Game Wrap 4/13/2022: Giants 2 Padres 1

 Antoan Richardson and Mike Schildt met before the game, worked out their differences and came to an understanding.  Gabe Kapler and the Giants remained unapologetic for running up the score in last night's game.  The Giants won a pitcher's duel.

Heliot Ramos RF/LF- 0 for 2, BB.  BA= .333.  Ramos drew a walk in the second inning and scored the Giants first run on Luke Williams 2-run double.  He then got sent down to Sacramento after the game as the Giants do not expect to face many LHP's on the upcoming road trip.  Williams played 3B and made a key play to limit the damage in the first inning by throwing a strike to home plate to nail the runner trying to score on a ground out.  I'm thinking he's probably the Giants best option for the position until Longo is healed and ready to go.

Logan Webb RHP- 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 10/3.  ERA= 1.29.  Webb got touched for a run in the first inning but settled down to dominate through 8 innings, the longest start of his career.  It was also the longest Giants start of the season so far by a full 3 innings and it was the longest start of the season so far in MLB.

Camilo Doval RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K.  ERA= 6.23.  Doval got the Save Opp and turned it into torture loading the bases on a single, walk and HBP before ending it on a K of Matt Beaty.

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The Giants hit the road to Cleveland to take on the Guardians starting Friday with Carlos Rodon LHP making his second start of the season facing Zach Plesac RHP.

Down on the Farm: 4/12/2022

 AAA:  Reno Aces pounded the Sacramento River Cats 11-4:

David Villar 1B- 2 for 3, HR(3), BB.  BA= .263.  

Austin Dean RF- 2 for 4, 2 2B.  BA= .190.

Villar continues to show power that should eventually get him a promotion to the MLB level of play.

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AA:  Altoona Curve edged out the Richmond Flying Squirrels 3-2:

Michael Gigliotti CF- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .538.

Brett Auerbach C- 2 for 4, BB, SB(1).  BA= .333.

Frankie Tostado DH- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .308.

Auerbach back at catcher for this game. Continues to shine with the bat and shows some speed on the basepaths.

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A+:  Eugene Emeralds vs Spokane Indians Postponed due to weather.

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A:  San Jose Giants beat the Fresno Grizzlies 5-1:

Aeverson Arteaga DH- 1 for 2, BB, SB(1).  BA= .154.

Adrian Sugasty C- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .273.

Dilan Rosario 2B- 2 for 3, BB, SB(1).  BA= .300.

Matt Mikulski LHP- 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 2.25.

Mat Olson RHP- 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 0.00

Again note the position side of the SJ roster is quite young while the pitching side is mostly made up of college draftees who are advanced for the level.

Game Wrap 4/12/2022: Giants 13 Padres 2

 Giants hitters broke out of their collective slump with a 9-run explosion against Yu Darvish RHP  in the first two innings and never looked back.  

Mike Yastrzemski RF- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .200.  YtY looked lost in yesterday's game.  Hopefully a multi-hit game here will get him going.

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 4, HR(2), BB.  BA= .438.  Belt was one hitter who was not in a slump.  All I can say is please stay healthy, Captain!

Joc Pederson LF- 2 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .308.  The HR was off Wil Myers who came in for mop-up time to save the Padres bullpen so it almost doesn't count.

Wilmer Flores 3B/1B- 3 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .267.  Flores longball also came against Myers but he had two prior hits.

Thairo Estrada 2B- 2 for 5, 2B, SB(1).  BA= .278.  Estrada might be winning himself a longterm starting job.

Joey Bart C- 2 for 4.  BA= .364.  This Joey Bart is not the same cat we saw in 2020.  Stay hot!

Alex Cobb RHP- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 10 K's.  ERA= 3.60.  Another double-digit strikeout game from a new pitcher.  22 K's in 10 IP between Cobb and Rodon.  And Cobb is officially the #5 starter.

Tyler Beede RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.  It was a struggle but Beede got through 2 innings without allowing a run.  His pitches are consistently sailing armside.  DrB's diagnosis is either his right shoulder is sagging and he's pushing the ball or his left shoulder is opening up too soon.  Encouraging that he seemed to be able to correct it in the middle of both innings.  When he commands the FB, it's a good one and he threw a beautiful changeup to strike out Trent Grisham.  

