Extra! Extra! Giants win! Giants win!

SF 2  CHC 1 (10)

The Giants spoiled NBC's Wrigley love-fest with a surprising win to take the series from the Cubs. The visitors scored a run in the 1st and another in the 10th and that was just enough. A crazy double play bailed out Erik Miller in the 8th. Keaton Winn gave us indigestion in the 9th but held the line. With a 2-1 lead to protect TonyV went with FNG Dylan Smith who calmly subdued the Cubs with a strikeout and two pop-ups.

Dylan Smith (age 26) was a 2021 3rd-round draft pick for the Tigers from the University of Alabama. He was in their system for five years but injuries derailed his progress. He made his debut last season and got into seven games (13 IP). Detroit DFAd him this year and the Giants picked him up for "cash considerations." Smith was called up from AAA on Wednesday and pitched in the blowout on Friday (1 IP, 2 K)

Jung Hoo Lee kept his hitting streak alive with his two-out RBI single in the 1st. Matt Chapman's opposite-field single was the clutch hit in the 10th.

The Giants come home from their 5-5 trip to face the Nationals tomorrow at 6:45 Pacific. Logan Webb takes the hill.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Homer Happy in Wrigley

SF 18  CHC 3

Daniel Susac will probably get a good ribbing from his teammates after his 0-for-5 showing. Everyone else in the starting lineup got at least one hit, including Jung Hoo Lee who extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Matt Chapman hit a grand slam which is the new signature hit of the 2026 Giants. He also had a sac fly and a three-run homer for a spectacular 8-RBI day. Two other guys—Willy Adames and Casey Schmitt—also hit a pair of homers. It was exciting to see young CF Jonah Cox get three hits including his first homer. He came over from the A's in the Ross Stripling trade and was promoted from AA-Richmond to the big club. He was crushing it (.400/.453/.644) with the Flying Squirrels in his 44 games.

It was "efficient" today as they got the 18 runs on only 19 hits. They were 6-for-10 with RISP and only left four runners on base.

This is the most bewildering team I have ever followed.

Tomorrow's game is also at 11:20 Pacific and Sunday's is listed for 5:30 p.m. Landen Roupp and Trevor McDonald get the call. Robbie Ray managed a clean five frames today despite five walks. Reminds me of another lefty, Jonathan Sanchez, who was effective despite too many bases on balls. Both guys were/are hard to watch.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

A twenty-hit nail-biter

SF 12  MIL 9 

The Giants clobbered the ball today, rapping out a score of hits including five doubles and two homers. One of the homers was a grand slam by Eric Haase. Usually the Giants win when they hit a grand slam so I was feeling good. It was 6-3 Giants in the top of the 6th and when they scored six to make it 12-3 I was feeling even better. Three Giants relievers conspired to give up six runs over the last three frames, including three in the 9th, and I actually, physically, couldn't watch anymore. I've said a few times that this team is "unwatchable" and this was one of those times! Caleb Killian managed to get the save, thankfully.

Two in a row against a good club. Wow!

Oh, does anyone else think we should swap Bryce Eldrige and Rafael Devers in the lineup?

Day games (11:20 PT) tomorrow and Saturday at Wrigley. Looks like Ray & Roupp.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Webb's gem lifts Giants

SF 1  MIL 0

Logan Webb retired the first 15 batters he faced and took a no-hitter into the 7th inning. He finished with only one hit allowed in the seven frames. Rookie Victor Bericoto got his first major-league dinger in the 5th and that was just barely enough. Two relievers gave up two hits and a walk but they managed to close out the win.

The Giants don't give us much to write about in 2026 unless you like doom-and-gloom. This nice, tidy, well-played victory means they won't get swept in Milwaukee. That's something!

Maybe Webb can keep it rolling and get back to being the top pitcher he was before.

Today's game is 11:10 Pacific; tomorrow they go to Chicago for a weekend series with the Cubs.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Draft history, pt. 1

The Giants had the 19th pick in the 2017 draft and they selected 17-year old high-schooler Heliot Ramos. Only two players from that first-round group have 10+ career bWAR and they are Hunter Greene (#2) and Drew Rasmussen (#31). Both were college pitchers.

The Giants had the #2 pick in 2018 and they grabbed Joey Bart. Nico Hoerner (#24), Brice Turang (#21), Logan Gilbert (#14), Brady Singer (#18) and Shane McLanahan (#31) are the 10+ WAR leaders of the group. Hoerner was a SS at Stanford and Turang was a HS SS. The others were college pitchers.

