We've reached the one-third mark of the season. The Giants have played 54 games and have a record of 34-20 (.630). They are in first place in the NL West, 1/2 game ahead of the Padres. There are 108 games (six innings) left to play.
Today is also the last day in May and so we've completed the first two months of the season. The Giants were 16-10 in April (.615) and 18-10 in May (.643). These results obviously far exceed the expectations for this team. Way to go, Giants!
In this afternoon's 6-1 victory against the LA Angels Johnny Cueto struggled early with his command and gave up a run in the 2nd. After that he figured things out and racked up five scoreless frames. His final line was five hits allowed in seven innings with no walks and five strikeouts (97 pitches to 27 batters). The Giants have relied on terrific starting pitching to power their fast start. Johnny's long outing meant the bullpen only had to get the last six outs! Nick Tropeano was given the task and got it done without much fuss. That's something we need to see more of.
The Giants have also relied on patience and power hitting--today's lineup smacked three homers and two doubles to go along with six walks (and two singles). LaMonte Wade, Jr. played first base again, he hit one of the homers, and is slashing .350./458/.550. Steven Duggar continues to rake, he had two hits today and he is slashing .308/.357/.554. I think they call that "serving notice."
Alex Wood gets the start tomorrow night at 6:45 Pacific.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
4 comments:
The injury bug still is taking its toll. Longo left today's game early, and Gausman yesterday. If the defense was tighter and could have turned a DP early in the game, it may as well have been a shutout. Tropeano had some hard hit balls smacked against him, but they were right at a giants defender. The defense tightened up late in the game. Brebia had a good minor league inning yesterday. Right before Wade went deep, I told my wife, I have a feeling that he is going to homer. She said you should say that all the time. I told her it does not work that way. The only time you say it is when you have an overwhelming feeling that it is going to happen, and even then, it is usually unlikely. You can't just call it and have it happen. At least when we are not living in the twilight zone. Now the trick is to avoid the June Swoon. 3 homers at home, and Posey, and Duggar were close as well. Posey may be swinging with a little long ball-itis approach. As long as the team is winning, seems okay.
The Giants have played too well so far for it to be a fluke. This a good team. Is it a .630 team (102 wins)? Probably not! But it is a good team and that's exciting.
They have had production from some unexpected places, and yet Dickerson has yet to get hot. Longo to get an MRI today. Hoping the team gets healthy. Wade so far, has been more productive than expected. If Cueto can stay healthy and get into one of those Cueto grooves, the team may be even better. So much depends on the team staying healthy. The 1969 Mets model where they went heavy on platoons, (and had 2 good table setters at the top of the lineup), plus steady guys like Cleon Jones that could hit every day, surprised baseball, and they were called the miracle Mets. Perhaps that team was managed in a way that was way ahead of its time. The giants do seem to have the guys who can take advantage of those lefty/righty matchups. Plus good starting pitching (ie; the Mets of 1969) etc. I guess one can look at some Oakland A's teams and make similar analogies. But for me it is more fun to go back and see how this worked when not many were doing it.
I think the platoon/matchup style of the Giants is not just necessity, it is how things are going to work in baseball going forward. If you have a superstar like Acuna or Tatis they can mostly play every day against any pitcher. Those guys won't get pinch-hit for! But most teams are lucky to have just one of those guys, let alone 2 or 3 everyday players.
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