Free fall

The Giants have played seven games since the All-Star Break and they've lost all seven. Today they had Logan Webb on the mound pitching well late in a tie game and it all fell apart and turned into another depressing loss. Getting swept by the Dodgers was one thing, following that by getting swept by the Diamondbacks is quite another. The team is in free fall and in danger of letting the whole season slip away. They are now 48-50 and only three games up on Arizona and 3-1/2 on Colorado. The problem is there are no quick fixes. There are no trades that will turn things around, and no prospects to promote that will make a big enough impact. The team has to get better performances from the people they have in uniform right now.

Read 'em and weep:

ARI 7  SF 0 (Mon)

ARI 7  SF 3 (Tues)

ARI 5  SF 3 (Wed)

The Cubs come to San Francisco for four games starting tomorrow night at 6:45 Pacific. Alex Wood gets the start.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

 

p.s. I'm having surgery on my right hand tomorrow. That's going to slow down my keyboarding for a bit, I expect, and thus my posting will be a little irregular. It should be a routine procedure, I've got a big chunk of collagen growing in my palm (Dupuytren's contracture) that has to get cut out.

Golden Sombrero

The Dodgers had an answer for everything the Giants did in this series. And the Dodgers punished the Giants for everything they failed to do. The weaknesses of the team are many but two really stand out and were on display in this four-game set: fielding and relief pitching. Poor defense cost the Giants both early and late, and poor execution from the bullpen corps sabotaged any comebacks. Last season the Giants could match up well and compete with the Dodgers but this year the talent gap is too big. LA has three of the best hitters in the game--Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, and Freddie Freeman--hitting in the top three spots of their lineup. Few teams can match that and the Giants are clearly over-matched. Although I must say it was great to see Darin Ruf hit two game-tying homers (a grand slam Thursday and a two-run homer today). He's a good hitter having a rough season which is sort of a bellwether for the whole offense. Maybe as he heats up the rest of the team can follow. And Austin Slater is really hitting well this month, perhaps he can keep that going the rest of the way.

Here's the damage:

SF 6  LA 9 (Thu)

SF 1  LA 5 (Fri)

SF 2  LA 4 (Sat)

SF 4  LA 7 (Sun)

Not much to say that the scores don't tell us. The Giants got pasted 25-13. They had four chances to win a ballgame and they whiffed on all four. That's a Golden Sombrero! Let's hope they do better when the Dodgers come to San Francisco in the first week of August.

Jakob Junis gets the start tomorrow night in Arizona at 6:40 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Go Giants!

The Giants resume their season tonight in Los Angeles. Southpaw Carlos Rodón gets the start and the Dodgers counter with righty Mitch White. The Giants played better baseball just before the Break and the question is, can they sustain that over the final 71 games? The gap between the second-place Padres (52-42) and the third-place Giants (48-43) is only 2-1/2 games. That can change in a weekend. That's the team goal right there: overtake the Padres. One team at a time! It will take more consistency from the club than we've seen so far this season. I think we all want to see a more consistent team. The Giants have been all over the map in terms of performance and it's hard to know which version will show up each game.

Game time is listed as 7:09 p.m. Pacific.

GO GIANTS!

BEAT LA!!

--M.C.

The Draft

The Giants were the last pick of the draft. That's because they had the best record in baseball last season! Here's a list of their picks and a quick summary:

1. (#30) Reggie Crawford, two-way player at Connecticut, lefty reliever and first baseman. High risk pick but the Giants like his size (6-4, 235) and athleticism (he was a HS state champ in swimming).

2. (#66) Carson Whisenhunt, lefty starter at East Carolina. Here's a video of him being interviewed in college. Seems like a really solid pick.

3. (#106) William Kempner, RH starter at Gonzaga, he's from San Jose and grew up a Giants fan.

4. (#136) Spencer Miles, RH starter at Missouri.

5. (#166) Liam Simon, big (6-4, 230) righty reliever at Notre Dame.

6. (#196) Hayden Birdsong, another big (6-4, 205) righty reliever, this time at Eastern Illinois.

