Lee leads Giants

SF 5  TEX 1

Not to take anything away from Logan Webb who delivered six scoreless innings, but Jung Hoo Lee had a career night. He hit two homers and added a sac fly, plus he stole a base and added two nice catches. The depleted bullpen relied on 2/3 from Keaton Winn, 1-1/3 from San Hentges, and a rocky 9th from Tristan Beck bailed out by Reiver Sanmartin. Beck got an out but allowed a solo homer and a walk. Sanmartin got the double play to end it.

After the carnage of the trading deadline, it was nice to see the team put together a solid win.

So the Giants part ways with Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray, which was expected. That they got some decent minor-league talent in the process is a win for the club. If you saw how cheaply Detroit sold their ace to LA you'll understand what I mean. Caleb Killian goes, as does Erik Miller. Both are talented but like everyone else on this staff, inconsistent. Heliot Ramos goes as well, he's been in the SF organization since he was 17! I'm happy he gets to go to the Yankees. Tyler Mahle, we hardly knew ye.

Of the players obtained, Marcelo Mayer goes to the 40-man but is on the 10-day IL. Anthony Molina is on the 40-man but goes to AAA. Miguel Mendez goes to AA. Kaeden Kent, Ramon Marquez, Henry Lalane, and Marty Gair go to High-A. Joniel Hernandez goes to Rookie League. Other than Mayer and Molina there aren't any major leaguers but beefing up the system is, as I said, a good outcome for the team.

5:05 tomorrow and 11:35 for Wednesday's getaway game, all times Pacific.They are off Thursday and back home for the weekend against the Tigers.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

New Giants

Tyler Mahle was swapped for 24-year old RH reliever Anthony Molina (Braves).

Caleb Killian and Luis Arraez were swapped for four two Philadelphia minor leaguers: 20-year old RH starter Ramon Marquez, 22-year old RH reliever Marty Gair, 23-year old switch-hitting OF John Spikerman, and 23-year old RH starter Luke Gabrysh. Looks like just the first two. The earliet report I read was premature and in error as both teams have now officially announced the trade. Thinking about Tarik Skubal's return as the benchmark means the Giants did OK here.

More to come?

--M.C.

 

****UPDATE****

Robbie Ray goes to the Padres for two minor leaguers, 24-year old RH starter Miguel Mendez and 17-year old Cuban-born SS Joniel Hernandez (who is currently raking .303/.424/.503 in the Dominican Summer League).

Again, thinking in terms of Skubals, the Giants did OK here. 

 

****UPDATE****

Word is Erik Miller goes to the Red Sox for 23-year old lefty-hitting infielder Marcelo Mayer who was the #4 pick in the 2021 draft.

 Also that Heliot Ramos is going to the Yankees for a 22-year old  lefty starter named Henry Lalane and possibly infield prospect Kaeden Kent.

These obviously are not money-saving moves, more like moving guys who have hit their ceiling and trying out younger guys.

 

 

Ray makes his case

SF 4  SD 1

The Giants beat another good team with another strong pitching performance. Robbie Ray is the most obvious trade candidate (other than Luis Arraez) and he has pitched well of late. Last night he whiffed six over six frames with only one run allowed. He has a 1.67 ERA over his last nine appearances. It seems he's been putting on a showcase for potential suitors these last several weeks.

The bullpen, this year's glaring weak spot, was solid once again with three scoreless innings (Caleb Killian, Dylan Smith, Erik Miller). Andrew Susac had another homer.

The Giants have indicated they would pay to offset some of Ray's salary in a potential trade.

Carson Whisenhunt gets the start tonight (6:45 Pacific). Go Giants!

--M.C.

6th inning: 8-10

The Giants win today was Game 108 and that's the two-thirds mark of the season. We've seen six seasonal innings of baseball so far:

1st inning: 6-12

2nd inning: 8-10

3rd inning: 8-10

4th inning: 7-11 

5th inning: 9-9 

6th inning: 8-10 

That's good for a 46-62 record (.426) and fourth place in the NL West (21-1/2 GB).

If you go 8-10 nine times you'll finish 72-90 (.444) which would require improvement. In San Francisco this afternoon the Giants put on a fine show for the fans, once again forcing us to ask "why can't they keep this going?".

