Logan Webb gave up two runs in the 6th on a double from Alex Bregman and a homer by Yordan Alvarez. It was only the fourth home run allowed by Webb in 15 starts (92-1/3 IP). That third-time-through-the-order-penalty tightened up a 5-1 game. Webb finished the inning but was done for the day. It was his eleventh quality start. Fortunately the Giants bullpen was up to the task and shut down the Astros the rest of the way. Ryan Walker and Tyler Rogers put up zeroes in the 7th and 8th and Camilo Doval (shocker!) had an uneventful 9th for the save.
Austin Slater, in the leadoff spot against lefty Framber Valdez, was the hitting star. He was 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and a run scored. Brett Wisely chipped in two more hits and is now sporting a .317 batting average. Giants #2-3-4 hitters (Ramos/Flores/Chapman) all contributed an RBI. Even Jorge Soler had fun: two hits, two walks, and a run scored. Webb wasn't at his best today but he certainly bested Valdez who was out after four frames and tagged for eight hits and all five runs.
There are only five teams in the NL with a winning record: Phillies, Dodgers, Brewers, Braves, and Padres. The Giants 34-35 record puts them at sixth-best. Tomorrow is an off-day and then the Angels come to town for a three-game set. Speaking of the LAnaheimers, there are only six teams in the AL with a winning record and they aren't one of them. Friday night's game is at 7:15 and the weekend games are both at 1:05 PT.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
5 comments:
Solano had two homers today for the Pads, Pillar is having his best season at 35, Dubon not to shabby, DeJong has 13 home runs. these are just a few of the giants rejects that are having good seasons. Still not sure why not one team has gone after Brandon Belt. When the move Flores far off the line, and he fields a grounder, Webb has to know the defense and cover first. Earlier this season he did the same thing, and it turned out that without that run, the giants would have won the game, it came back to haunt them. This time it did not. I thought Webb had good stuff, and I wondered why he was not let out to start the 7th inning. The homerun off of Webb, I thought, was a good piece of hitting. Earlier in the game he drove a high pitch to the wall, this time he took a chance up below the strike zone, deep. Some piece of hitting. Thought Webb made a good pitch. Some hitters just see some pitchers exceptionally well. As you said the bullpen held the game together and got the giants the series.
Belt made $9.3M last year.
Pillar is making $1.0M. Solano signed a minors deal after making $2M last year. DeJong is getting $1.75M (after the Cardinals bought out his $2M option). Dubon isn't even arb-eligible until next year, he's making $3.5M
I think I see why Belt is unemployed. The salary structure of the game does not favor veteran free agents.
Dubon is 29 and likely hitting his peak as a player. But his chance to make big bucks won't happen until 2027 when he's a free agent. The Giants let Pillar go after his age 30 season in which he earned $5.8M, his highest-ever salary. They knew he'd cost "too much" in arbitration and they had low-cost players like Dubon and Duggar who also had minor league options left.
If you are a 30+ player who still has skills you can get a job in MLB but you have to work for a lot less than you got when you were at your physical peak. And of course you can be replaced at any time by a pre-arb player who is paid the MLB minimum!
It's not like these guys are crying poor-mouth, but the system does tend to wash out older players. Some of them are willing to bounce around and even go the the minors now and again, some of them aren't. I suspect Belt will be glad no one came calling and start enjoying his retirement.
DSL giants black is on fire. Notice Guzman, 18 years old, has to be turning heads.
Non sequitor: is heliot Ramos officially a rookie?
Baseball-Reference says he lost his rookie status last year.
MLB says you are no longer a rookie after 130 AB, 50 IP, or 45 total days on an active roster. I assume Heliot exceeded the latter category. He got in to 9 games in 2022 (20 AB) and 34 games (56 AB) in 2023 but he was obviously on the roster for a few games he didn't play and that pushed him over the limit.
Sure is nice to see him hitting. He only had 82 MLB PA coming in to this season. He has 21 hits this month so far!
Post a Comment