Yunior Marte RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 0.00.  My new favorite baseball first name is Yunior.  That's all.

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Logan Webb RHP tries for a series win tomorrow afternoon with Sean Manaea LHP taking the mound for the Padres which means Heliot Ramos OF will be in the lineup.

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PS1:  

Alyssa Nakken Coach- Meant to put this in the main text above but it was getting past my bedtime and I forgot.  1B coach Antoan Richardson was ejected from the game in the top of the third inning(more on that in a minute).   He was replaced by Alyssa Nakken which made her the first woman to base coach in the history of MLB, a milestone to be sure.  To his credit, Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer recognized the importance of the moment.  He stepped over, shook her hand and congratulated her.  Giants TV announcers Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow also made note of the achievement.  She was also congratulated by Giants players and coaches when she came to the dugout at the end of the inning.  

PS2: 

Alyssa Nakken's achievement took an ugly turn after the game and there are multiple layers to this story.  The triggering incident was Steven Duggar stealing 2B after his single in the bottom of the second inning drove in the Giants 10'th run of the game.  This understandably did not go over well with the Padres.  Mauricio Dubon later bunted for a base hit in the 6'th inning but that obviously had nothing to do with Richardson's ejection in the third inning.  Manager Gabe Kapler took responsibility for those two decisions explaining the goal was to force the Padres to burn more pitchers in the game which might help the Giants win game 3 of the series.  AJ Cassavell writing for sfgiants.com noted the Padres used this same argument defending Fernando Tatis hitting a grand slam HR in a blowout game last year.

The reason for the ejection was not clear to anyone.  Kruk and Kuip, as well as multiple Twitter posts speculated it may have been about Richardson breaking a new MLB rule prohibiting coaches from providing players with written information after the game starts.  A verbal altercation with Padres 3B coach Mike Schildt was also mentioned as a possible reason but that seemed like a relatively minor incident which would generally not draw an ejection.  The following description of subsequent events is taken mostly from Alex Pavlovic's article on NBC Sports Bay Area.

After the game and after the clubhouse closed to reporters, Richardson decided he needed to address the situation and called the reporters back.  What he said will have repurcussions not likely to be resolved quickly no matter the final determination.  He stated the incident started when Schildt started staring into the Giants dugout.  Richardson asked Schildt, "can I help you?  Are you looking for someone?"  Schildt responded that he was looking for Alex Wood LHP.  Manager Gabe Kapler came over to see what what was going on.  Schildt screamed "you need to control that M*****F*****".  Richardson then stated he felt Schildt's words were directed at Gabe Kapler and were in reference to him, Richardson.  Richardson went up to the top step and said "excuse me?"  At that point, 3B umpire and crew chief, Greg Gibson, immediately ejected him.

Richardson stated that he felt Schilt was referring to him with the expletive which felt to him like it had undertones of racism, especially the part about Kapler needing to "control" him.  Richardson also stated that his ejection by umpire Greg Gibson reinforced an idea that it was OK for Schilt to make that kind of comment and blaming Richardson for the incident also had an undertone of racism.

Wow!  There are a lot of people who have a whole lot of explaining to do come dawn with newspapers being read and sports talk shows in high gear.  It is important to realize we have only heard Antoan Richardson's side of the story at this point with Gabe Kapler backing up his version.  Schildt and Gibson are likely to be forced to make statements explaining themselves.  MLB is likely to be forced into a formal investigation.  It appears there may be alternative explanations available to Mike Schildt.  Perhaps his expletive was referring to Alex Wood, the player he initially stated he was looking for?  What seems more troubling is Gibson's decision to eject Richardson and not Schildt, although Gibson may say he did not hear what was said and interpreted Richardson moving to the top step of the dugout to be an aggressive act, but that would still make it an extremely quick ejection.  An interesting backstory is the fact that Mike Schildt was abruptly fired from his job as Manager of the St Louis Cardinals midseason last year in a perplexing move that has never been fully explained.  MLB may want to ask some questions about that too.

Stay tuned.  It is a near certainty we have not heard the last of this story!

Game Wrap 4/11/2022: Padres 4 Giants 2

The Giants let numerous scoring opportunities slip away on a night when several hard hit balls were caught on or in front of the warning track.  

