The 2021 Giants, part 2

I've said it before and I repeated it in my last post: this is the most interesting Giants team in my tenure as a fan. What's so interesting? Let's start with the manager, Gabe Kapler. This is a man who leaves nothing to chance. Every action has a purpose. Even warm-up tosses are conscious, deliberate acts with clear outcomes. This approach, at first blush, seems too hands-on for pro athletes and more suited to working with elementary school kids. But Kapler believes that every athlete (every person, in fact) can learn, adapt, and grow. Practice isn't just drills. It's a personal improvement plan. Kap's forte is player development, and he believes that this process happens continuously and throughout all the things that happen in the season from Spring Training to the playoffs to the layoffs.

Kapler is also match-up obsessed. He believes that every encounter can be maximized and that even the tiniest increment in your favor is worth pursuing. It drove the old-school purists in Philadelphia crazy, and to Kap's credit he adjusted his schemes when he came to San Francisco. Mostly, he asked the veteran players for buy-in beforehand and they were professional enough (and hungry enough for increasingly elusive success) to meet him halfway. The result? Career resurgences for BCraw, Belt, Buster, and Longo, and a rejuvenated nucleus of veteran leaders to build a team around.

Ron put it crudely in the comments: "making Lemonade out of Lemons." I have to counter that notion just a bit: there are no "lemons" in a Gabe Kapler organization! The baseball world may look at the Giants lineup of no-names and think the team was scraped together by dumpster-diving and somehow these marginal players were transformed by SF secret sauce into winners. It's a nice narrative, but it's bullshit. Kap respects professional baseball players. He knows they are talented and ambitious. He sees what they CAN do and not what they CAN'T do. Very few players reach the heights of someone like Mookie Betts or Max Scherzer. The vast majority of players will never be superstars. MOST ballplayers are more like Darin Ruf and Jose Alvarez! What the Giants do is recognize what contributions their players CAN make and so they maximize their chances to make those contributions. Moreover, they provide the coaching and instructional support to help players work on the things they need to work on.

Giants players noted all season long Kap's willingness to listen. Kap, in turn, noted again and again how unselfish the players were in accepting whatever role the team needed from them. I think the skipper gets a lot of credit for creating that culture. One thing that stood out for me: if a reliever blew up in a crucial spot in a game Kap would put him back out there in a key spot in the next game. It was a message that said "we trust you and we have your back." It seems like really simple schoolyard stuff but it makes a huge deal in a teaching environment. The clubhouse was as much a classroom as the playing field.

Have you ever seen a manager pinch-hit for a guy that was 2-for-2 with a homer? Or sit a guy with the game-winning homer the previous night? It happened all season long! And the hitters never bitched or whined. They knew the system was working for them individually and for the team as a whole. The 2021 Giants had few regulars. They platooned like they invented platooning. They looked like a hockey team some nights the way they ran through the line changes. That's not supposed to work. You're supposed to plug in your All-Stars every day in the same spots on the field and in the lineup and go with that all season long. This Giants team didn't do that. They used all forty men on their 40-man roster. It was a team in the true sense of the word.

I find all this modern stuff really interesting. I've really enjoyed the emergence of analytics, for example. I feel like all that stuff just enriches and enlarges my appreciation of the game. And now Kapler comes along and says things like "trust the process." Imagine a manager saying that back in the day. They would have thought he was a fruit loop who belonged at Esalen instead of MLB! Kap comes up with stuff that sounds like it emerged from a Bayesian workflow seminar instead of a coaches meeting.

In the end, the Giants won 109 games.

--M.C.

Win #10

SF 2  PHI 0

The Giants throw their second straight shutout, this time against a tenacious Phillies linuep, and win their tenth game of the season. Last year they didn't get their tenth win until their 26th game. The three seasons before that? I'm glad you asked. The 2019 Giants needed 24 games, the 2018 Giants needed 22 games, and the 2017 Giants needed 27 games to get to ten wins. This team notched its tenth win in its 16th game! They have now thrown four shutouts in those 16 games. If you like low-scoring baseball and nail-biting games then the Giants are your team.

