The Giants beat the Padres tonight by a score of 8 - 3.
Don't let the score fool you. The Giants piled the runs on a couple of Padres' relief pitchers, had those relievers been competent, the score might have been more like 4 -3. And that means the Giants have a .250 record in their last 4 games against crappy teams. They lost 2 thoroughly winnable games to Arizona who made it clear this year and reiterated at the trading deadline that they weren't even trying to win, and then lost in traditional Giants fashion to a nobody rookie pitcher last night. They once had a shot at the wild card, now, that is a pipe dream. As, probably, is a .500 record. After their series against the Padres, they play 3 series against crappy teams; Miami, Pittsburgh and Colorado; yet 5 series against teams that are over .500 and legitimately in the playoff hunt. That would be 2 against the team that leads our division by 20 games, Boston, St. Louis, and Atlanta. Good luck with that.
Madison Bumgarner pitched. He pitched well. He threw 103 pitches in 7 full innings and allowed only 4 hits, 1 run and 2 walks. That run was a home run by Machado. Tony Watson and Tyler Rogers each allowed a run in the 8th and 9th.
Belt hit a 2 run shot in the 1st inning for a 2 - 0 lead. I heard some incredible statistic from the announcers, about the Giants record when they score first. It's something like 40 - 13. Which indicates that they don't often score first and that they seem not to do well if they don't. Belt was 3 for 5 tonight and Yaz had 2 hits, including a solo home run. Posey was 3 for 4 and Longoria had 2 hits.
Anyway, it's time to expand the rosters, if you like new faces, this is the time for you. I hope some of the guys that have done well, like Yaz (he had 18 home runs!) stick around, but I wouldn't bet on it, it's churn time and there are no sure things except for those guys with no-trade clauses. One good thing, though, is that FZ talked to NBC sports about a potential deal for Madbum. Not that there is one in the offing, but that there is mutual interest, he thinks. I hope so, from the Giants standpoint, it would be insane not to be.
Friday, August 30, 2019
Dubon Debut
SD 5 SF 3
Middle infielder Mauricio Dubon made his Giants debut last night and collected his first fielding chance and first hit. (He was 0-for-2 for Milwaukee earlier this season.) He also flashed some leather taking a hit away and turning a double play pivot. Dubon will likely get most of his work at second base but he is primarily a shortstop, having logged 4000 innings there in his minors career.
Otherwise there wasn't much to get excited about last night. Dereck Rodriguez continues to struggle and the offense continues to avoid the big, run-scoring hit.
Bumgarner tonight, 7:15 Pacific.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
Middle infielder Mauricio Dubon made his Giants debut last night and collected his first fielding chance and first hit. (He was 0-for-2 for Milwaukee earlier this season.) He also flashed some leather taking a hit away and turning a double play pivot. Dubon will likely get most of his work at second base but he is primarily a shortstop, having logged 4000 innings there in his minors career.
Otherwise there wasn't much to get excited about last night. Dereck Rodriguez continues to struggle and the offense continues to avoid the big, run-scoring hit.
Bumgarner tonight, 7:15 Pacific.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Home field disadvantage
AZ 6 SF 4
AZ 3 SF 2
The Diamondbacks take two from the Giants who can't seem to hit at Oracle Park. The team played poorly overall with some egregious baserunning in both games as well as some disappointing relief appearances. Day off tomorrow and then the Padres come to town for four. Let's hope the bats wake up real soon.
Roster moves of note: Scooter Gennet was cut loose and Mauricio Dubon was called up. They must think highly of him as they've churned through two accomplished major-leaguers to get to this point. Donovan Solano is covering the keystone well but I expect the youngster to get a long look. Trevor Gott, unfortunately, had to go on the IL with an elbow issue. IF Abiatal Avelino was sent back down and OF Joey Rickard was recalled. Right-handed funky delivery-guy Tyler Rogers was promoted to the bigs for the first time and pitched a 1-2-3 inning in his debut.
Johnny Cueto is getting close to a return. He makes another rehab start this weekend in Sacramento.
--M.C.