In 2019 the Giants took ASU OF Hunter Bishop with the 10th pick. The 10+ WAR list from this group is Bobby Witt, Jr. (#2), Corbin Carroll (#16), Adley Rutschman (#1), CJ Abrams (#6), and Riley Greene (#5). All were HS picks except for Rutschman.

In 2020 the Giants took Patrick Bailey with the 13th pick. Garret Crochet (#11, college pitcher) and Peter-Crow Armstrong (#19, HS) are the only two to reach 10 WAR.

 

The only members of the 40-man roster drafted earlier than Ramos are Logan Webb (4th round, 2014) and Matt Gage (10th round, 2014). That's why I started with Heliot. Currently Kyle Haines (Farm Director) and Michael Holmes (Scouting Director) run the draft. John Barr, former Scouting Director (2008-2018), is still with the club as an advisor. He was there for Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner. Before him it was Matt Nerland (1999-2007). That's when they nabbed Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. Dick Tidrow was the Farm Director until 2005 and he was replaced by Bobby Evans (2006-2008) and then Fred Stanley (2009-2013). Haines came in 2014.

I'll look at the 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 first-round drafts in another post.

--M.C.

The Giants have the #4 pick in the draft

When we talk about "the draft" we mean the First-year Amateur Player Draft or, in MLB jargon, the Rule 4 Draft. It is usually held in the middle of the season and we often call it the "June" draft. This year it is in July (11th to 13th). This stuff started in 1965. There used to be three drafts, for different types of amateurs, but those were all consolidated by 1986.

The Giants have never had the #1 pick. The best they've done is the #2 pick and they drafted Will Clark in 1985 and Joey Bart in 2018. They had the #3 pick in 1986 and took Matt Williams. They had a #4 pick in 1997 and that landed Jason Grilli. They had the #5 pick in 2008 and grabbed Buster Posey. Johnnie LeMaster was the #6 pick in 1973 as was Zack Wheeler in 2009.

Jesse Reid (1980), Calvin Murray (1992), and Matt White (1996) were all #7 picks. Ted Barnicle was the #8 pick in 1975. Alan Cockrell (1994) was their only #9 pick. The #10 spot has been good to San Francisco: Craig Landis (1977), Mark Grant (1981), Tim Lincecum (2006), Madison Bumgarner (2007), and Hunter Bishop (2019). (Two outta five ain't bad.)

I should note that Matt Cain was a first-rounder but not until pick #25. The Buster Era started with last year's draft and the Giants took Gavin Kilen with the #13 pick.

Anytime you have a top ten pick you have a chance to get an impact player. Usually there are a half dozen so-called "can't miss" prospects in the first round. The #4 pick is a great opportunity for Buster & Co. to grab one. Obviously there are no sure things but this is about as close as you can get in MLB.

At this point the draft is the most exciting thing about this season.

--M.C.

Adiós, amigo

One day at Candlestick Park some forty-plus years ago I introduced myself to a fellow fan. We became fast friends and shared many events and adventures together over the ensuing decades.

Last week I lost my friend. Ron Blaj died unexpectedly at age 68. An engineer by training, Ron kept the most meticulous scorecards you have ever seen (he scored most games he attended). They were marvels of economy and precision. Ron was an early contributor to this blog but he was not suited to on-line forums. You had to know the flesh-and-blood man to appreciate his humor, warmth, and generous spirit. Not to mention his deeply weird goofiness.

As a fan he loved the unsung guys. Stars and big names did not appeal to him. He rooted for the backups. The subs and the scrubs. The guys just barely hanging on to a roster spot. He loved to say some youngster, after a good showing, was "serving notice" that he should be a starter. He'd burst out with Yiddish in the middle of a tense moment, exclaiming "I've got shpilkes" to the bewildered folks around him. I learned it meant 'pins-and-needles' or 'ants-in-your-pants' which suited him as he was always full of energy and enthusiasm.

Ron discovered yoga some years back and was so taken with it he became an instructor. He was a dedicated birdwatcher. He played and coached softball. He was really smart and had a prodigious memory. He could explain all the world's major sports to you as well as some of the obscure ones, like rowing. He spoke three languages. He'd lived in or been to more places than most people could name. He loved David Letterman, the Grateful Dead, Scrabble, smoothies, and pistachios.

He was a construction manager for UCSF and his coworkers gave him the perfect farewell:

 

Ron was a son, a brother, a husband, and a father. He was a friend to many. I was lucky to be one of those friends.

I'm sure as hell going to miss him.

Go Giants!

--M.C.