Game Wrap 4/24/2022: Giants 12 Nationals 3

 Joc Pederson OF led an offensive explosion and Logan Webb RHP pitched a Quality Start to complete a sweep on the road against the Nationals.  

Joc Pederson RF- 3 for 3, 2B, 2 HR(5), SF.  BA= .364.  Pederson moved to RF and batted leadoff after YtY was sidelined by a positive COVID test(yep folks, it's still out there).  He led off the game with a long HR and drove in another run with a SF and finished his day with another round-tripper.  Of course, he Kap took him out for Austin Slater PH/RF to PH at the first sign of a lefty pitcher, but it was still quite a day for Joc.

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 5, 3B, BB.  BA= .236.  Belt may be hitting just .236 but that comes with a .373 OBP and a SLG% of .509.  Typical Belt stuff.

Wilmer Flores DH- 3 for 5.  BA= .283.  Flores had 3 singles but drove in 3 runs and scored one.  He's hitting .333 over his last 7 games.

Jason Vosler 3B- 2 for 5.  BA= .333.  Vosler seems a bit more confident at the plate than we've seen and he made some fine plays at 3B.

Joey Bart C- 0 for 3, BB, HBP.  BA= .171.  Bart is obviously struggling at the plate but somehow has an OBP of .326.  He reached base twice today without the benefit of a hit.  The worrisome part is he seems to be swinging through a lot of hittable pitches.  I mean, he's not even fouling them off.  With the way the rest of the team is playing, Giants can afford to be patient with him.

Logan Webb RHP- 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K's, GO/AO= 11/1.  ERA= 2.96.  Not quite the ace level start we've come to expect from Webb, but a QS with decent peripherals.  He ran into some bad BABIP luck in after two outs in the first inning but a loud double and HR with 2 outs in the third were not flukes.  He then settled in and shut down the Nationals for the next 3.2 IP.  

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The Win ups the Giants season record to 11-5 and 7-3 for the road trip with an odd 1-game series starting tomorrow in Brewtown.  The Giants will start off a bullpen game with Sam Long LHP on the mound on 2 days rest.  I am sure the plan is for no more than 2 IP.  With Jakob Junis RHP likely not available, it may be time for Tyler Beede RHP to step up and show he can hang as rosters will be cut down by 2 players in a few days.  The Giants could call someone up from Sacramento to eat up some innings too.  They will be facing Corbin Burnes RHP.  The silver lining is the BrewCrew has to fly in from Philly for one game then fly back out to Pittsburgh so they are not going to be all that perky for this one either.

Down on the Farm: 4/23/2022

 AAA:  Sacraemento River Cats overwhelmed the Oklahoma City Dodgers 12-1:

Lamonte Wade Jr LF- 0 for 2, BB.  BA= .000.

Bryce Johnson LF- 2 for 2, 2 2B.  BA= .325.

Heliot Ramos DH- 3 for 4, HR(2), BB.  BA= .267.

Luke Williams CF- 3 for 4, 2B, SF, SB(2).  BA= .583.

Austin Dean RF- 3 for 5, 3B, HR(3).  BA= .196.

Luis Ortiz RHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 10.03.

Kervin Castro RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 1.29.

Mauricio Llovera RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Lots of nice stat lines here.  Biggest news might be Lamonte Wade Jr starting his rehab assignment.  Heliot Ramos has his biggest game of the season so far and first HR since Opening Day.  Seems like a switch-hitting OF with speed who can hit for average(Bryce Johnson) would have a potential role on a roster despite the lack of power.

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AA:  Richmond Flying Squirrels edged out the Erie Seawolves 2-1:

Tristan Beck RHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K, GO/AO= 6/0.  ERA= 2.57.

Ryan Walker RHP- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 9.00.

John Russell RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, Save(1).  ERA= 0.00.

Q:  Is Tristan Beck a legit prospect again?  I've read some posts on Twitter that his velocity is in the upper 90's.  Control/command still looks like an issue.

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A+:  Eugene Emeralds defeated the Vancouver Canadians 7-3:

Ghordy Santos SS- 1 for 4, HR(2), BB.  BA= .313.

