Game Wrap 4/10/2022: Giants 3 Marlins 2

 Heliot Ramos made his MLB debut and started a 2-run rally in the second inning while Giants pitchers held firm against an 11-hit onslaught by Marlins hitters for a narrow win.

Heliot Ramos LF- 2 for 3.  BA= .667.  Ramos hit a rocket in his first AB with 2 outs in the second inning which skipped off Jazz Chisholm 2B for a single.  He came all the way around to score on a double down the LF line by Mauricio Dubon CF/3B who in turn scored on Luke Williams 3B single to put the Giants up 2-0 on the second inning.  Ramos later led off the 4'th inning with another single but was left stranded.  Oh, and I do believe Heliot is truly in the Best Shape of His Life.  Kid looks darn good in a baseball uniform!

Anthony DeSclafani RHP- 3.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 4.91.  The line looks ugly but DeSclafani pitched much better than that.  Half of the hits were bad BABIP luck.  He pitched his butt off to keep the damage at 2 runs. 

Jarlin Garcia LHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.  Garcia was credited with the well-deserved W.  He came in with 2 outs and the bases loaded in the 4'th inning.  DeSclafani had just hit Garrett Cooper to bring in a run.  Garcia got out of it on a harmless flyball out then proceeded to retire 5 more batters in a row to get the game to Zack Littell RHP with 2 outs in the 6'th inning.  I saw some sensational changeups from Garcia.

Dominic Leone RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(1).  ERA= 6.75.  Leone was the Closer du jour and looked the part firing high 90's 4-seam FB paired up with a cutter and changeup that kept Marlins hitters guessing and missing for the 1-run Save.  He may have earned himself a few more Save Opps with that performance, though with Kap pushing the buttons, you never know.

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The Giants start a 3-game series against the Padres tomorrow evening with Alex Wood LHP facing Nick Martinez RHP.  Martinez last pitched in MLB in 2017. He's spent the last 4 seasons on Japan with mixed results.

Down on the Farm: 4/9/2022

AAA:  Sugar Land Space Cowboys whitewashed the Sacramento River Cats 1-0:

Raynel Espinal RHP- 3.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 0.00

Not much to say about this one.  Cats managed just 2 hits.  Espinal was impressive in spring training and continues that look here.  I think we'll see him pitch for the Giants as some point.  Big news is Heliot Ramos  CF came out after the 4'th inning. Word is he is headed to SF and will be in the lineup tomorrow, possibly because Wilmer Flores needs some personal time off.  Is this the Dawning of the Age of Heliot Ramos?

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AA:  Richmond Flying Squirrels pounded the Bowie Baysox 9-2:

Will Wilson SS- 2 for 3, 3 BB.  BA= .429.

Michael Gigliotti CF- 4 for 4, HR(1), BB, 2 SB(2).  BA= 1.000.

Kai-Wei Teng RHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, GO/AO=6/1.  ERA= 0.00.

Will Wilson is off to a nice start after a disastrous 2021.  I really liked Gigliotti coming out of his sophomore season in college but he faceplanted his junior season and has never been the same since.  Still like his toolset.  Can the Giants coaches unlock it?  Nice combo of K's and GB's from Teng.

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A+:  Everett Aquasox outscored the Eugene Emeralds 10-7:

Luis Matos CF- 2 for 4, SB(1).  BA= .200.

Armani Smith LF- 1 for 3, HR(1), 2 BB.  BA= .143.

Patrick Bailey C- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .286.

Casey Schmitt 3B- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .571.

Ghordy Santos 2B- 2 for 3, SB(1).  BA= .667.

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A:  San Jose Giants cracked the Modesto Nuts 3-1:

Grant McCray CF- 0 for 2, 2 BB, SF, SB(1).  BA= .000.

Garrett Frechette 1B- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .429.

Will Bednar RHP- 3.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 5 HBP!  ERA= 2.45.

Trevor McDonald RHP- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Seth Lonsway LHP- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K.  ERA= 0.00.

Wild start for Bednar whose FB reportedly topped out at 92 MPH.  I guess now we know why the first round draft pick out of a major college program is starting their first full pro season in low A?  Ever since Tim Lincecum in 2007, the Giants have had terrible outcomes for college pitchers drafted in the first round.  Let's hope this is a temporary hiccup for Bednar.  Seth Lonsway has always had great stuff.  He just needs to command it consistently.  Early returns on his pro instruction encouraging.