7. (#226) Zach Morgan, catcher (plus 1B/3B), RH hitter at Fresno State, from Stockton.

8. (#256) Wade Meckler, IF/OF, RH hitter at Oregon State, from Anaheim.

9. (#286) Jack Choate, huge (6-6, 249) lefty starter at Assumption University (div. II, Worcester, MA).

10. (#316) John Bertrand, another big (6-3, 205) lefty starter, this time at Furman and Notre Dame.

11. (#346) Sam Bower, RH starter at St. Mary's, from Visalia.

12. (#376), Tyler Vogel, RH reliever at Jacksonville.

13. (#406) Thomas Gavello, infielder, lefty hitter at Pacific, from Antioch.

14. (#436) Nomar Diaz, righty hitting HS catcher from Puerto Rico (Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy), turned 18 in April.

15. (#466) Tanner O'Tremba, Honorable Mention All-Name Team, outfielder, RH hitter at Texas Tech and Arizona.

16. (#496) Andrew Kachel, infielder, lefty hitter at Fresno State, from San Jose.

17. (#526) Justin Bench, IF/OF, RH hitter at Mississippi, NOT related to Johnny Bench.

18. (#556) Tanner Thach, full-grown (6-3, 215), lefty hitting HS 1B from North Carolina.

19. (#586) Cade Perkins, HS lefty pitcher (and 1B/OF) from Kansas.

20. (#616) Ethan Long, 1B/3B, righty hitter at Arizona State.

It's worth remembering that it takes a minimum of three years for most ballplayers to make it to the majors and five years is quite common. We won't see the impact of this draft for some time. I'm certainly no scout or talent evaluator, I leave that to the professionals. And I should also note that not all the players a team drafts will sign with that team. Some will go back to school, some will want to negotiate, some will drop off the radar for other reasons. We'll see who will stick in the organization in the next few weeks. Giants are generally good about signing their picks. I believe they signed everyone last year.

For now, I'll just go with "Welcome aboard!" to the new crew of youngsters.

--M.C.

Big bats bash Brewers

SF 9  MIL 5

The Giants powered their way into the All-Star Break with a strong start from Logan Webb and a 12-hit attack that featured five doubles and two homers. The lineup notched seven runs in the first three frames, chasing starter Aaron Ashby. LaMonte Wade, Jr. knocked in three with his big fly in the 3rd and Brandon Belt added a two-run shot in the 6th. Webb walked a batter to lead off the 7th and Kap came out to get him despite just 88 pitches thrown. Jakob Junis, just back from the IL, needed some work and took the next two innings, giving up five hits and three runs. Junis is a valuable guy and especially so since Anthony DeSclafani is out for the year. It's good to have him healthy. Camilo Doval finished the 9th on eight pitches.

The Giants take three of the four from Milwaukee and have won seven of their last nine. They are 48-43 (.527), 12-1/2 back of LA in the West but only 2-1/2 back of second-place San Diego. They are a half-game behind St. Louis and Philadelphia for the third wild-card spot.

Baseball resumes on Thursday the 21st. The Giants will be in Los Angeles for four with the Dodgers.

--M.C.

5th inning: 8-10

SF 2  MIL 1

Alex Cobb is a good pitcher. He's had a rough season so far. Yesterday he performed like the pitcher the Giants were expecting when they signed him for two-and-twenty. And the Giants won the game on a bases-loaded balk! Maybe things are finally turning our way in the luck department.

Yesterday's win was the team's 90th game. They are 47-43. Here's the breakdown:

1st inning: 13-5

2nd inning: 9-9

3rd inning: 7-11

4th inning: 10-8

5th inning: 8-10

They had a six-game losing streak early on but have since won six of their last eight. I see hopeful signs. This afternoon it's Logan Webb at 1:05 Pacific.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Slam!

SF 8  MIL 5

After a dispiriting 3-2 loss in extras on Thursday the Giants followed with a walk-off win last night. This time the walk-off was particularly dramatic: a three-homer 9th with a grand slam to finish it. I really don't know what to make of this team. I'm honestly stumped. Just when I think they've hit a wall they pull off a spectacular performance.

