Aaron Sanchez walked two batters with two out in the 1st and both scored on a double. The Giants got a run back in the bottom half, tied the game in the 4th, and took a 3-2 lead in the 5th. Jose Alvarez, in relief of Sanchez, allowed the tying run in the 6th. Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers each delivered a scoreless frame but Jake McGee gave up the go-ahead homer in the 9th to Garrett Hampson. Brandon Crawford then rescued the Giants in the bottom of the 9th with a splash hit off closer Daniel Bard. In the 10th Gregory Santos unfortunately gave up two homers and the 7-4 deficit was too much to overcome. An RBI hit by Buster Posey made it 7-5 but the Giants couldn't get any more and the Rockies had their first road win of 2021.
Sanchez was not sharp, walking five in his 4-2/3, and Alvarez walked C.J. Cron to start the 5th and he wound up scoring. In the 4th Mauricio Dubon ran through a stop sign at third base, trying to score with two outs, and bumped into Ron Wotus on his way to the plate. He was out by a mile, and it seemed he never saw Wotus or the stop sign. It was a weird play, and fit perfectly with the weird night. The Giants kept fighting back but could not get the job done. Bullpen woes continue. Santos has major-league stuff, but he has to learn that leaving any pitch in the heart of the zone against good hitters is not going to work!
The Giants worked a trade with the Yankees, sending lefty reliever Wandy Peralta (and a PTBNL) for lefty-hitting outfielder Mike Tauchman. I suspect they are worried about losing Mike Yastrzemski for an extended period. I thought they liked Peralta, but his performance has, like many of the Giants relievers, been inconsistent.
Alex Wood goes tonight, 6:45 Pacific.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
9 comments:
Apparently FZ and Co. have coveted Tauchman for some time. They like his patience and plate discipline. Plus a LH who can play all three OF positions. Giants really value patient hitters. They lead baseball in pitches per plate appearance and are really good so far this year on swinging at strikes and laying off pitches out of the zone. It is interesting to see a team-wide style of hitting and the front office actively acquiring players who "fit the mold." It isn't paying off as far as run-scoring, at least not yet, but I think it will in time. Even if this current group of hitters doesn't deliver, the team will continue to pursue their ideal, and I have no problem with that. Even when the Giants aren't scoring they are running up pitch counts and forcing starters out of the game early, and that's a good thing.
Tauchman has three arb-years left and is not a free agent until 2025, so he is, it seems, a long-term piece. That makes guys like Duggar, Wade, and Davis less important to the big club, they will be depth/taxi squad types it seems.
The bullpen issues are confounding. I thought there was enough depth to make it work. There are some veteran arms there that should be performing more consistently. They called up the rookies (Doval and Santos) and its good to have young arms getting their seasoning but it does add more uncertainty. I presume we will see Kervin Castro at some point, too.
If you aren't watching the post-game interviews with Kapler (or listening to the "Gabe Kapler Show" on the radio broadcast) you might start tuning in. Kap is a weird guy, and I can see that he's not to everyone's taste, but his candor is refreshing and his description of the thinking behind his decisions is illuminating.
I know it is the Sacred Duty of all Fans to second-guess the manager (or even "first-guess"!) and to blame all bad outcomes on poor managerial choices, and that's fine, fans are fans after all, but I really don't get much satisfaction out of that. It's far more interesting, as a fan, to learn how these guys think and how they approach the game. Kapler is good at particulars--he is precise and specific about the good and the bad things he sees. And he is able to critique a performance in a way that's positive for the player and the team. As a former teacher, I really appreciate that ability.
It would be hard for any manager to try to fill Boch's shoes, and Kap was not a popular pick with Giants fans. To his credit he's not trying to be anyone else but Gabe Kapler, and I think he brings some interesting skills to the table. The team seems to be a happy and well-run bunch and everyone seems to know their roles and it seems like the players have all they need in terms of info, support, and coaching to perform at their best.
