Trade Deadline Recap: Giants Buy(Sort Of)

Oh my!  That might have been the wildest trade deadline I can remember.  No real blockbusters but so many moves!  The Giants did not sell off their pending free agents and made just one small purchase, a LHP depth piece, which is just so FZ!  ....and here I had my heart set on Dylan Bundy!  

Anthony Banda is a LHP who the advanced stats have always liked.  He's never had much success at the MLB level but at times his advanced stats such as FIP and Siera suggest he has been the victim of SSS luck.

Looking at his stuff on Fangraphs, he seems to be basically a two-pitch guy with a FB that averages about 92 MPH and a changeup which he throws about 50% of the time. We'll see if the Giants coaching staff has a tweak or two up their sleeve. 

Game Wrap 8/30/2020: Giants 4 D'Backs 1

A 3-run rally in the 8'th inning broke open a nail-biting pitching duel to give the Giants a win for the 3-game series.  Key Lines:

Alex Dickerson LF- 2 for 4, HR(4).  BA= .221.  This was Dickerson's second 2-hit game in a row.  The HR staked the Giants to a 1-0 lead that would stand up until the 7'th inning.  The single in the 8'th gave the Giants their second lead which they never gave back. 

Evan Longoria 3B- 1 for 4.  BA= .299.  The base hit drove in 2 runs to cap the Giants scoring and give the bullpen breathing room over the last 2 innings.

Johnny Cueto RHP- 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.75.  Cueto was sharp and pitched shutout ball for 6 innings.  He left the game tied at 1-1 with the offense and bullpen picking him up.

Sam Coonrod RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(1).  ERA= 3.68.  Tyler Rogers got the Save last night with Coonrod setting up.  This time the roles were reversed.  Coonrod has the classic Closer's stuff.  He has a 1.35 ERA over his last 7 appearances covering 6.2 IP. 

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The Win improves the Giants record to 17-19 good for 9'th place in the NL West but just 0.5 games behind the 8'th place Cardinals.

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The Giants have the day off tomorrow before starting a 3 game series against the Rockies in Coors Field.

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Trade deadline tomorrow.  Giants are rumored to be buyers.  IMO, they need another reliable SP if they want to make a run. Could probably use an OF too.

Game Wrap 8/29/2020: Giants 5 D'Backs 2

The Giants took an early lead and the bullpen shut down the D'Backs after SP Trevor Cahill had to leave the game in the 4'th inning with an injury.  Key Lines:

Evan Longoria 3B- 2 for 4, 2 2B, BB.  BA= .301.  Kruk and Kuip commented on how easy Longo is swinging the bat right now, letting the barrel do the work.

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .329.  Had a good TV angle on at least one of his AB's  today.  To my eye, Belt is definitely a few inches off the plate from the past few seasons and there is definitely daylight between his bottom hand and the knob of the bat.  That's what I've wanted him to do for the longest time.  We'll see if it is a longterm improvement in production.

Wilmer Flores 2B- 1 for 5, HR(8).  BA= .280.  Flores HR added an insurance run in the top of the 9'th inning.

Trevor Cahill RHP- 3.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 2.51.  Cahill said he started feeling pain in his hip in the 3'rd inning and it was noticeable in the 4'th.

Bullpen- 5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  Trevor Gott pitched the 7'th inning and Tyler Rogers converted the Save Op.

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The Win improved the Giants record to 16-19.  That is 11'th place in the NL but only 1.5 games behind the #5 Rockies. Top 8 teams get playoff berths.

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Johnny Cueto RHP tries for a series Win vs Taylor Clarke RHP this afternoon.

Game Wrap 8/28/2020: D'Backs 7 Giants 4

Manager Gabe Kapler may regret leaving Tyler Anderson in to get pummeled for 4 runs in the 5'th inning as a late rally by the Giants was too little and too late to overcome the 7-0 deficit.  Key Lines:

Evan Longoria 3B- 2 for 4, HR(4).  BA= .293.  Longo got the Giants on the board in the 6'th with a solo HR.  He is hitting .407 over his last 7 games and .339 over his last 15. 

Brandon Belt 1B- 1 for 3, 3B, BB.  BA= .316.  Belt's triple led off the 9'th inning rally. He's hitting .571 over his last 7 games and .465 over his last 15.

Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .258.  Crawford's 2-run HR to RF capped the Giants scoring and as sometimes happens with HR's that clear the bases, seemed to kill the rally.

Tyler Anderson LHP- 4.2 IP, 9 H, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB.  ERA= 4.75.  There is a time and place for getting a few more outs out of your SP and for giving him a chance to build confidence by getting out of his own jam.  This game was probably not one of those times.  Anderson had already been roughed up for 3 runs coming into the 5'th inning.  The D'Backs opened the inning with four consecutive baserunners.  That was followed by a wild pick-off throw and a Wild Pitch and a ground-rule double.  That's when Kap finally decided he'd seen enough and brought in Caleb Baragar who finally got out of the inning by striking out Carson Kelly.  Some of those hits weren't exactly smoked and BABIP luck and all, but given his previous ineffectiveness, Kap probably should have lifted Anderson several batters sooner.  No guarantee the Giants mount a comeback against a possibly different pitcher in tighter game but the offense has been coming back late all season so you have to give them that chance.

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The Loss dropped the Giants record to 15-19 and into 12'th place in the NL, but only 1.5 games out of 8'th place which is the last playoff spot.