Armani Smith LF- 1 for 5, HR(4).  BA= .344.

Luis Toribio 1B- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .233.

Casey Schmitt 3B- 2 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .344.

Jimmy Glowenke 2B- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(2).  BA= .133.

Randy Rodriguez RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 1.17.

Strong games for several Ems hitters.  I've always thought Ghordy Santos had a high ceiling.  It looks like he's finally adding skills to his tools.  There's never been a question about Casey Schmitt's D.  If the bat continues to play like this, he's the Giants 3B of the future.

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A:  San Jose Giants tanned the Visalia Rawhide 10-2:

Aeverson Arteaga SS- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(2).  BA= .286.

Vaun Brown CF- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(2).  BA= .237.

Abdiel Layer 2B- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .214.

Garrett Frechette 1B- 1 for 3, 2 BB.  BA= .303.

Matt Mikulski LHP- 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K.  ERA= 1.50.

Mat Olsen RHP- 2.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K.  ERA= 0.00.

Esmerlin Vinicio LHP- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.  ERA= 7.71.

Saw some video of Mikulski's delivery.  Wow!  He does not extend his arm at all!  It almost looks like he's shot-putting it up there but he gets velocity with that motion and it looks very hard for a batter to pick up.  Like Casey Schmitt, there's never been a question about Arteaga's D but the bat is looking good too.  He has a 5 game hit streak and has hit in 9 of 12 games this season after a breakout season in the Arizona Complex league last summer.

Game Wrap 4/23/2022: Giants 5 Nationals 2

 The Giants played this one pretty much the way FZ and Kap draw it up with timely and... ahem.....situational hitting, 5 solid innings from the SP followed by 4 scoreless frames from the bullpen.  All that guarantees them another series win and a winning road trip which is mercifully nearing it's end.

The Giants got 10 hits spread around to 8 different batters with Joc Pederson LF and Wilmer Flores 3B getting 2 hits each.  Flores had the only XBH with a double.  

YtY CF and Luis Gonzalez RF/LF bunted against the shift for basehits and Brandon Crawford SS directed a groundball down the 3B line in another obviously intentional anti-shift tactic.  

Situational hitting is mostly a myth but those are 3 examples of Giants batters playing it that way today and it helped them win.

Alex Wood LHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 7/3.  ERA= 2.51.  Wood was strong through 4 IP.  He ran into trouble with 2 outs in the 5'th when Riley Adams went down and golfed a good pitch out of the park for a HR followed by a double and single.  He got out of it by striking out no less than Juan Soto for the final out.  I am sure FZ and Kap will be deliriously happy if they get 30 starts just like that out of Wood this season.

Dominic Leone RHP, John Brebbia RHP, Tyler Rogers RHP and Camilo Doval RHP breezed through the final 4 innings.  Rogers 8'th inning was particularly notable for soft-contact GO from Juan Soto and K's of Nelson Cruz and Lucius Fox(yes, THAT Lucius Fox!).

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The Win advanced the Giants overall record to 10-5 and yes, folks, that projects to 108 Wins over 162 games.  They are now 6-3 on the road trip with 2 games to go, the finale in Washington tomorrow and a single game in Brewtown on Monday.  Logan Webb RHP tries to get his game back on track tomorrow.

Down on the Farm: 4/22/2022

AAA:  Oklahoma Dodgers blanked the Sacramento River Cats 1-0:

Michael Plassmeyer LHP- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 3.26.

Wei-Chi Huang RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 2.45.  

Plassmeyer took the loss despite his best start of the season.  Huang was a minor league FA signing this offseason.  He has 17 K's in 7.1 IP but also 8 BB's.  Remember Reyes Moronta RHP?  He got the Save for the Dodgers.

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AA:  Erie Seawolves outscored the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-5:

Frankie Tostado 1B- 2 for 4, HR(1), BB.  BA= .286.

Tyler Fitzgerald 2B- 1 for 5, HR(2).  BA= .140.

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A+:  Vancouver Canadians beat the Eugene Emeralds 4-1(Game 1 of Doubleheader, 7 innings):

Armani Smith LF- 1 for 1, HR(3), 2 BB. BA= .375.

