For the second game in a row, a promising start by a Giants pitcher ending with a team win was marred by serious injury casting a shadow on the 2027 season. Key Lines:
Rafael Devers 1B- 1 for 3, HR(28), BB, 2 R, RBI. BA= .244. Devers homers in back-to-back games and will not only hit 30 HR's this season but possibly 35 or more. This one bounced off the top of the arcade in straightaway RF and into the Bay.
Drew Cavanaugh C- 3 for 3, BB, 2 RBI. BA= .253. Drew Cavanaugh now has 23 MLB hits, 22 of them singles with one double. That, along with a 12.7% walk rate produces a better wOBA and wRC+ than Patrick Bailey's so far this season.
Adrian Houser RHP- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.02. Much like Carson Whisenhunt in the previous game, Houser looked really good before suffering an apparent arm injury. Manager Tony Vitello said it was a forearm strain. He is headed for an MRI. Given that we already know Whisenhunt is advised to have surgery and will likely miss all of 2027 as will Trevor McDonald, the Giants pitching depth for 2027 is dwindling rapidly.
My other thought is the Giants had an enviable track record of pitchers not requiring arm surgery for many years and now all of a sudden with a new coaching regime, we're seeing a whole outbreak of them. Coincidence?
Anthony Molina RHP- 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.89. Molina gave up some hard-hit balls but threw hard and ate innings and a well-deserved credit for the Win.
Landen Roupp RHP tries for the sweeeep today facing Nick Lodolo LHP who comes in with a 6.04 ERA.
Yikes! The baseball gods are angry. The pitchers need to gather on the mound and offer a bucket of chicken wings as a sacrifice!
ReplyDeleteDoes Joe Whitman get rostered for September now with the injury to Houser. The injury to Whisenhunt will force the FO to have to actually not just spend but, possibly have to overpay for pitching this offseason.
ReplyDeleteWith the ownership group being averse to 9 figure pitcher salaries this might be the offseason to look into pitchers from NPB or KBO including MLB reclamation projects
DeleteI didn't see the game, but wondering if Molina threw hard could he be a possible starter next season?
ReplyDeleteRight now any pitcher with their arm attached to their body is a possible starter next season.
DeleteFor 2027, can Buster find SP's between Houser-Mahle budget basement and Cease-Valdez mega money?
ReplyDeleteOTOH, will there be a 2027?
Betting odds favor an active November to beat the December 1 doomsday...
I assume the Giants would seek short term contracts, because they already have multiple SPs coming up in a few years (ranked the 6th farm system for pitching prospects), prospects coming back from injury this year and those that will be coming back the next year. I see 1-year contracts with players who want to bet on themselves in the off-season.
ReplyDeletein my view, Buster Posey makes the same mistake that Michael Jordan made over the years as part owner of a basketball team. they say they want their players to Compete as if they'll be good players because Posey and Jordan competed like few can and surprise, just to say "compete" does not net results from established marginal players. as captain obvious i will add, if you add a win it also subtracts a loss. when a team blows 12+ leads in the 8th and 9th innings, add 'em up and you have at least fighting to be ,500. if you over pay for an older starter - say a Sonny Gray (just as an example), now maybe, just maybe you're in the hunt for something meaningful. finally, you want to drive fans cuckoo? be a large market team and behave like a small market team. -es
ReplyDeleteNot saying you are all wrong here, but how is one Sonny Gray going to help blowing 12+ leads in the 8'th and 9'th innings? And I dispute the Giants behave like a small market team. A small market team does not sign 6 and 7 year contracts with Matt Chapman and Willy Adames and does not trade a bunch of prospects for Rafael Devers and his contract.
Deletewell you missed an important point! i accidentally deleted a line about relief pitchers. not sure what happened there. dang.. and i won't argue the big market small market issue as it will just prolong the discussion needlessly - and you might be right!. 1
ReplyDeleteDoc, you missed an important part of my post - because i somehow deleted a couple of sentences about relief pitching! dang! as for the big market, small market discussion, allow me to revisit that another time. always respect your POV. -es
ReplyDeleteToday's game still upsets me. Buster and his advisors completely misevalated the pitching on this team. Signing backend starters like Mahle and Houser for cheaper contracts and spending on relievers like Hentges and Foley coming off surgery expecting them to be good is unrealistic. They might be good next year as time passes since their surgeries. It seems like they were trying to save the owners some $ signing these mediocre pitchers and it completely backfired on them. I know injuires are killing them now but there was no excuse to not go out and sign or acquire a closer. The owners have the money so it's hard to understand what's going on.
ReplyDeleteThere's probably several reasons for the rash of pitching injuries. So I don't place blame on the pitching coaches. Problem is pitchers are trying to gain velocity these days which leads to arm injuries especially for young pitchers. This is a problem mlb wide
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