Brandon Belt 1B- 3 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .417. Belt reached base 4 times with 0.  He also made a nifty play on a ball hit down the line with perfect timing on his throw to Camilo Doval RHP covering 1B.

Darin Ruf DH- 1 for 5.  BA= .250.  I am sure someone is going to comment about "situational hitting." Before you do, please define "situational hitting."  Ruf is hitting cleanup.  He comes up with runners on base and crushes a ball that is caught on the warning track at the apex of the LF and CF fence, apparently knocked down by the wind and cold.  He did what he was supposed to do in that situation.  The rest was the BABIP gods and the weather.

Joey Bart C- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .286.  Bart did exactly what his critics wanted him to do too.  He did not swing at pitches he couldn't hit and smoked one he could.  The double advanced a runner to 3B who scored on a SF(I believe that would also qualify as "situational hitting.").  Bart now has 4 BB's out of 11 PA's which is one more BB than he had in 111 PA's his last MLB gig in 2020.

Overall, the Giants had 14 baserunners with just 2 crossing home plate.  As in the first series, they had multiple balls hit over 100 MPH that went for outs.  They may need to make some launch angle adjustments but mostly they just need to keep doing what they are doing and wait for the BABIP luck to turn.

Alex Wood LHP- 4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 4.15.  Wood's start was similar to DeSclafani's on Sunday.  It looked like he had good stuff.  The K/BB supports that.  Except for Nola's HR, he did a good job of pitching out of bad BABIP luck.

Tyler Rogers RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 3.38.  Rogers induces more swinging bunts that go for hits than any pitcher I remember.  Very weird situation where his biggest problem is giving up too soft contact.

Taylor Rogers LHP(Padres)- Tyler's twin bro just came over in a trade with the Twins.  He is not a submariner but has an unorthodox delivery of his own from the south side with a quick little slider that was death to Giants RH hitters.  It was in the strike zone, so they had to swing at it, but it made a late quick dive down to the low-inside corner under their bats.  No chance!  Maybe they'll figure out a plan after they've faced him?  

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Alex Cobb RHP finally makes his Giants debut tonight facing Yu Darvish RHP, who we all know runs hot and cold.  The trick on Darvish is to take him deep early.  Whatever the pitch was that gave up the HR, he won't throw it again in the game.

Down on the Farm: What We Learned From Week One

Week one was also a short week for most of the minor league levels with AAA being the only level to get in a full week's worth of games.  Here a few takeaways from the first week and weekend:

1.  The Giants can expect to get help when needed from the AAA Sacramento River Cats.  Heliot Ramos OF already got the call up and already contributed to a Win.  David Villar 3B's HR power that emerged last year in AA seems to be carrying over to AAA.  Sean Hjelle RHP had a nice start in a tough pitching environment and multiple relievers look ready to step up if the need arises.

2.  Brett Auerbach C/UT might be the best Giant utility player prospect in their history.  Auerbach had a great spring with the MLB club while playing multiple position including catcher.  He's already played at least 3 positions for the AA Richmond Flying Squirrels while OPS'ing .875, albeit in a tiny sample size.  Utility players who can play catcher are incredibly valuable.

3.  Jake Dahlberg LHP might be another significant reclamation project for the Giants development team.  Dahlberg was picked up in the middle of last year.  Despite a 5.53 ERA, he struck out 71 batters and walked just 9 in 55.1 IP.  In his first start for AA Richmond this year he struck out 8 and walked 1 in 4.1 IP.  Tuck that name away for future reference.

4. Kyle Harrison LHP might be on the fast track to the major leagues.  We kind of already knew this too.  After a sensational low A season last year in San Jose, Harrison's first start for A+ Eugene this year was every bit as good:  4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K's.  

5.  College pitching draftees are dominating the low A Cal League.  The hitters on the San Jose roster are very young and and it shows in their struggles to hit so far, but the pitching is dominated by college draftees from 2021 who are feasting on very conservative placements.  First round pick Will Bednar RHP had some control/command issues in his first start but Mason Black RHP(rd 3), Seth Lonsway LHP(rd 6), Landen Roupp RHP(rd 12) and Nick Sinacola RHP(Rd 7) combined for 22 K's against just 3 BB's in 14 IP over the opening weekend. Expect fairly early promotions for some of these guys.