AZ 3 SF 2
The Diamondbacks take two from the Giants who can't seem to hit at Oracle Park. The team played poorly overall with some egregious baserunning in both games as well as some disappointing relief appearances. Day off tomorrow and then the Padres come to town for four. Let's hope the bats wake up real soon.
Roster moves of note: Scooter Gennet was cut loose and Mauricio Dubon was called up. They must think highly of him as they've churned through two accomplished major-leaguers to get to this point. Donovan Solano is covering the keystone well but I expect the youngster to get a long look. Trevor Gott, unfortunately, had to go on the IL with an elbow issue. IF Abiatal Avelino was sent back down and OF Joey Rickard was recalled. Right-handed funky delivery-guy Tyler Rogers was promoted to the bigs for the first time and pitched a 1-2-3 inning in his debut.
Johnny Cueto is getting close to a return. He makes another rehab start this weekend in Sacramento.
--M.C.
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Longo Leads Giants
SF 5 OAK 4
Evan Longoria had two hits (one a homer) and three runs batted in to lead the offense in a comeback win over the Athletics in Oakland. It was an impressive weekend for the Boys in Black as they bounced back from a tough series in Wrigley and beat a very good team to get back to a .500 record (65-65). Longo tops 1000 RBI for his career--he came in to the game today with 999 and now has 1002. His next milestone will be his 300th homer, he has 293 of those so that might be next year, but he will certainly get to 3000 total bases next month as he currently sits at 2984. He's not the star player he once was, but he's playing his best baseball since 2016, and he's the team (non-pitcher) WAR leader. He's been a big contributor to the club's turnaround and subsequent level of improved play.
Speaking of improved, the bullpen work today was exceptional. Jandel Gustave relieved a beleagured Logan Webb and got a huge strikeout. He then put two on in the next frame but Sam Coonrod bailed him out (with some superb DP work from Solano and BCraw). Then we got the three-headed beast of Moronta, Watson, and Smith to close it out. Like I said, exceptional work. And like I said earlier, an impressive weekend.
Diamondbacks in San Francisco tomorrow night at 6:45 PDT. Tyler Beede gets the start.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
Evan Longoria had two hits (one a homer) and three runs batted in to lead the offense in a comeback win over the Athletics in Oakland. It was an impressive weekend for the Boys in Black as they bounced back from a tough series in Wrigley and beat a very good team to get back to a .500 record (65-65). Longo tops 1000 RBI for his career--he came in to the game today with 999 and now has 1002. His next milestone will be his 300th homer, he has 293 of those so that might be next year, but he will certainly get to 3000 total bases next month as he currently sits at 2984. He's not the star player he once was, but he's playing his best baseball since 2016, and he's the team (non-pitcher) WAR leader. He's been a big contributor to the club's turnaround and subsequent level of improved play.
Speaking of improved, the bullpen work today was exceptional. Jandel Gustave relieved a beleagured Logan Webb and got a huge strikeout. He then put two on in the next frame but Sam Coonrod bailed him out (with some superb DP work from Solano and BCraw). Then we got the three-headed beast of Moronta, Watson, and Smith to close it out. Like I said, exceptional work. And like I said earlier, an impressive weekend.
Diamondbacks in San Francisco tomorrow night at 6:45 PDT. Tyler Beede gets the start.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
Saturday, August 24, 2019
All Blacks Win
Of all the stupid ideas to come out of the commissioners office of late, this has to rank right up there among the dumbest. To begin with, the "players' nicknames weekend" is foolish enough, half the players go by their regular names, so they have to make up nicknames or dredge up some from high school. The Giants shirts didn't look too bad, but the pants looked like they were wearing black jeans if they were over the socks, and pajamas if they were tucked in. But that was a far sight better than the white uniforms for the A's. They looked like guys who worked in a bakery, but less cool, if their pants were out and like they were at ballet practice with hats if they were tucked in. Plus, neither I nor the announcers could tell who the fuck they were.
Madison Bumgarner was on the hill, but he did not give the Giants a stop job in any sense of the word. He gave the Giants 5 innings, threw 97 pitches, gave up 4 hits and 2 runs, walked 1 and struck out 5. The Giants trotted out nearly their entire relief staff, Gott, Gustave (who gave up 2 runs), Abad, Coonrod, Anderson (who gave up 1), Moronta and Smith. At the end of nearly 4 hours, though, the Giants came out on top, 10 - 5.