 

SF 16  MIL 3

The Brewers are one of the best teams in baseball and the Giants took two of the three games. They took two of three in the last series with the woeful Angels, and were swept in KC by the lowly Royals just before that.

This team is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. But we knew that. Four-hit days for both Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos and a three-run homer from Daniel Susac to start the scoring were highlights. Logan Webb delivered a competent six and the bullpen allowed only one run in the final three frames.

The lousy news from today is that Casey Schmitt will likely miss the rest of the season. He sort of embodies the 2026 team. He can hit for power (.483 SLG) but makes too many outs (.301 OBP)! His defensive versatility is a real asset and the injury is a real bummer.

The team travels to San Diego for three and the first one is tomorrow evening at 6:40 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Giants blank Brewers

SF 3  MIL 0

The Giants completed their eighth team shutout last night. Tyler Mahle went the first six and allowed only three hits and two walks. The bullpen, amazingly, held the line and nailed down the win. Dominic Smith, Sam Hentges, and Erik Miller faced the minimum nine batters and struck out four of them.

Young Grant McCray was the hitting star with a two-run homer off Milwaukee starter Brandon Sproat.

No news (yet) on the trade front. 

Two more at home against the Brewers and then they go on the road to San Diego and Texas.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

2023 draft paying off

Bryce Eldridge was the #13 pick of the 2023 draft. He's looking like a polished MLB hitter in his first season and he will not turn 22 until October. He's the only one from that Giants draft class with positive WAR. No one else has made the majors.

Except for Drew Cavanaugh! He was the 510th pick in the 17th round. The 24-year old lefty-swinging catcher has nine hits (all singles) and seven walks in his 42 PA across 13 games. He slashed .273/.406/.439 in 209 minor league games (882 PA).

Last night's star, Landen Roupp, was also a late pick (the 12th round, #356) but from the 2021 class. Carson Whisenhunt and Hayden Birdsong were picked in the 2022 group. We'll see if they can develop into consistent major league hurlers.

Logan Webb starts today and the game is on Fox at 5:00 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

The looming deadline

The MLB trade deadline is Monday, August 3rd, at 6:00 p.m. ET. This deadline matters to teams that have a good chance to make the post-season as they can improve their rosters before the stretch run. This deadline matters to bad teams because they have a chance to "salvage" their shitty seasons by picking up some fresh talent for future seasons. As a bonus, some crappy teams will dump some salary and thus be better positioned to make more lousy payroll decisions at a later date. Teams in the middle—the ones that can't decide if they are legit contenders or not—generally make no one happy as they try to play it both ways.

In short, like most things in sports, the hype exceeds the reality by orders of magnitude.

We've all seen good teams get better by taking advantage of a poor team's "fire sale" and we've seen teams (like the 2025 Giants) make big moves and get nothing out of them. I like to use the phrase "it's a crapshoot" a little too often but in this case the MLB trade deadline truly is a crapshoot.

So what dice should the Giants roll this summer? The season is lost, obviously. The big contracts (Devers, Adames, Chapman) aren't going anywhere. That is unless the Yankees or Dodgers suddenly need a 1B/DH, SS, or 3B right now. A season-ending injury to Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, or their NYY equivalents (Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisolm, Ryan McMahon) would move the needle a little. Other than that, don't expect big changes to the SFG 40-man.

The word all season has been that Luis Arraez is the obvious trade candidate as he's on a one-year deal and he's hitting like a batting champion again (and playing well in the field). What's he worth? An AA pitcher, perhaps? The Giants could use an ML-ready starter but that would take more than just one player. So they'll trade Arraez for a kid who might help the club in two years. Or they could get a decent relief pitcher, something they could use, but that's not much. Bye Luis, hope you enjoyed your time in SF.

There's Robbie Ray as well. He's a free agent at the end of the season. A pennant-chasing team can always use another starter. What can you get for Ray? Again, not a whole lot.

This year's trade deadline will pass for the Giants without a bang. It'll be a whimper. Maybe we'll see a couple of guys go and a couple of fresh faces emerge. In the very best case, one of those new faces will actually make a positive contribution to the club in 2027.

The Giants travel to Seattle for three on the weekend and then to KC for three until an off-day on the 23rd.

It looks like Roupp-Webb-Ray to face the Mariners.

Go Giants!

--M.C.