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A+:  Vancouver Canadians pounded the Eugene Emeralds 9-6: 

Hunter Bishop DH- 1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .132.

Marco Luciano SS- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .333.

Casey Schmitt 3B- 1 for 3, HR(2).  BA= .333.

Kyle Harrison LHP- 2 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 3.27.  

Harrison got roughed up after two dominant starts. Tough situation in the NWL due to 

cool weather and rainouts piling up.

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A: San Jose Giants defeated the Visalia Rawhide 5-1:

Mason Black RHP- 4 IP, 3 H 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K's.  ERA= 3.86.

Landon Roupp RHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Not questioning the Giants methodology here but another reminder most of the dominant pitching we're seeing for the SJ Giants is from college draftees placed very conservatively. 

Game Wrap 4/22/2022: Giants 7 Nationals 1

 When I was a kid, I checked out a book from my school library written by Russ Hodges.  It was a collection of simple baseball stories and it was wonderful.  The one thing I remember about the book was one of the chapters started off with a question:  Did you know baseball is mentioned in the Bible?  Well, yes it is.  Genesis 1:1, in the big inning.  That was a chapter about memorable big innings in the history of baseball.  The Giants had one of those tonight, a 7-run outburst in the second inning against Patrick Corbin LHP.  It was their only scoring in the game and it was way more than enough as Sam Long LHP and Jakob Junis RHP rose to the occasion and shut down a struggling Nationals lineup.

Austin Slater LF/CF- 2 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .167.  Slater, like most Giants hitters, is off to a slow start, but he had the big blow in this one, a 3-run HR to R-CF to bump the score to 4-0.  

Brandon Crawford SS- 3 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .245.  Crawford's first double led off the fateful 2'nd inning and his second capped the scoring by driving in 3 runs.

Mauricio Dubon CF- 0 for 3, Assist(3B).  BA= .158.  Dubon made the first and last outs of the Big Inning but he also gunned down Juan Soto with a cannon shot from CF as Soto was trying to stretch out a triple on a ball that took a big carom off the R-CF wall.  I read the throw clocked in at 93 MPH.

Sam Long LHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 0.00.  Long cruised through the first two innings.  As Shawn Estes commented, he's lost his slider and now pairs up a FB that hits 95 MPH with a curveball out of the same tunnel.  He is now unscored on in 4.2 IP over 4 games.  We may need to nickname him Sudden Sam!

Jakob Junis RHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K.  ERA= 0.00.  If Jakob Junis was the guy you wanted the Giants to call up in this situation, raise your hand......OK, then.  Me either.  Junis shut the Nationals down for innings 3-7 and used just 61 pitches to do it. Per Ben Kaspick on Twitter, Junis threw 51% sliders and 34% changeups with the rest of his pitches divided between 2S and 4S FB's and a few curveballs thrown in for good measure.  Something to watch going forward.  I mean, talk about bulk innings! I'm guessing this will buy him a bigger cup of coffee especially with Giants SP's dropping like flies(more on that later). 

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The win bumped the Giants record to 9-5 and upped their record on the road trip to 5-3 which guarantees them at least a split of the 10-game road trip with two games to go.  Alex Wood LHP, who had his start pushed back from today tries to seal a series win and a winning record for the road trip tomorrow morning.

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The Giants placed Anthony DeSclafani RHP on the 10 day IL with right ankle inflammation.  This is worrisome in that it's the same ankle that bothered him late last season.  Steven Duggar OF was placed on the 60-day IL(ouch!) to clear 40-man roster space for Luis Gonzalez OF.  Gonzalez did not start today due to Corbin being a LHP, but with mostly RHP's coming up, the Giants wanted his LH bat over Heliot Ramos' RH bat....and yeah, they really are committed this matchup thing.

Down on the Farm: 4/21/2022

 AAA:  Sacramento Flying Squirrels defeated the Oklahoma City Dodgers 8-3:

Bryce Johnson CF- 2 for 5, SB(7).  BA= .314.

Heliot Ramos RF- 0 for 2, 2 BB.  BA= .216.