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Trevor Cahill RHP tries to get the Giants train headed in the right direction again today facing Luke Weaver RHP.

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There was a significant trade yesterday with the Angels apparently throwing in the towel and the A's finally giving up on Franklin Barreto who was once the centerpiece of the Josh Donaldson trade.  The A's get an upgrade at 2B for the stretch run in Tommy La Stella. The Angels are hoping that regular MLB AB's will be what finally allows Barreto to reach his considerable potential.

Game Wrap 8/27/2020: Dodgers 7 Giants 0; Dodgers 2 Giants 0

The Giants lineup posted nothing but goose eggs for 14 innings as they dropped both games of doubleheader.  Key Lines:

Logan Webb RHP- 3.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 4.35.  Wheels came off with a 4-spot in the 4'th inning.

Clayton Kershaw LHP- 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 1.80.  Solid case for GOAT.  Showed he can still bring it. 

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Kevin Gausman RHP- 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.54.  Joc Pederson was Gausman's Achilles Heel with a double and HR to score 2 and drive in 1.

Dodgers Bullpen- 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K's.  Both Giants hits were off the bat of Brandon Belt.

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The dual losses dropped the Giants record to 15-18 and into 9'th place in the NL West with the top 8 teams making the playoffs.

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The Giants close out their homestand and head out to Arizona to face the D'Backs in a weekend series with Tyler Anderson LHP facing Zac Gallen LHP in game 1 this evening.

Game Wrap 8/26/2020: Black Lives Matter

The Giants, yesterday, joined the Dodgers and several other clubs in support of black teammates and opponents who felt they could not play a game that day due to yet another apparently needless and racially motivated police shooting of an unarmed black man....in the back....7 times.  The Dodgers made it clear where they stood on the issue led by Mookie Betts and Manager Dave Roberts with full support of Clayton Kershaw.  Unfortunately it's less clear if the Giants clubhouse supported the action or if their hand was forced by the Dodgers.  

It is sad when non-baseball issues disrupt a game we all love and receive joy from watching on a daily basis, but this is something that had to be done.  It is clear by now that incidents like this should not happen and are happening in greatly disproportionate numbers to black victims.  I know policing is a hard job.  It's a dangerous job.  But we repeatedly see undeniable evidence of police behavior that is unnecessarily violent and discriminatory.  It is not anti-police to believe that these incidents can and should stop happening.  It's called quality improvement and involves better education and training but also requires a change in culture and attitudes.  Ask any person responsible for QI in any industry and they will tell you changing culture and attitudes is absolutely essential and starts with accountability.  

Accountability, in this case, starts with We The People.  We must hold ourselves accountable for our reactions to these things and whether we are willing to continue to accept living with an extreme injustice.  I don't see how a black player could play under these circumstances as if this is not happening around us.  White players must support their black teammates and opponents and use their privilege as a platform to hold society and it's police forces accountable.  We as fans must support the players in their statement and demand accountability and positive change ourselves from our police departments.  We must help the police do their job better.  It starts with us telling them that we demand and expect improvement.

This has to stop!

Black Lives Matter!

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I will accept a limited number of respectful and thoughtful comments.

Game Wrap 8/25/2020: Giants 10 Dodgers 8(11 Innings)

 You could call this night the Revenge of the Core or The Core Won't Die as Evan Longoria, Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford went a combined for 11 hits in 15 AB to lead the Giants over the Dodgers in extra innings.  Key Lines:

Evan Longoria 3B- 4 for 5, BB.  BA= .292.  Longo is red hot, hitting .429 over his last 7 games of which the Giants have won all 7.

Brandon Belt 1B- 4 for 5, 2B, 2 HR(5), BB.  BA= .313.  Huge night for Belt who had his third multi-hit game in a row and had 3 XBH's out of 4 hits.  This is the Belt we all imagined when he was a breakout prospect.  We've seen flashes in the past.  Is this another flash or finally his true breakout? He's hitting .600 over his last 7 games.  I could be wrong about this, but it looks like Belt has backed off the plate by maybe an inch or two and in one close up on the TV, it looked like he was choking up maybe a half inch on the bat handle.  If so, those two changes my be just enough to keep him from getting jammed quite so much.

Donovan Solano 2B- 1 for 6, HR(2).  BA= .351.  Donnie Barrels was slumping and was 0 for 5 before he hit a walkoff HR in the 11'th inning to complete the Giants epic come-from-behind win.

Brandon Crawford SS- 3 for 5.  BA= .256.  He didn't figure in the scoring but Brandon Crawford stayed hot and is hitting .320 over his last 7 games. All told, the "Core" has a combined 32 hits and 10 walks in 83 PA during the 7 game winning streak.  Add in Pablo Sandoval who is another 6 for 22 with a BB in his last 7 games.

Johnny Cueto RHP- 4 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 5.40.  Cueto was hurt by the long ball giving up a 3-run job to, you guessed it, Max Muncy in the first inning which seemed like the end of the game before it started.  Have I ever said how much I hate Max Muncy?

Bullpen- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K's.  The bullpen did not give up a run until extra innings when the rules changed and a runner started at 2B.  Sam Coonrod , who hit 101 on the TV radar gun, and Caleb Baragar were particularly impressive in 0.2 IP each.

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The Win was the Giants 7'th in a row and left them 1 game short of .500.  If the season ended today, they would have the 8'th and last playoff spot.

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Kevin Gausman RHP tries to clinch a series win and keep the winning streak going against Clayton Kershaw LHP tonight.