It was a shitty debut for the 2026 Giants. The Yankees were all over Logan Webb. And the lineup was feeble (2 hits) against Max Fried. But the bullpen (Keaton Winn, JT Brubaker, and Caleb Kilian) was excellent. And FNG Luis Arráez had a good night with a leadoff walk, a late base hit, and some nice glove work. Aaron Judge (0-for-5) struck out four times, all three against Webb* and one against Winn. Camilo Doval finished the game.
Tomorrow is an off-day. Robbie Ray will get the start on Friday afternoon at 1:35 Pacific.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
*1,000 career strikeouts for Webb
Caleb Kilian is a "one L" guy. I have been spelling his last name incorrectly. It is KILIAN.
ReplyDeleteHave the giant fallen victim to the curse of Matos? I looked up most similar batters to Matos through age 23. The number one most similar player was George foster. That should tell us something. I already plan to wear my Matos mania jersey to the next giants game I go to!
ReplyDeleteEven worse game 2. Same line-up vs. lefty game one and righty game 2. That is what the fans wanted who wanted Kapler gone. I guess a 107 win season this year for the non-platooning giants is very unlikely.
ReplyDeleteBleah indeed. Two underwhelming games to start the season…so let’s talk about something else.
ReplyDeleteOpening Day.
The first 8 or so seasons of the new stadium I tried to get opening day tickets, but it was a very difficult ticket to get. I was never able to get tickets from the Giants (resale prices were high and out of the budget at the time). Then I moved out of the bay, opening day tickets remained hard to get.
For both of the first two games this season I recieved day of game emails from the Giants saying there were tickets still available.
I found that to be disappointing.
The Giants had many sellouts when the park opened in 2000 (years?). It was new and exciting and brought a different crowd than Candlestick (oh, and Bonds HRs helped).
Then the Giants had their 2010-2017 record sell out streak (fuzzy math be damned:
http://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/SF-Giants-sellout-streak-a-numbers-game-3882485.php).
It’s disappointing that the Giants could barely sell out opening night and opening day.
Even with the Giants opening the season at home (which seems unfortunately rare).
…and excitement around the PoBO.
…and excitement about Coach V.
…and playing the Yankees.
…and a crap ton of Yankee fans buying tickets (there was way too many pin stripes at the game).
…and with the Giants having an (arguably) pretty darn good/solid/complete starting lineup. By that I mean, they have a ‘guy’ at every position. No fourth outfielder or utility man or platoon players starting. The Giants went out and signed a guy for every position.
I guess that is just the reality of a perennial .500 team without a shiny new stadium or Home run record chase or recent history of championships. Humm, I guess that doesn’t sound too bad.
Maybe I should be more grateful for the last 26 seasons. Maybe I’m just bitter that opening day tickets are easier to get now that I have moved away….
This should be a better team. They should have been better last year!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's clear the Giants need an exciting 24-year old. This is a veteran team and it could use a dose of youth.
We had season tickets when the park opened. They were a hot item for the first few years. Then we practically had to pay people to take them off our hands! Fans are fickle and there's lots of other stuff to do besides go to ballgames.
ReplyDeleteWe were lucky to go to Opening Day after each of the championship years (2011, 2013, 2015). Watching those "flags fly" was a hell of a lotta fun! Made up for all those seasons freezing (or getting sunburned) in the LF bleachers at Candlestick.
Haven't been to a big league game in years. Occasional college and or minors now and then. I follow baseball "at a distance" these days!
If I’m being glass half full; Arraez had some really nice plays on defense during Fridays game.
ReplyDeleteSo much was made of his below average defense when he was signed. It was fun to see him do well in the field. Hopefully it keeps his confidence up (as if a batting champ has a confidence issue) and his solid defense play continues this year.
I thought there was a play that Koss or Fitzgerald may have gotten to, and it got by Arraez. Could be wrong. In game 2, Adames should have been charged with an error on that ground ball to short. Maybe the reversal of a key strike to Judge rattled our starter. 4 hits in 2 games. I thought this team was going to hone in on the strike zone. Guys are still flailing at pitches way out of the strike zone.
DeleteYeah it looks too much like 2025. Anyway, let's see some better stuff today!!
ReplyDelete