Kevin Gausman had some command issues and the Phillies put pressure on him every inning but he still kept them off the board. He allowed six hits and four walks but got the big outs in the crucial spots. After 108 pitches to 28 batters he was done after six frames. Kapler was in a bit of a bind, being without Jake McGee and Tyler Rogers, so he called on struggling Matt Wisler for the 7th and the righty managed an effective 1-2-3. The Giants need Wisler and I'm happy to see him get good outcomes, especially against the meat of the lineup: Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, and J.T. Realmuto. Rookie Camilo Doval got the call in the 8th and he also put up a zero despite yielding his first hit. Ballsy move from Kap to dip into the well two days in a row but the kid pulled it off. In the 9th Wandy Peralta took the hill and got the final three batters on 12 pitches. Peralta has had his ups and downs but he has some serious weapons and I think the Giants are going to keep asking him to get big outs late in games. That's his second save.

Giants hitters struck out 12 times, continuing their misery, and were 1-for-8 with RISP. Fortunately the one hit was a Brandon Belt two-run homer in the 3rd. It would be nice to see the Giants win some games by comfortable margins. But I'll take any kind of wins, really!

Logan Webb tomorrow at 4:05 PDT.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

 

p.s. Gabe Kapler, who managed for two seasons ('18-'19) in Philly before coming to SF, managed his 400th game tonight. His teams have a combined record of 200 wins and 200 losses. Phillies beat writer Matt Gelb tweeted that's the first time that's happened in ML history, that a manager has gone 200-200 in his first 400 games. Don't you just love weird baseball stats?

It's Over

SD 5  SF 4

The Giants were done after that bone-crushing loss in the final inning on Friday night. Yesterday they showed some spunk but not enough to challenge for a win, and today they fought back gamely but could not conjure up the victory they needed. They had some fine individual efforts over the last two days, but they did not have the team-wide x-factor they needed to finish strong, especially against a much more talented club. I had one goal for this team: improve. But, I had a yardstick: play .500 ball. They didn't measure up, but they certainly improved. I think FZ, Kap, and the players deserve a lot of credit for exceeding expectations and playing meaningful games until the bitter end.

And it was a bitter end. On Wednesday the Giants found themselves in an unexpected place: in charge of their post-season destiny. I didn't write much about the team's post-season chances because even at their highest point I considered them slim, and I viewed a seeding in the tournament as a bonus, not a goal. Alas, they really were close--they really did have a strong chance. In fact, all the other teams helped them out today--a win would have assured them a playoff spot! But that loss on Thursday set them back. Despite a great effort in the double-header on Friday they came out with another brutal defeat, a real shoulda-coulda-woulda kinda game. As I said at the top, I think that finished them.

The Giants had to play 26 games against three of the best teams in baseball this year, the A's, the Dodgers, and the Padres. They were 7-19 against them, a .269 percentage! They were 22-12 (.647) against the rest of their opponents and finish 29-31 or a .483 mark. That's better than 2019 (.475), 2018 (.451), and 2017 (.395) Those were full 162-game campaigns so I know it's not an entirely fair comparison, but I'm looking for improvement.

If you want to be a good team, you have to play better against other good teams, and that's an obvious goal for next year. But we'll talk about next season later. This season was weird, of course, but I'm really happy we got to have a season at all. Sports without fans in the stands is bizarre, but I'll enjoy the post-season even if I won't follow it too closely. I'll certainly watch the World Series.

I suspect lots of things will be different about baseball going forward. I suspect we'll have lots to talk about in the coming months. As always,

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Complete Game!