That was mainly due their best offensive inning of 2019, an 8-run 8th. The Giants entered the 8th trailing 4 - 2. Stephen Vogt, DHing, led off with a line out, but would hit a 3-run home run with 2 outs in the same inning to score the Giant's final 3 runs of the game. RBI's also that inning for Longoria, Pillar and Crawford, and Dickerson (3 hits tonight) scored on a wild pitch. Sam Coonrod got 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th, he got the win. The loser was once-Giant bullpen stalwart, Yusmiero Petit.
That nudges the Giants back in front of the dbacks, who lost to the Brewers, who in turn are in front of the Giants for a wild card position. At least the Giants proved that their offense didn't die in Chicago. Second start for Logan Webb tomorrow.
Madison Bumgarner was on the hill, but he did not give the Giants a stop job in any sense of the word. He gave the Giants 5 innings, threw 97 pitches, gave up 4 hits and 2 runs, walked 1 and struck out 5. The Giants trotted out nearly their entire relief staff, Gott, Gustave (who gave up 2 runs), Abad, Coonrod, Anderson (who gave up 1), Moronta and Smith. At the end of nearly 4 hours, though, the Giants came out on top, 10 - 5.
That was mainly due their best offensive inning of 2019, an 8-run 8th. The Giants entered the 8th trailing 4 - 2. Stephen Vogt, DHing, led off with a line out, but would hit a 3-run home run with 2 outs in the same inning to score the Giant's final 3 runs of the game. RBI's also that inning for Longoria, Pillar and Crawford, and Dickerson (3 hits tonight) scored on a wild pitch. Sam Coonrod got 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th, he got the win. The loser was once-Giant bullpen stalwart, Yusmiero Petit.
That nudges the Giants back in front of the dbacks, who lost to the Brewers, who in turn are in front of the Giants for a wild card position. At least the Giants proved that their offense didn't die in Chicago. Second start for Logan Webb tomorrow.
Friday, August 23, 2019
Wind-swept
CHC 1 SF 0
The Giants finally got the well-pitched game they needed but it was all for naught as they got shut out for the eleventh time this season. Jeff Samardzija threw seven innings and allowed only two hits but one of those was a two-out RBI and that was the ballgame. The Giants got swept right out of the Windy City and come home to play the Athletics in Oakland tomorrow and Sunday. This is their first and only Friday off-day.
FanGraphs rates Saturday's starter, Madison Bumgarner at 3.0 WAR. (There are thirty pitchers above him. Drop down twenty-five spots and there's Shark's 1.6 WAR. Max Scherzer is number one with 5.6 WAR.) Bumgarner was worth a total of 3.0 WAR for both 2017 and 2018 (240-2/3 IP, 38 starts). We can see that he is healthy and pitching better, and the numbers aren't lying either, and that's encouraging going forward. I'm assuming that holding on to him means they are going to try to sign him to a multi-year deal. If you want some comps to grasp fWAR for a pitcher, try Zack Wheeler (3.5), Clayton Kershaw (3.4), Marcus Stroman (3.1), Kyle Hendricks (3.0), Jon Gray (3.0), Aaron Nola (2.7), Masahiro Tanaka (2.6), and Tanner Roark (2.5).
The Giants need to get back on the beam and start winning some ballgames!
--M.C.
The Giants finally got the well-pitched game they needed but it was all for naught as they got shut out for the eleventh time this season. Jeff Samardzija threw seven innings and allowed only two hits but one of those was a two-out RBI and that was the ballgame. The Giants got swept right out of the Windy City and come home to play the Athletics in Oakland tomorrow and Sunday. This is their first and only Friday off-day.
FanGraphs rates Saturday's starter, Madison Bumgarner at 3.0 WAR. (There are thirty pitchers above him. Drop down twenty-five spots and there's Shark's 1.6 WAR. Max Scherzer is number one with 5.6 WAR.) Bumgarner was worth a total of 3.0 WAR for both 2017 and 2018 (240-2/3 IP, 38 starts). We can see that he is healthy and pitching better, and the numbers aren't lying either, and that's encouraging going forward. I'm assuming that holding on to him means they are going to try to sign him to a multi-year deal. If you want some comps to grasp fWAR for a pitcher, try Zack Wheeler (3.5), Clayton Kershaw (3.4), Marcus Stroman (3.1), Kyle Hendricks (3.0), Jon Gray (3.0), Aaron Nola (2.7), Masahiro Tanaka (2.6), and Tanner Roark (2.5).
