After a lengthy and confusing delay today's game was postponed and was rescheduled for July 24th. The Giants go on the road after the ASB for ten games in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Washington, D.C. They'll use the scheduled off-day (Monday 7/24) to go back to Detroit for the make-up game before coming home.
It's been an ugly week. Even with Logan Webb scheduled to start I was not upset when this game was called. The Giants need a break. They've looked bad in their last three outings. They were thumped by the Dodgers on Wednesday even after taking an early lead against Clayton Kershaw. They traveled to Detroit on Thursday and were stymied by the Tigers in extras on Friday night even after a spirited comeback. They blew a big lead yesterday and lost again in extra innings. It's been grim.
The bullpen is an obvious weakness right now. Camilo Doval has been erratic and John Brebbia has hit some bumps after a strong start. Taylor Rogers is lost. His brother Tyler, along with Scott Alexander, have been late-game stalwarts (13 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 W, 10 K). Jakob Junis has been solid but Ross Stripling has allowed six homers in his three appearances (10 IP, 1 GS). Sean Hjelle has the strikeout stuff going but has allowed nine runs in 7-2/3 IP. I can't fault Kapler's game management. He has put the right people in the right places but the players have not executed.
Starter Anthony DeSclafani looks like his 2021 self (19 IP, 3 GS, 3 R, 0 W, 16 K) and that's good news. Webb has not been himself and Alex Cobb has been up and down, as has Sean Manaea. Alex Wood looks OK in a small sample (2 GS, 7-2/3 IP) but needs to be stretched out. FanGraphs says that Giants pitchers are worth 0.9 WAR which is good for 20th in MLB. Their ERA (4.50) and FIP (4.51) are the same but their xFIP (3.84) suggests they've pitched a wee bit better than the results. Certainly the poor fielding in these last few games is a part of that. MLB average right now is 4.73 runs allowed per game and the Giants staff is at 5.36 RA/G.
The hitters rate 2.7 WAR for 6th-best. They are scoring 4.93 runs per game. We've seen some really good stuff from Thairo Estrada (.365/.411/.615 with a team-leading 19 hits) and J.D. Davis (.341/.391/.659 and a team-leading 4 HR and 13 RBI). It's a capable offense but some key weapons are on the shelf (Joc Pederson, Austin Slater, Mitch Haniger) and some others (Mike Yastrzemski, Michael Conforto, David Villar) have cooled off after promising starts. Catching remains a problem especially since Roberto Pérez is out for the season. I wonder if we will see Gary Sánchez soon. Brandon Crawford is hitting under .200 and already has four errors.
It's only 14 games of course, so 5-9 is not the end of the world. (The 2022 Giants were 9-5 after their first fourteen.) But it has been frustrating so far. There is enough talent on this club to be competitive but they have yet to play with any identity or consistency. The Giants go to Miami for three against the Marlins and then come home for the Mets and Cardinals.
The best news this week was Logan Webb's extension, a 5-year, $90M deal. That buys out his two remaining arb-years (2024-25) and his first three free agent years (2026-28). Good move!
Monday's game is at 3:40 PT. Webb is listed as the starter.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
5 comments:
The fielding has been terrible, and it had not been J.D. Davis that people thought would be a problem, nor does it seem to be Flores so far. The pen and the fielding has been terrible. Also the strikeouts, especially in run scoring opportunities. They are striking out at an unsustainable rate if they are going to win games. As many long time fans know, games are often lost in the bullpen.
Webb is striking people out and keeping down his walks but the long ball has really bit him in the early going. Last night it was Jorge Soler. He's allowed homers to Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Gleyber Torres, and Aaron Judge. He only gave up 11 HR last year and 9 the year before.
The starters have only given us an average of 4.8 innings per game. That’s a lot for a bullpen to pick up, which they have not done particularly well.
Make that 4.6+ innings per start.
I figured the rotation/starters would be a strength of the team but . . .
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