Alex Wood was Alex Woodian, hitting a wall in the 5th or 6th, this time the 5th. A two-out error by LaMonte Wade, Jr. kept the inning alive and Tyler Rogers came in and threw gas on the fire. The Brewers had five runs and erased the Giants 2-0 lead. Rogers is best when he starts an inning, I think. Mauricio Llovera, Yunior Marte, and Sam Long followed with a scoreless frame apiece. Wood threw seven scoreless in his last start in San Diego, his best outing of the year, so we know he can go deeper in games if he's efficient and gets some help behind him.

Josh Hader is one of the best closers in MLB and has 27 saves but he's been vulnerable lately. He blew a save in his last outing against the Twins, giving up a three-run bomb in the 9th. Last night Joey Bart got it going with a leadoff homer. Darin Ruf hit another with one out. Austin Slater singled, Yermin Mercedes was hit by a pitch, Thairo Estrada singled, and Mike Yastrzemski hit the first pitch he saw for a game-winning grand slam. From a 5-2 deficit to an 8-5 win is pretty slick!

The game is on Fox this afternoon at 4:15 Pacific. Alex Cobb matches up with lefty Eric Lauer.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Walk-off win!

SF 4  ARI 3

Brandon Crawford slashed a liner to right to drive in Brandon Belt in the bottom of the 9th and the Giants edged out the D-backs to take the series. That's the fourth walk-off win this season against six walk-off losses. The Giants are now 11-18 in one-run games.

It was a bullpen game today and they did great. Sam Long got banged around in the 2nd for two but it could have been much worse. He made some big pitches to limit the damage. He gave up a solo shot in the 3rd and that was it. Everyone else had a clean outing: John Brebbia opened, Tyler Rogers followed Long with 2-1/3 IP, Jarlín García got the next six outs, and Mauricio Llovera and Camilo Doval handled the final two frames. The early 3-0 lead seemed to let the air out of the Giants tires but they recovered and rallied late, scoring in each of the last three innings to get the win.

Arizona starter Zac Gallen stymied the offense until the 7th when Belt homered with one out. Thairo Estrada singled, Mike Yastrzemski doubled, and David Villar hit a sac fly to get within a run. BCraw then whiffed to end the threat. Wilmer Flores, pinch-hitting in the 8th, homered to tie the game. In the 9th Belt led off with a single, Yaz again doubled to put men on 2nd and 3rd, Villar was walked, and BCraw got a chance to be the hero and he delivered. He was having a rough week up until that big hit.

The Milwaukee Brewers come to town for a four-game set starting tomorrow night at 6:45 Pacific. Then it's the All-Star Break. Carlos Rodón will start for the Giants tomorrow against Brewers ace Corbin Burnes. Rodón is tied for the MLB lead in fWAR (3.7) with Kevin Gausman, and also has 124 K in 100 IP! Burnes was the NL Cy Young Award winner last season. Should be a great matchup.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

 

p.s. Rodón was named to the NL AS squad when Brewers reliever Josh Hader opted out. Burnes was already on the team. You could make a case for Logan Webb, don't you think?

Giants bust out

SF 13  ARI 0

After a lackluster showing on Monday night (4-3 loss) the Giants piled on against Dallas Keuchel and the D-Backs with 14 hits including four home runs. Yermin Mercedes finally had his own breakout with a three-hit, 4-RBI showing which included a double and a homer. He's here for his big bat and I hope we get to see more of that. Thairo Estrada had two homers and--good news--Joey Bart had two hits and a homer. The game featured a Little League sequence in the bottom of the 1st when David Villar's fly ball was misplayed into a triple and then an overthrow sent him home. It made a 1-0 game 4-0 and the rout was on.

Logan Webb went the first six and fanned eight against five hits and two walks. Webb's 2.5 fWAR is 12th in MLB, just behind Justin Verlander and Corbin Burnes. How's that for elite company? His 3.01 FIP puts him 11th and his 2.82 ERA is 17th. Baseball-Reference has Webb 6th at 3.4 bWAR. He's also 5th in IP with 111-2/3 but has allowed only 7 HR and 26 BB. Quality and quantity! I should note that young Logan is only 25 and his arb-clock starts next year. He's a free agent in 2026.

