Thursday, August 13, 2020

1/3 of the season

The Giants are 8-12 (.400) after 20 games. There are five teams (Phillies, Angels, Mariners, Red Sox, Pirates) with a win percentage below .400 and all have fewer than eight wins. The Giants have scored 85 runs and are 14th out of 30 teams, but their 4.25 rpg is only 22nd (league average 4.59). Only the Mariners (117) have allowed more runs than the Giants (114). The Giants 5.70 rpg is the third-worst in baseball. We all know about their shaky defense--their 20 errors leads the pack.

They just finished a 3-7 road trip against the Rockies, Dodgers, and Astros, but 11 of their next 13 are at home. They won't see the Astros again and they won't go to Dodger stadium again.

Mike Yastrzemski, Donovan Solano, and Austin Slater are leading the offense with some help from Alex Dickerson and Wilmer Flores. Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Crawford, Hunter Pence, and Brandon Belt have fallen off the map and Evan Longoria is right behind them. Chadwick Tromp and Darrin Ruf are hanging in there, but Tyler Heineman and Mauricio Dubon are barely hanging on.

On the pitching side Trevor Gott and Sam Selman have been the most dependable. Kevin Gausman has shown electric stuff and Logan Webb has shown some potential but the injuries (Jeff Samardzija and Drew Smyly) have really thinned the ranks. Johnny Cueto looks like he might be fully healthy again and that's a good sign. The bullpen has been a wild ride but Shaun Anderson and Wandy Peralta look like keepers.

I think the .400 record is a fair reflection of the talent and the state of the team, but I think they could finish the season a little stronger. A .500 record would require 22 wins in the next 40 games and that might be a reach. There's obviously room for improvement, especially in the field, but getting more consistent starts is the first order of business.

Next game is Friday night, 6:45 at home against the A's.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

No comments: