The Blue Jays clobbered Justin Verlander on Friday, no surprise there, but they also clobbered the team's two best starting pitchers (Logan Webb and Robbie Ray) over the weekend. And they shut down the Giants offense, and when they didn't, they just scored more runs. It was a mismatch. Toronto looks like a real contender.
Coming out of the Break the Giants were looking for something better than a pratfall. The trade deadline is at the end of the month and I have been a "buyer" all season long but I'm questioning that. Not that I want the team to be "sellers." Not by any means. But if the team is still on the margins of the race I'm not sure that's enough reason to do more on the transaction side. The big move—Devers—hasn't moved the needle on the team's chances.
And the team's needs are too many. They have to beef up the bullpen and they probably need another starter. Perhaps it's best to look within and promote some deserving youngsters. And any additions to the lineup will have to come the same way, or at least nothing bigger than a waiver wire pickup. This team, short of a ten-game winning streak, isn't going anywhere. A playoff appearance would be great, of course, but they are going to need a change of luck and start seeing better outcomes real soon.
It's on to Atlanta. Hayden Birdsong gets the start, 4:15 Pacific.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
Their bullpen seems to be as good as any other teams bullpen. But they definitely need a starter, or perhaps 2. The offense still sux, and the approach it seems to me is still the big problem. The giants are team lacking real power hitters yet they constantly swing for the fences, while playing in a pitchers park. We saw what putting the ball in play and not always swinging for the fences with the idea of making contact can do for a team. Once again in this game, we had a lead off double by Ramos and then Devers and Adames K'd. How often does this happen? It seems in situations like that the opposition goes into strikeout mode and it works. Over and over again. This giants team certainly strikes out a lot, and it seems the hitting philosophy of the organization has a lot to do with the results. The first few weeks of the season, the giants seemed to advance runners, play good defense and do the little things it needed to do to win. All that seems gone. The baseball genius in Bob Melvin needs to figure things out fast. So far, and of course this is a long term deal, Buster Posey's trade seems like a seasonal bust. I hope I am completely wrong on that, and Devers drives the team to the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteOne other comment of interest. Today Ramos seemed to misjudge a flyball that had much more back spin than he thought. It happens but it was a ball he should have played better. Ray was charged with the earned runs and the batter given a double. In the Dodger game, Pages made a similar bad play vs Milwaukee and initially it cost Kershaw 2 earned runs, a tied game and the batter was given a double with the 2 RBI. Later in the game the official scorer reversed his decision, and if it still stands Pages was given an error and the runs became unearned for Kershaw. Seems to me the luck of the draw of whom the official scorekeeper makes a difference. It can make a difference in one's stats, it could effect one's salary drive, and for all those fans who play fantasy baseball, it could effect the outcome in some leagues. It seemed the scorekeeper was willing to give the young outfielder an error in order to pad Kershaw's stats. Later in that game Pages made a rather spectacular catch. Which was more aligned with what he did in the Giants-Dodger series as he took away a few extra-base hits from Giants players.
ReplyDeleteGiants are fairly average when it comes to striking out. The league average is 820, SF is at 853 (12th-most). For K-rate (K%) they are 9th-highest at 22.9, right between Detroit and Seattle.
ReplyDeleteI cannot understand why they can't drive in runners! Their SLG% is the 27th lowest, only the White Sox and Pirates are worse. They are also the 26th lowest in batting average. So, they don't hit well and they don't hit for power. Maybe that's why they can't score. (OBP is 22nd lowest, so they don't put guys on, either.)
I think they should get rid of "earned" runs and just count ALL runs the same. Pitchers should be judged on RA/9, K/9, BB/9, HR%., etc. Everyone gives up ugly runs. It all evens out over the long season.