Game Wrap 4/9/2022: Marlins 2 Giants 1

Carlos Rodon was as dominant as any pitcher in Giants history but it wasn't enough as the Giants lineup struggled against Pablo Lopez RHP and the Marlins relievers.   

Carlos Rodon LHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 12 K's.  ERA= 1.80.  The run scored on a infield single/error which put a runner on 2B then two WP's including one on a K.  Other than that, Rodon was unhittable with a FB that sat at 98 all afternoon and a killer slider.  There is a pitch count price to pay for all those K's and Rodon was clearly gassed by the end of the 5'th inning.  Gotta be excited for what the future holds for him and the Giants though.

Camilo Doval RHP- 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 11.57.  Kap seems to still be searching for bullpen roles.  Not sure why Jake McGee LHP entered the game in the 7'th inning.  It didn't go well which brought in Doval with 2 outs and a runner on 3B.  I just said "oh no!"  After walking his first batter on 4 pitches, Doval got the next guy on a ground out.  That seemed to settle him down and he pitched a clean 8'th inning with what looked like a lot more confidence so maybe there was a method to Kap's madness?

Speaking of confidence:  Kap is going to have to gain confidence in more than 4 relievers.

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It won't get any easier tomorrow afternoon as Anthony DeSclafani RHP faces Trevor Rogers LHP in the series finale.

Down on the Farm: 4/8/2022

Minor League Opening Day for A, A+ and AA.

AAA:  Sacramento River Cats came from behind to top the Sugar Land Space Cowboys 7-6 in 12 innings:

Luis Gonzalez CF- 4 for 7, 2B.  BA= .357.

Ka'ai Tom DH- 3 for 6, 2B.  BA= .444.

Wei-Chi Huang RHP- 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 3.38.

Gregory Santos RHP= 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Mauricio Llovera RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 4/0.  ERA= 0.00.

This was the River Cats fourth consecutive win to open the season.  Luis Gonzalez coming off a great spring was just 1 for 7 before this game.  The way the Giants bullpen pitched Opening Day, we may well see some of these pitchers in the majors soon.  

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AA:  Richmond Flying Squirrels outscored the Bowie Baysox 7-5:

Brett Auerbach CF- 2 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .400.

Diego Rincones DH- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .500.

Brandon Martorano C- 3 for 4, 2B, SB(1).  BA= .750.

Jake Dahlberg LHP- 4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Auerbach is coming off winning the Barney Nugent Award in spring training.  It'll be interesting to track his position from game to game.  CF today.  Don't sleep on Brandon Martorano as a catching prospect.  He has a pro career OPS of .812 after being drafted in the 16'th round of the 2019 draft.  Jake Dahlberg was signed as a minor league free agent midseason last year.  His ERA was an unimpressive 5.53 at two levels but he had 71 K's and just 9 BB's in 55.1 IP.  R. J. Dabovich gave up 3 runs in a non-save ninth inning.

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A+:  Everett Aquasox beat the Eugene Emeralds 4-2:

Marco Luciano SS- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .500.

Casey Schmitt 3B- 2 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .667.

Jairo Pomares LF- 1 for 4, HR(1), BB.  BA= .250.

Kyle Harrison LHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 5.0.  ERA= 0.00.

Dominant 4 IP for Kyle Harrison.  Cole Waites RHP lost a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 8'th inning allowing 4 runs.

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A:  Modesto Nuts topped the San Jose Giants 5-3:

Hunter Dula RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Nick Sinacola RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 5/0.  ERA= 0.00.

Dula was the Giants 18'th round draft pick in 2021.  Sinacola was selected in the 7'th round.

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Congratulations to Rachel Balkovic who became the first woman to manage a MLB affiliated professional baseball team and the first to manage her team to a win as the Tampa Tarpons came from behind to beat the Lakeland Flying Tigers 9-6.  Earlier in the day, the first woman MLB coach, Alyssa Nakken chatted with the first female MLB GM, Kim Ng on the field before the Giants-Marlins Opening Day game.