Luke Williams 2B- 3 for 4, 2B, SB(1).  BA= .750.

Ka'ai Tom LF- 1 for 3, SF, SB(1).  BA= .351.

Jhonny Pereda C- 3 for 4, 2B.  BA= .286.

Raynel Espinal RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 9 K's.  ERA= 1.42.

Corey Oswalt RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K's, ERA= 5.40.

Joey Marciano LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 1.50.

Heliot Ramos' OBP is .383.  Is he being too selective or should he keep doing what's he's doing and trust the process?  Espinal has 22 K's in 12.2 IP.  At the rate the Giants are going through pitchers, we may see him in a Giants uniform sooner than later.  Looks like Jakob Junis RHP is in line for the first call up.

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AA:  Erie Seawolves edged out the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-2(first game of DH, 7 innings):

Brett Auerbach C- 1 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .262.

Jake Dahlberg LHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 9 K's.  ERA= 3.14.

Dahlberg has 21 K's and just 3 BB's in 14.1 IP.

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AA:  Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Erie Seawolves 8-3:

Will Wilson SS- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(3).  BA= .244.

Jacob Heyward LF- 2 for 3.  BA= .296.

Tyler Fitzgerald 3B- 1 for 2, HR(1), BB.  BA= .132.

Franklin Labour RF- 1 for 3, HR(1).  BA= .182.

Wilson is 3 for 8 with 2 2B and a HR in his last 2 games.

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A+:  Eugene Emeralds vs Vancouver Canadians postponed.

Second postponement in two days and 4'th of the season for the Ems.  Rainouts a problem for full season ball in Pacific Northwest.

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A:  San Jose Giants topped the Visalia Rawhide 5-2:

Abdiel Layer 3B- 2 for 4, 3B, BB, SB(1).  BA= .176.

Dilan Rosario 2B- 1 for 2, 3 BB, SB(2).  BA= .333.

Will Bednar RHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K, GO/AO= 5/0.  ERA= 2.31.

Seth Lonsway LHP- 4 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, GO/AO= 8/0.  ERA= 0.00.

Jose Cruz RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(1).  ERA= 9.00.

SJ pitchers have allowed just 3 hits over the past two game/18 IP with a total of 29 K's.  Remember most of these pitchers are college draftees who the Giants placed conservatively.

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Giants acquired Cory Abbott RHP from the Cubs for cash.  Jaylin Davis OF was removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Abbott who they placed at AAA Sacramento.  

Game Wrap 4/21/2022: Mets 6 Giants 2

The Giants didn't put up much of a fight in a getaway day game.  

Mike Yastrzemski RF- 2 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .231.  This was YtY's second straight 2-hit game so hopefully he's turned a corner.   

Anthony DeSclafani RHP- 5 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 6.08.  DeSclafani has been too hittable so far.  Some of that is bad BABIP luck but he gave up a couple of homers and several line drive hits in this one.  On the plus side, he ate 5 innings on the road in a game the Giants didn't seem to have much chance of winning anyway.  On the other hand, he's not looked like a pitcher you would trust in a must win game, especially against a quality opponent like the Mets.

Steven Duggar CF- 0 for 1.  BA= .194.  Duggar had to come out with an oblique strain and will hit the IL.  Not sure how much the Giants are going to miss him.  This could very well be the last we see of him in a Giants uniform, although I think he does have an option.  Word is Luis Gonzalez OF is the replacement because of his lefty bat.  He will have to be added to the 40-man roster.  

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So this series was a downer.  Not to surprising as the Mets spent a ton of money to bring in some very talented players.  Add in the first game rainout followed by a twinbill on Tuesday and we should probably be glad it wasn't a sweep.  Don't forget YtY came this close to tying up game 2 of the doubleheader.

As bad as this series was, the Giants are still 4-3 for the road trip so far and 8-5 on the season.  That's not a terrible situation for them.

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The Giants still have another stop on the road trip, Washington DC to face the Nationals.  Alex Wood's turn in the rotation got pushed back to Saturday so tomorrow will likely be a bullpen game against Patrick Corbin LHP.