It's a bullpen game this afternoon (12:45 PT) and John Brebbia will open things.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Fired-up Giants flatten Pads

SF 12  SD 0

Alex Wood had his best start of the season, throwing seven scoreless innings allowing only three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. He was in command the entire time and was efficient, 83 pitches total, and got nine ground ball outs. That's a good thing to see. Wood has been struggling late in his starts and not getting into or through the 6th but today in San Diego he had plenty of gas and plenty of focus. I thought he might get a shot in the 8th but it was smart to sit him down and not let his best effort go bad. Yunior Marte put a guy on in his first frame and loaded the bases in the 9th but saved himself with strikeouts to keep the shutout intact. The starting pitchers were awesome in this series: 24 IP and a mere two runs allowed.

But the lineup stole the thunder today. They banged out 17 hits and scored in double digits for the first time since the 21st of June. Wilmer Flores had the ultra-clutch two-run homer in yesterday's Rodónian masterpiece. He topped that with an epic performance today, rapping out four hits including two homers and four runs batted in. Wilmer is one of those guys you have to follow regularly to appreciate what a fine ballplayer he is and how much he helps the club.

Mackenzie Gore is a very impressive kid and has pitched well but the Giants clobbered him today. Thairo Estrada hit a two-run homer (nice to have him back) in the 2nd to get it started and the floodgates opened after that. Austin Slater, David Villar, Mike Yastrzemski, and Luis González all had two hits. Joey Bart had a hit, two walks, and a run scored.

We all know the Giants need a spark. A lift. Some inspiration. Carlos Rodón delivered that yesterday with an assist from Wilmer Flores. Alex Wood did it today--again with lots of help from Wilmer Flores. Wilmer's teammates stepped up as well and that's pretty damn inspiring, too. Let's hope the team can keep the good vibes flowing.

They are at home tomorrow night and play the Diamondbacks at 6:45 Pacific. Alex Cobb gets the ball.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Beast Mode

SF 3  SD 1

Carlos Rodón channeled his inner beast this afternoon in San Diego. He dazzled the national TV audience with a blazing four-seamer and a wicked slider that the Padres could not touch. He got 27 swings-and-misses out of 79 total strikes thrown! It was the first complete game by a Giants pitcher since Anthony DeSclafani in July of last season and it came at a most opportune time. Friday night featured a great matchup with Joe Musgrove and Logan Webb, today Yu Darvish started for the Padres and dominated the Giants for seven innings. Both Darvish and Rodón were shaky early, putting runners on in the 2nd inning and giving up a run on an out. Both pitchers flirted with danger but wriggled out of it and then proceeded to mow down the opposing hitters.

In the 8th Padres manager and our old friend Bob Melvin decided Darvish's 101 pitches were enough and he summoned well-traveled veteran righty Luis García. He'd only allowed one homer in 32-2/3 IP but that didn't stop Wilmer Flores from jacking one to give the Giants the lead. Joc Pederson walked with one out and Wilmer showed off all of his veteran savvy clutchness by waiting on a big breaking ball and launching it over the LF wall. Wilmer had hit the same pitch earlier in the at-bat for a long foul homer and you could see him get that "if he throws it again I'm gonna smack it" look and sure enough that's what happened.

Rodón came out for the 9th at 99 pitches and took care of the first two batters quickly. Jake Cronenworth whiffed on four pitches and Manny Machado grounded out to short on the second pitch, a beautiful curve ball that had him out in front. Machado had already struck out three times against Rodón, waving at fastballs and sliders well out of the zone. He saved that curve for when he really needed it! Rodón then walked Luke Voit on four pitches but got Jorge Alfaro 1-2-3 on pure 98-mph gas. It was his 12th strikeout.

The Giants get their 42nd win and avoid the ignominy of falling below .500 for the season. It was the kind of game that gives you hope they are going to turn things around and start playing better baseball. I was saying that this team needed a spark and a performance like we saw today--Beast Mode--could be just the thing.