Opening Day Game Wrap 4/8/2022: Giants 6 Marlins 5

The Giants brought back Torture baseball winning a wild Opening Day game in Oracle Park.  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 4, HR(1), BB.  Belt had quite the day.  He started the day riding in a boat with his Captain's Hat and throwing out the first pitch.  In the third inning with Joey Bart at 1B and two outs, Belt pushed a bunt against the shift a little to hard but the Marlins 3B threw it away down the RF line.  Bart showed off a tool that Buster Posey never had by motoring all the way around to score the first run of the game.  Belt later hit his first HR of the year, all this after going playing in just 3 spring games and going 0 for.....

Darin Ruf DH- 1 for 3, 2 BB.  Ruf played a key role in this game.  His oppo field single in the third inning drove in Belt for the second run.  Then in the 10'th inning he drew a walk after Dubon's baserunning gaffe took out the "ghost runner".  Austin Slater doubled down the LF line and Ruf turned on what jets he has to come all the way around to score the walk-off run.

Thairo Estrada 2B- 1 for 4, HR.  Estrada contributed to the near-disastrous top of the 9'th inning by throwing the ball away while trying to complete a DP.  He made up for that in the bottom of the inning with a no-doubt HR.  He also made a couple of sparkling defensive plays earlier in the game.  Kap seems to be hinting at Estrada winning the full time starting job at 2B.  Is 20 HR's a reasonable expectation?

Joey Bart C- 1 for 3, HR(1), BB.  I think we can say this was a successful start to what we all hope is Bart's breakout season.  The HR reportedly left his bat at 108 MPH and travelled 414 ft.  

Logan Webb RHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K, GO/AO= 12/3.  I'm not sure why Kap sent Webb out for the 7'th inning at 80 pitches.  The leadoff batter he walked scored ahead of Jacob Stallings HR given up by Dom Leone.  It wasn't a big strikeout game for Webb but he had the Marlins killing worms on the infield all afternoon.  

Tyler Rogers RHP- 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.  I was down on Rogers in spring training but he came in and got 2 K's to maintain the Giants lead after Stallings HR in the 7'th inning.

Camilo Doval RHP- 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  Doval came into the Save situation and proceeded to cough up the 2-run lead.  He still threw mostly sliders trying get strikes with them.  If you throw enough sliders in the strike zone, you will eventually hang one and it will go a long way.  IMO, Doval is not ready to be a frontline MLB Closer until he can trust his FB, which he clearly does not at this point.  

Ghost Runner- Neither Ghost Runner scored in the 10'th inning.  

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Carlos Rodon LHP makes his first Giants start tomorrow afternoon facing Pablo Lopez RHP.

Down on the Farm: 4/7/2022

 The Sacramento River Cats broke open a scoreless game with 6 runs in the bottom of the 7'th inning to blank the Sugar Land Space Cowboys 6-0 for their third win in a row to star the AAA PCL season.

Heliot Ramos RF- 1 for 4, 2B, BB.  .250/.400/.583.   Ramos has a hit and BB in each of his first 3 games.  The double drove in the first two runs of the game.

Jaylin Davis CF- 2 for 4.  BA= .444.  BA's are still volatile with a small denominator.  Don't forget Davis is still on the 40- man roster.  This season might be his last chance to prove he deserves another shot at the MLB level.

David Villar 3B- 1 for 3, HR(2), BB.  .300/.462/.900.   Villar picking up where he left off last year in AA.  I can so see an opportunity to grab 3B by the throat at some point with the Giants this year.  

Sean Hjelle RHP- 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 5/0.  Sensational start to the AAA season by Hjelle.  We are suddenly seeing a flurry of Sean Hjelle is Underrated posts in various locations.  I am pretty sure you read it here first.  Unusual command for a pitcher that tall.  His release point and plane are unique and bucking the trend in the launch angle era.  

Corey Oswalt RHP- 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  Oswalt is one of the Giants minor league signings who I think will help at the MLB level at some point this season.