What We Learned From Week One

 I have a little more time these days so I'm going to try some new things on the blog.  Can't promise I'll stick with it all season but I'm going to try to list some take-home points for both the MLB and Down on the Farm every Monday.  This was a short week but I think some things of note happened.  What We Learned From Week One:

1.  The pitching looks good.  The 3 starting pitchers allowed just 4 runs in 14.2 IP for an ERA of  2.45.  Carlos Rodon LHP, in particular was totally dominant with 12 K's in 5 IP,  Overall the pitching staff allowed 9 runs in 28 IP for an ERA of 2.89.  They still have the back end of the starting rotation coming up but Alex Wood LHP and Alex Cobb RHP aren't expected to be a big dropoff.

2.  The bullpen is still unsettled.  Although the bullpen made a nice recovery on Sunday to there were no clear roles.  Kap has clearly not settled on a Closer yet and he may not going forward.  I would think both the pitchers and fans would like some idea of what situations may call for what pitchers though.

3.  The kids are alright.  Joey Bart C hit a mammoth HR on Opening Day.  It wasn't his first MLB game but it's definitely a new start for him.  He also had a solid PA to draw a walk in game 2.  Heliot Ramos OF got the surprise early callup and drilled to hits, both with exit velocities over 100 MPH.  There were also key hits from Thairo Estrada 2B/UT and Mauricio Dubon UT.

4.  Duane Kuiper deserves to win the Ford Frick Award and is a Hall of Fame level broadcaster.  Of course we already knew that so how could we learn it this week?  I've heard a lot of great calls by Kuip over the years but Friday's call of the walkoff winning run might be his best....ever!  It's already a classic:  "Down the left field line!.....Ruf is on the move!....Ruf is on the move!...they're waving him home!....Ruf is on the move!......and this game is OVER!  Giants fans are blessed to have great radio and TV announcers over the years starting with Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons then Al Michaels.  IMO, the current team from top to bottom is THE BEST and it's time for Duane Kuiper(and Krukow too) to get his due recognition.

5.  The Giants marketing department is shameless.  We already knew that too, but they literally became a parody of themselves by figuring out how to both monetize Brandon Belt's "Captain" schtick but run it into the ground at the same time.  The boat entrance on Opening Day was so over-the-top it would have been annoying and divisive on any other team but when it's the Giants and Belt it somehow works.  The very next day is a Captain's Hat give-away. I am sure they are flying off the shelves in the dugout store as I write this.

Down on the Farm: 4/10/2022

 AAA:  Sugar Land Space Cowboys pounded the Sacramento River Cats 8-1:

Yunior Marte RHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 3/0.  ERA= 0.00.

Not much else to discuss in this one.

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AA:  Bowie Baysox outscored the Richmond Flying Squirrels 11-6:

Brett Auerbach 2B- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .286.

Will Wilson SS- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .417.

Sean Roby 3B- 1 for 3, HR(1), BB.  BA= .231.

Michael Gigliotti CF- 1 for 4, SB(3).  BA= .625.

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A+:  Eugene Emeralds vs Everett Aquasox suspended in the bottom of 4'th inning with game tied 1-1:

Nick Swiney LHP- 3.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 2.70

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A:  San Jose Giants topped the Modesto Nuts 6-5 in 10 innings:

Grant McCray DH- 1 for 3, 3B, 2 BB.  BA= .143.

Aeverson Arteaga SS- 1 for 4, HR(1), BB.  BA= .091.

Victor Bericoto RF/1B- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .273.

Rayner Santana C- 1 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .200.

Mason Black RHP- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 Ks'.  ERA= 0.00.

Landon Roupp RHP- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Tyler Myrick RHP- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

Don't sleep on Rayner Santana as a prospect.  Huge kid listed at 6'2", 250 lbs.  OPS'd .992 in DSL in 2019.  Less successful in stateside debut in the AZ complex league last summer.  Bericoto hit .337 in the DSL in 2019 and .333 in just 18 AB in Arizona last year.  He's an interesting bat who hasn't quite found a position to play yet.  We saw some exciting reports on 2021 third round draft pick Mason Black in spring training.  He reportedly was sitting in the upper 90's with the FB today.  Gotta remember SJ is a very conservative placement for most of these college draft picks from last year.