Undefeated in the second half

SF 5  ATL 0

It was another brilliant start from Logan Webb, this time seven innings of one-hit ball against a tough Braves lineup. Webb's June has been as good as it gets in MLB: five starts, 38 IP, 20 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 29 SO and only one homer allowed. The Giants have gone 3-2 in those five games. Ryan Walker (8th) and Sam Hentges (9th) put up zeroes to secure the win.

The hitting star was Rafael Devers. He led off the 2nd with a homer and then hit another in the 3rd with two guys on. It was Rafi's bobblehead night so he delivered the goods for the fans. It's hard to believe but his 39 extra-base hits are tied for seventh-most in MLB with Ben Rice and Kyle Schwarber. Yordan Alvarez and Byron Buxton lead everyone with 41, and three guys are tied with 40 (Corbin Carroll, Brandon Lowe, Matt Olson).

Friday was Game 81, the halfway mark. Thus tonight was the first game of the second half of the season. 

Sunday's game is at 1:05 Pacific and Robbie Ray will take the hill.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Draft history, pt. 3

The 2022 draft produced one player with 10+ WAR and that's the Angels SS Zach Neto. He was a college pick (Campbell) and was the #13 selection overall. HS SS Cole Young was the 21st pick, he's the Mariners 2B and has 2.7 bWAR. Cubs starter Cade Horton (2.3 WAR) was a college pitcher (Oklahoma) and the #7 pick. Reds IF Sal Stewart was the #32 pick, he was a HS 3B and is listed at 1.6 WAR.

Rounding out the top five is HS SS Jackson Holliday (son of Matt) who has tallied 0.8 WAR as an Orioles infielder. He was the #1 pick that year.

Of interest to Giants fans is the #4 pick: Temarr Johnson (HS SS) went to the Pirates. He's in AAA right now. There's talk the Giants (with the #4 pick) will take HS SS Jacob Lombard.

The Giants took 2-way player Reggie Crawford in 2022 with the #30 pick. He's no longer a pitcher and has battled injuries. He's had fewer games in the minors than he did in college.

However the Giants made out OK with that draft as they've traded for the #19 pick (Daniel Susac) and the #28 pick (Drew Gilbert).

We'll take a look at 2023 and 2024 next.

--M.C.

Boom! Boom!

SF 2  ATH 1

The Giants finally got some good pitching from Tyler Mahle but it looked to be all for naught as the lineup (no surprise) couldn't get anything going. In the 9th however, down 1-0, Rafael Devers tied the game with a solo shot. That gave rookie Victor Bericoto a chance to play the hero. With two outs he hit a booming no-doubter for a walk-off winner. The youngster from Venezuela had already made a nice play to throw out a runner at home earlier in the game. Speaking of nice plays, Jung Hoo Lee made a great grab to end the 8th and preserve the tie. He also had two more hits!

The Giants have not delivered a lot of exciting finishes this season but this game was a nice exception. Day game today—12:45 PT. Landen Roupp gets the start.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Ray shines

SF 3  ATH 1

Robbie Ray walked four guys in the first five innings but they didn't hurt him. He allowed only two hits across eight frames and whiffed eight. The one run he allowed was unearned. It was his best start of 2026.

Jung Hoo Lee made an error on a routine play in RF but also homered and had another hit and a walk. His .331 average is second only to the Marlins Otto Lopez (.337).

Caleb Killian put two on in the 9th but still managed to get the save. The Giants kept the terrific Nick Kurtz from hurting them (he was 0-for-4 with 3 K). I mention him because he was the #4 pick in the 2024 draft (from Wake Forest). The 23-year old lefty slugger spent only 33 games in the minors. He hit 36 HR as a rookie last year in 117 games. It is possible to find an impact player with the #4 pick!!

6:45 tonight and Tyler Mahle returns from the IL to get the start.

Go Giants!

--M.C. 

Draft history, pt. 2

Logan Webb got Cained but we are big boys and girls and we are used to such things. I decided to write about the draft instead of the game.

We looked at 2020 in a previous post so I'll take a look at 2021. If you sort the first round by MLB bWAR the leaders are Jackson Merrill (8.0, #27), Gavin Williams (6.9, #23), Sal Frelick (6.0, #15), Colson Montgomery (5.5, #22) and Colton Cowser (4.1, #5). The #4 pick was Marcelo Mayer who has 0.4 WAR in 111 games. (The Giants have this year's #4 pick).

Padres CF Merrill, White Sox 3B/SS Montgomery, and Red Sox IF Mayer were all high school shortstops. Guardians starter Williams, Brewers RF Frelick, and Orioles OF Cowser were all college picks. 

The Giants drafted P Will Bednar (Mississippi State) with the 14th pick. He's 26 and still in the minors. He has crazy K numbers but also crazy walk numbers. Mason Black was the 85th pick and Landen Roupp the 356th pick.

The Pirates chose college catcher Henry Davis with the #1 overall pick that year. He's in the majors as a C/OF but in 235 games (812 PA) he has a .173 batting average. It's not easy to find a catcher who can hit!

 --M.C.

4th inning: 7-11

1st inning: 6-12

2nd inning: 8-10

3rd inning: 8-10

4th inning: 7-11 

 

Game 72 (Sunday's win in Chicago) flew right past my radar. They've gone 2-2 since. After 4/9 of the season they were 29-43 and they now sit at 31-45, a .408 clip. I note they scored seven runs in both games of the doubleheader in Atlanta and won both. They scored a mere three apiece in the two in Miami and naturally lost both.

--M.C. 

Let's Take Two!

SF 7  ATL 2

SF 7  ATL 5

If you score 14 runs in a day you ought to come away with a win or two and that's just what the Giants pulled off in Atlanta. Thanks to Mother Nature they played two games in one day and thanks to the Baseball Deities (be they evil or good) the Giants won both.

Yesterday the rained interrupted a 3-2 Giants lead in the 2nd. That game resumed today with Robbie Ray on the mound and he was brilliant (6-1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO). Dylan Smith and new closer Caleb Killian finished up. That game featured back-to-back homers by Rafael Devers and Jung Hoo Lee in the 5th.

Later Carson Whisenhunt got the call-up and the start and he was unscored upon for his first five frames. TonyV went to the well one more time and tried to get through the 6th with his recently promoted southpaw and it didn't work out so well. In the end the youngster got charged with a mere two runs.

Three of The Hateful Four (JTB, SH, RW) covered the next nine outs. With a 7-2 lead Matt Gage was tasked with the 9th. It was nearly a disaster but Tristan Beck got the job done and the Giants squeaked by the best team in baseball. Luis Arraez had two hits and four RBI and both Bryce Eldridge and Willy Adames hit homers.

Like I said the 2026 Giants are a bad trip. There's no sense to be made of it. Oh, I'm sure you've seen a story or two about the Giants being "sellers at the deadline." Well, duh.

Tomorrow's game is at 4:15 Pacific. Go Giants!

--M.C.