Giants 2022 Season Preview: 5 Bold Predictions

 Bold Predictions are a thing.  It's an exercise where a baseball writer tries to make a prediction that most people think is unlikely to come true but yet is plausible enough that it might.  If it does, you can crow about it at the end of the season. If not, well, nobody expected it to happen anyway.  Here are my 5 Bold Predictions for the 2022 Giants:

1.  Joey Bart C wins NL ROY:  OK, this one isn't so bold as mlb.com has him as one of 5 contenders.  Draft Kings has him at #2 but with long odds.  Joey Bart has taken a lot of incoming heat over the winter due to his disastrous emergency callup in 2020 and middling 2021 AAA campaign.  While there are legitimate concerns about his K rate, the dimissive commentary is mostly unfair as he was rushed up before any reasonable observer thought he was ready.  He looked like a different guy throughout spring training and his stock is back on the rise.  Is 30 HR's and ROY too much to hope for?

2.  Giants starting rotation finishes the season with a lower ERA than the Dodgers rotation:  The Dodgers have an impressive top 3 in Walker Buehler RHP, Luis Urias LHP and Clayton Kershaw LHP, but the last two spots on their rotation depth chart are Tony Gonsolin RHP and Andrew Heaney LHP.  It's possible Dustin May RHP could come out firing bullets after full recovery from Tommy John surgery(BTW, why to Dodger pitchers always seem to come out of TJ surgery throwing 100 MPH and the Giants pitchers come out throwing 92 and hitting the backstop?).  Bobby Miller RHP could come up from AAA midseason and dominate.  On the other hand, Kershaw's left arm seems to be hanging by a thread and there is concern over Urias velocity.

Meanwhile, the Giants have a co-aces of their own in Logan Webb RHP and Carlos Rodon LHP at the top of their rotation and the Anthony DeSclafani RHP, Alex Wood LHP and Alex Cobb RHP look to be almost as good as the top 2.  The Giants have some depth of their own in Tyler Beede RHP, Carlos Martinez RHP, Jakob Junis RHP and Sean Hjelle RHP.

3.  The Giants will hit more HR's this year than last:  OK the Giants surprised everybody last year by hitting 242 and leading the NL.  Yes, they lose Buster Posey and Kris Bryant but they combined for just 25 of those 242 HR's.  They also lost 13 by Alex Dickerson and 7 by Donnie Barrels(Fun Fact:  Mike Tauchman hit 4 HR's for the Giants last year).  Add those all up and the Giants lose 45 HRs.  But what if Joey Bart hits 30?  That beats Posey and Bryant all by himself.  Then there is Joc Pederson who has averaged 29 per 600 PA's over his career.  He should easily make up the Dick/Barrels/Tauchman losses.  Depending on how many PA's Thairo Estrada gets, I could see him hitting 15-20. What about Heliot Ramos?  How many more will he hit when he gets the callup?  So yeah, I think this one is doable.

4.  Carlos Rodon LHP wins the NL Cy Young Award:  He might not remain fully healthy all season but if he does, Rodon has a great chance to put together a Cy Young caliber season.  He wasn't that far off last year with the ChiSox and he's moving to a much more friendly pitching environment.

5.  Giants Repeat as NL West Champs:  On paper, the Dodgers have overwhelming frontline talent.  I'm not denying that.  But, we've already talked about their lack of starting pitching depth.  The also just traded a pretty good player, A.J. Pollock OF, to get Craig Kimbrel RHP who was terrible in the second half last season, an apparent desperation move to try to make up the loss of Kenley Jansen RHP to free agency.  Granted, the Dodgers have other better than decent options for Closer including Blake Treinen RHP and Brusdar Graterol RHP, but why would they give up a player like Pollock if they didn't think they really, really needed a Closer?  On top of their thinness at pitcher, the Dodgers have some age and injury issues at 3B, Cody Bellinger OF/1B has been in a severe slump long enough to think he might not come out of it.  The Dodgers could still suffer a major injury to a frontline hitter and still be very good but they aren't quite as deep as they were over the past 2-3 years.

The Giants probably need to stay healthy for the season to make this happen but they have potential in-house reinforcements like Heliot Ramos OF, Tyler Beede RHP, Jakob Junis RHP, Carlos Martinez RHP, Sean Hjelle RHP and Kervin Castro RHP.  

Both teams will likely upgrade at the trade deadline and the Dodgers are probably more willing to part with minor league talent to get it done.  An the other hand, if #'s 1, 2, 3 and 4 above all come true a repeat of last season is not out of the question.