The short-handed Giants continue to look feeble on offense, and the bullpen continues to be inconsistent, but the team pulled off another series win. Today young Logan Webb went a long way to establishing himself as a genuine major league starting pitcher. He has not pitched well overall but has shown flashes of ability that keep the brain trust interested. Today he not only threw seven scoreless innings, his two-run triple was the big blow of the game! Webb allowed three hits, three walks, and hit two batters, but struck out eight and induced three double play grounders. He threw 107 pitches to 26 batters. It was a big performance and the Giants needed every inning of it.
Up 4-0 in the 8th manager Gabe Kapler went with Matt Wisler who looked great striking out the first two guys. After an infield hit Jesus Aguilar hit another two-run homer. He's dinged closer Jake McGee, rookie Gregory Santos, and slider specialist Matt Wisler in successive games. Damn. Maybe, this time, it ain't the pitcher. The guy is just locked in right now. I've been giving the Giants credit for showing resilience and the ability to fight back. I have to give the Marlins credit for the same thing. All seven games were tough contests.
Tyler Rogers got the call in the 9th and he gave up, you guessed it, another infield hit. You thought I was going to say two-run homer, didn't you? A groundout and two singles later it was 4-3 and phenom Jazz Chisolm was at the plate. He grounded out and saved me from having a stroke. Rogers gets the save and the Giants get the series win. I don't know why they didn't go with McGee, but maybe they figured Rogers was less likely to allow a homer and would be more likely to keep the ball on the ground. The Marlins have shown they can hit the big fly in the big moments.
McGee and Rogers have both been used a hell of a lot. Maybe Kap was trying to give McGee more time on the bench. Rogers is more of the rubber-armed type, perhaps Kap & Co. feel they can lean on him more heavily. I don't know, it's all a fascinating exercise. I'm glad they are making the decisions and taking the heat for them. I only have to write about them. These days I'm more interested in what they actually chose to do rather than what I think they ought to do or what I think they should have done. I figure they know more than me and I enjoy going along for the ride and trying to understand how they think and how they solve the myriad of roster and game management problems a season presents.
These close games are really exhausting. I did not expect so many nail-biting finishes. But if that's the price I have to pay for a good ballclub, I'll take it.
The Rockies come to town for three. Anthony DeSclafani at 6:45 tomorrow night.
--M.C.
p.s. Jason Vosler got his first MLB hit today. Also, MadBum threw a seven-inning no-hitter against the Braves. Jonathan Sanchez, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, and Chris Heston all threw no-hitters while pitching for the Giants. Considering all the great performances by Bum in orange-and-black, it's kind of weird that he never threw a no-hitter. MadBum had a terrible year in 2020, and 2021 started horribly for him, but it looks like he's turning a corner.
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I have to give Kapler some credit here for being candid and yet still supportive of his player:
Kapler offered qualified praise and a sober diagnosis.
“It was definitely the best outcomes of the season for Logan,” Kapler said. “I’m sure you didn’t expect me to come out and say this about Logan, but there were some moments when he fell behind in counts. There were misses to arm side and glove side that were, you know, substantial. I just think there’s an even better version of Logan.”
Those are cold-water words, but they’re not inaccurate. “Effectively wild” one day is scattershot the next. It’s great when it works, but it’s not a long-term strategy. The Giants can’t say this part out loud, but it’s a heck of a lot easier to be effectively wild when you’re facing a lineup like the Marlins that is impatient and lacks a supply of professional hitters.
“I also think Logan deserves credit for having pitches that move a lot and for being consistently off barrel,” Kapler said. “So even though he falls behind or there’s a wild miss here or there, when he’s back in the zone, he’s really hard to square up. That’s the most important reason that I feel so strongly about how good he’ll be if there’s no waste pitches and he’s in attack mode the entire game. He’s just so hard to square up.
“But it’s going to be difficult falling behind the best lineups in baseball, because they’re going to punish you. It’s going to be difficult to get out of the jams he got out of today.
“I want to stop there because I can sense that … Logan had a really good outcome. This is about my belief in Logan (and) how good he can be. Today is a good example of the floor for him. I think there are better games in there.”
That's from Baggs' game story on The Athletic.
Here's more from Baggs who I find to be discerning and critical but also fair and open-minded:
And Jake McGee’s usage in this series would appear to make little sense unless he is dealing with some limitation or another. Kapler declined to use his closer in a save situation for the second consecutive game after putting him in with a four-run lead Friday.
“We’re trying to get him as fresh and healthy as possible,” said Kapler, who watched Tyler Rogers allow a run in the ninth but get a groundout from Jazz Chisholm to strand the tying run at second base.
I'm assuming that means McGee has been a bit over-used and they want to be careful not to over-expose him. The last time he was a closer was 2016 in Colorado and before that it was 2014 in Tampa Bay. The Giants don't really have an "established" closer. I think we were all hoping Reyes Moronta would emerge in that role but then he got hurt and had to start all over again. We'll see if they can get saves from a few other guys and take a little pressure off McGee. It would sure help if they can start hitting and win a few games 8-3 or 7-1 or something that doesn't cause me so much anguish!
This Chaz Jism guy sure comes to play.
Chisholms swing is designed after Ken Griffey Jr.s swing. Caselli came close to having six shutouts with six different starters. I thought Rojas was K'd in the 8th before the first base umpire gave him a reprieve, but just like the giants of old, they make mistakes after a blown call. I thought the Aguillera dinger, came on a fast ball middle in, quite far away from Caselli's target. At least 4 or maybe 5 of the Marlin's hits were of the infield variety. Perhaps our new pinch hitting pitcher will be Logan instead of Desclafani. The Marlins all season have been good at scoring late in games. This time playing vs. the Rockies, Story seems to be hitting. Posey stuck on 4 RBI with 4 homers. He had multiple AB's with men in scoring position vs. the fish, and continued to struggle vs. the team from the state where he went to college. The giants really need Posey to start hitting consistently. Seems at this point the team has more than its share of minor but stifling injuries.
They pitched well overall in the series. Chisolm was 2-for-17 at the leadoff spot. Duvall 1-for-11, for example. Marlins scored 11 runs in four games.
The hitters are not performing. And all these nagging injuries. The roster depth and flexibility are really being tested.
Rockies GM steps down. Jeff Bridich has been there since 2014.
Stepped down, by mutual agreement, or perhaps the better term is "fired." There has been constant outcry in Colorado over the Arenado trade and a lot of it has been directed at, not just Bridich, but his boss, Monfort. There is even a crowd-funding site to buy the Rockies. It must be nice to have someone to fire when the going gets rough.
I understand Bridich was with the team in other capacities for several years before he became GM in 2014. On the surface it seems pretty dysfunctional. Changing the GM in April?!? That's not a good sign to me. The Arenado thing was a disaster, certainly.
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