from them.
ReplyDeleteOf course, they aren't going to win all those games, but win just 9 of the 22 that they might have won, and the Giants hold the #3 Wild Card.
It's a shame Webb didn't get the win.
ReplyDeleteTheir bullpen was taxed, looks like Killian, Winn and Miller are the only trusted high leverage relievers. Gage would be included but he's injured. They need another high leverage arm to pitch late innings. If Walker fixes his issues with his mechanics he might be the best option to callup.as long as he doesn't pitch the 9th inning.
I truly have 0 memory of Otto Lopez being a Giant. I then looked it up and saw he was a classic Farhan Guy who played 2 games for AAA with the Giants after trading for him from the Blue Jays. He has turned into a very good player!
ReplyDelete- Fan