Sanchez and other giants had trouble getting the ball over the plate, but Sanches was hard to hit. Santos does not quite seem ready for prime time. The giants mistakes ended up in putting them in a situation where they did not win in 9 innings. Dubon's base running error may have proven costly. Either he would have scored, or if held up, at least the pitchers spot would not lead off the next inning. Does Slater get the largest strike zone on the planet? Perhaps some strike zones on certain batters relate to their batting stance. By the way the Dodger game ended on a called strike 3, that was clearly a pitchers strike. The other issue was the botched throw by otherwise slick fielding Crawford who made several good plays, but Alvarez induced the double play ball to get the giants out of the inning and Crawford thought Wilt Chamberlain was playing first base. Because of the crazy rule that one cannot assume a double play it did not go down as an error and went against Alvarez's ERA. Many errors are judgement calls, and when a good throw would have had the batter out at first by 3 steps, it would seem an easy call. It seems as if they take the judgement out of the scorekeepers hands when it comes to the double play situation. Clearly Santos has good stuff, but he just does not seem to be completely ready for prime time. Flores seems to have about 10 feet less of power this year. Although he hit one really far foul, and then hit one to the wall, that looked gone and a game ender off his bat. He has hit a bunch of just in front of the wall or too the wall shots this year. Belt hit a very long foul, that if fair would have been his second homer, with a chance to win the game and then he grounded out to first. The giants had their chances. Posey hit the ball hard every AB. I sure hope he can keep that up. Nice to see Bolt get an AB.
Yeah I forgot about that bad throw.
Not sure where Dubon's head is at--he was so intent on scoring that he lost his "situational awareness." I hope he can start to put his whole game together. At least he's been a quality backup at SS.
Brewers DFA RHP Phil Bickford, Giants #1 pick in 2015. Bickford was traded with Andrew Susac to get Will Smith. Smith of course pitched very well for the Giants across three seasons before landing a big FA deal with the Braves.
First-rounders are better bets to be major-league regulars than any other group, but even those picks aren't guaranteed. Bickford was drafted out of HS but opted for college and then the Giants got him out of CSU Fullerton. He has really good minor-league numbers but no AA or AAA time, he topped out at A+ but was still called up last season. He's only 25. Not saying the Giants should chase after him, just that it is an interesting story. You never know who is going to make it in the bigs, and some guys take more circuitous paths to get there.
Santos optioned to make room for Tauchman.
I imagine that I will be called a second guesser, but is this thing with Dubon really a good idea? Is the plan for him to always be a CF/SS combo player? Or does he become one or the other? He is clearly young and raw, talented but overmatched by most pitching. Seems like they are asking way too much of the dude. I guess they have no better plan, so may as well throw him out there. MOC, you seem to have every conceivable positive angle covered, if you get a chance, can you edify me? Is this a good situation for the kid?
Anybody else in baseball doing that combo of CF and SS? Rather special positions. Am I just showing my age again, cuz I don’t think that happened in the good old days?
The Giants are thin at SS. If BCraw gets hurt they are really going to feel it. Dubon came up as an infielder and they converted him to CF. Now with Tauchman I think we will see less of Dubon in CF. He really should be a 2B-SS, although he has held his own in CF and is not a liability as a late-inning replacement.
In Dubon's case, he is a utility player. He probably doesn't hit enough to play one position. By being good at two key positions, he sticks on the roster.
Yes, you are showing your age. Positional versatility was the "kiss of death" to a player in our day. You got labeled as a "utility guy" and that was that. Today's players are more comfortable moving around the diamond and GMs are starting to value guys who are flexible.
Interesting about Dubon. Some of his AB's he looks very good and disciplined. But at other times, he looks totally lost at the plate. I am not sure how much that has to do with his raw talent, or coaching methods on the giants. Dubon is clearly our best fielding second baseman, and seems our best backup at short. Lastella so far has not been that impressive in the field, and he has really yet to start hitting as advertised. Longoria is taking more walks this year, and I think that is a good thing. When he is not flailing and striking out on bad pitches he is a much better hitter. He had some good spurts last year as well, but always seemed to go back to some bad habits. When he sprays the ball all over the field he is a much better hitter, and he does have the power to hit the ball out in right field in most ball parks.
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