Alex Wood gets the ball in the final with a chance to even the series tomorrow at 1:10 Pacific. Mackenzie Gore goes for the Padres.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Halfway

SD 2  SF 1 (10)

It was a tight pitching contest between two really great young arms that got decided by the bullpens in extras. Logan Webb allowed only a solo shot to Manny Machado in eight innings. Joe Musgrove allowed only one hit and no runs in his seven frames. FanGraphs has them neck-and-neck in WAR, Musgrove 13th at 2.4 and Webb 14th at 2.3. Only Sandy Alcantara (56.5%) and the ridiculous Framber Valdez (66.9%) are better than Webb (56.0%) at inducing ground balls. Last night Logan had 10 outs on the ground and 10 from fly balls.

Trailing 1-0 in the 9th the Giants got a big two-out hit from Brandon Crawford off Taylor Rogers to tie the game. Mauricio Llovera dazzled in the bottom of the inning to send it to the 10th but the Giants couldn't get anything going and the Padres walked off against Jarlín Garcia in their half.

The Giants are 41-40 at the halfway point in the season. 81 games remain. After a 13-5 start they've gone 28-35 (.444). Here's an interesting look at the team's struggles: they've allowed 358 runs which is exactly league average at 4.42 rpg, but their team ERA is 4.04 and the team FIP is 3.43, fourth-best in MLB. So the pitchers are throwing strikes, suppressing homers and walks, and getting ground balls, but it's not working. They are only league average at getting strikeouts and they are really bad at turning balls in play into outs. We've all seen the fielding lapses and so the gap between runs and earned runs isn't too hard to fathom. FIP is almost a run lower than the results which also suggests the fielders are (mostly) the culprits.

The lineup gets a lot of walks (304, 3rd-most in MLB) but there's not enough thump to turn base runners into runs scored. And there are too many holes. Injuries keep taking out the hottest hitters and too many of the regulars are performing well below expectations. The trade deadline is August 2nd and I'm sure the fans expect some movement from the front office to shore things up. The problem is I don't see an impact player out there that will move the needle enough for this team. They unfortunately just have to play better baseball! And by the end of this month the team could be sellers instead of buyers but I don't really want to think about that.

Right now they've got three more games in San Diego and they need to win some of them. Sam Long opens tonight at 6:40 PT.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Giants snap streak

SF 7  ARI 5

The Giants came from behind to win their first game in the month of July! Whew. The losing streak ends at six (that's the second six-game losing streak of the season). Tonight's game against the Padres in San Diego (6:40 PT) marks the half-way point--game 81. Logan Webb matches up with Joe Musgrove.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Bumbling Giants Swept Away

The Chicago White Sox feasted on the Giants this weekend and almost got themselves back to a .500 record. Meanwhile the Giants are watching their season slip slowly away. That is if they don't get their act together soon.

A taut 1-0 loss on Friday night was just more frustration at a weakened-to-the-point-of-ineffectiveness lineup. At least Alex Cobb had a decent start. A 5-3 loss on Saturday was a waste of an effective Logan Webb. The fielding could be blamed for at least three and maybe all of the runs allowed. Webb's pitching is a highlight in a season with few individual standouts.Today it was almost as if the Giants didn't show up at all. (Sorry, Ron!) A 13-4 pasting completed the sweep. It was a bad look on a Sunday, don't you think?

It's a patchwork club. Too many guys are out (Anthony DeSclafani is having surgery) and the ones back in just aren't performing well enough. And the depth guys aren't picking up the slack, something we didn't see last season. Every single spot had a competent major-leaguer in 2021 and it looks like that's not true in 2022.

This team needs a spark. The half-way point--game 81--is on Thursday and of course the All-Star Break is nigh (July 18). Someone needs to step up. Make that someones. They need to to get their mojo back.

Tomorrow's game is in Arizona and starts at 3:10 Pacific. Carlos Rodón faces off with our old friend Madison Bumgarner. Rodón has pitched really well overall and has been in a good place lately so let's hope that continues.

Go Giants! Happy Fourth!

--M.C.