The Giants need to get back on the beam and start winning some ballgames!
--M.C.
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
7th inning: 8-10
CHC 5 SF 3
The Giants got beat tonight in Chicago and that dropped their record back to .500 at 63-63. You can see that we've reached Game 126 or the end of the 7th seasonal inning. Here's the story so far:
1st inning: 8-10
2nd inning: 8-10
3rd inning: 5-13
4th inning: 10-8
5th inning: 11-7
6th inning: 13-5
7th inning: 8-10
Reversion to form? An 8-10 record is 2019's most popular choice for an 18-game seasonal inning. Tonight young Tyler Beede continued to struggle but the Giants tied it up against Cole Hamels and it was a close game, mostly. The 'pen couldn't keep the tie and the lineup had nothing over the last five frames. Mike Yastrzemski missed a two-run homer by a few feet in the 7th, a favorable gust might have given us a different outcome. Hamels, as I'm sure you recall, faced Matt Cain in Game 3 of the 2010 NLCS when he was with Philadelphia. He's 35 and still effective (3.72 FIP, 122 ERA+).
The slash line for Major League Baseball is .254/.324/.437 for a .761 OPS.
The Giants run out a .242/.307/.405 line for a .712 OPS. That puts them 26th out of the 30 teams, with the White Sox, Royals, Tigers, and Marlins below them.
On the pitching side the Giants are 12th-best overall with a 4.41 ERA. FanGraphs gives the Giants a 4.55 FIP, good for 15th, the middle of the pack. If you look at OPS-against their .752 puts them 13th-best.
It's been a tough August for the orange-and-black, but it seems this team is playing closer to its true talent level. I figure, overall, they are a +/-.500 club and by golly that's right where they are. I'd sure like to see 10-8 become the new popular 18-game seasonal inning record. I'm trying not to jinx it but I'd really like to see them win 19 more games and finish with 82 wins.
Dereck Rodriguez goes tomorrow at 5:05 p.m. PDT.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
The Giants got beat tonight in Chicago and that dropped their record back to .500 at 63-63. You can see that we've reached Game 126 or the end of the 7th seasonal inning. Here's the story so far:
1st inning: 8-10
2nd inning: 8-10
3rd inning: 5-13
4th inning: 10-8
5th inning: 11-7
6th inning: 13-5
7th inning: 8-10
Reversion to form? An 8-10 record is 2019's most popular choice for an 18-game seasonal inning. Tonight young Tyler Beede continued to struggle but the Giants tied it up against Cole Hamels and it was a close game, mostly. The 'pen couldn't keep the tie and the lineup had nothing over the last five frames. Mike Yastrzemski missed a two-run homer by a few feet in the 7th, a favorable gust might have given us a different outcome. Hamels, as I'm sure you recall, faced Matt Cain in Game 3 of the 2010 NLCS when he was with Philadelphia. He's 35 and still effective (3.72 FIP, 122 ERA+).
The slash line for Major League Baseball is .254/.324/.437 for a .761 OPS.
The Giants run out a .242/.307/.405 line for a .712 OPS. That puts them 26th out of the 30 teams, with the White Sox, Royals, Tigers, and Marlins below them.
On the pitching side the Giants are 12th-best overall with a 4.41 ERA. FanGraphs gives the Giants a 4.55 FIP, good for 15th, the middle of the pack. If you look at OPS-against their .752 puts them 13th-best.
It's been a tough August for the orange-and-black, but it seems this team is playing closer to its true talent level. I figure, overall, they are a +/-.500 club and by golly that's right where they are. I'd sure like to see 10-8 become the new popular 18-game seasonal inning record. I'm trying not to jinx it but I'd really like to see them win 19 more games and finish with 82 wins.
Dereck Rodriguez goes tomorrow at 5:05 p.m. PDT.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
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