SF 5  AZ 1

Southpaw Tyler Anderson pitched his best game of the season so far, and in fact his best game in years, perhaps his best ever. Tonight's three-hitter was his first career complete game in his 76th career start. He pitched the best game of the season so far for the Giants, that's for sure. The Giants had one complete game last season, a five-inning rain-shortened outing from Derek Holland which they lost 3-1 to the Pirates. The last time they had a real complete game was in 2018 when Chris Stratton threw a two-hitter and beat (believe it or not) Tyler Anderson and the Rockies 2-0.

Anderson took a one-hitter into the 7th with the Giants up 1-0, but a throwing error by Brandon Crawford put Ketel Marte on and he eventually scored the tying run. It was a frustrating moment as Arizona starter Zac Gallen was putting up zeroes of his own. Gallen walked the first three batters he faced but got a double play grounder from Brandon Belt (that scored a run) and then struck out Evan Longoria. You know those blown chances always come back to hurt the team. But Belt got a big hit in the bottom of the 7th in a weird inning that saw the Giants grind out four runs, the highlight a booming double by Joey Bart that was almost a homer.

Gabe Kapler deserves a lot of credit for sticking with Anderson in the 9th. The first batter hit a double (Ketel Marte again) but Kap stayed in the dugout and let his starter go. Anderson finished with 103 pitches so he'd worked efficiently all game long. Kap also started Chadwick Tromp at catcher and he obviously got in a good groove with Anderson and even got a base hit. Bart pinch-hit in that crucial 7th and that paid off, he also wound up scoring, and of course he caught the final six outs. Mauricio Dubon also pinch-hit in that inning and walked and scored, then took over center field from Steven Duggar (who was 1-for-2). So, a couple of smaller moves worked as well, it seems that Kap is getting into a better rhythm with his players and his substitutions.

But it all goes back to Tyler Anderson who really performed superbly tonight and that meant the Giants could be patient and wear down the other side, which they did with another fine team effort. Despite the BCraw error the Giants also got excellent defense with a great catch by Mike Yastrzemski in RF and a fine play from Alex Dickerson in LF. This lineup is showing a lot of patience (8 walks, 148 pitches) and fortitude lately, and I keep thinking "who are these guys?"

They are the San Francisco Giants, that's who, winners of five in a row. Tomorrow at 1:10 p.m. PDT it is Trevor Cahill with a rested bullpen and an off-day on Monday.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Three in a row!

SF 10  LAA 5

The Giants jumped on the Angels young lefty starter (Jose Suarez) for two runs in the 1st and then piled on four more in the 2nd off him and reliever Matt Andriese. The Giants added two more in the 3rd, one in the 4th, and another in the 6th off Julio Teheran. Wilmer Flores had three of the lineup's 12 hits and drove in four runs. Austin Slater had two hits and two runs scored as did Brandon Crawford who is looking better every day. Joey Bart was 1-for-4 with a double in his debut. Gabe Kapler pinch-hit Alex Dickerson for Darin Ruf in the 2nd inning (he was 0-for-1) to get a platoon advantage with the bases loaded and it worked as Dick walked to drive in a run. He drove in another with a sac fly in the 6th.

Kevin Gausman was charged with four runs in his 5-1/3 but struck out eight with only one walk. Sam Selman finished the 6th. Shaun Anderson made a bunch of new friends by throwing high heat to Mike Trout to open the 7th. Angels manager Joe Maddon flipped out after Anderson's pitch and you could hear him drop the f-bomb on the radio. The umpires issued the warnings and Trout promptly tripled, just missing a homer. He wound up scoring after Anderson loaded the bases with two outs and Wandy Peralta walked him in. That was the tensest the game got. Peralta got the strikeout to end the frame and then pitched a clean 8th. Jarlin Garcia threw 11 pitches (9 strikes) to close it out.

Just another routine Giants victory! 11-16 (.407) may not look like much but its better than the Royals, the Tigers, the Red Sox, the Angels, the Mariners, and the Pirates. The Arizona Diamondbacks come to San Francisco for three games, tomorrow night is at 6:45 Pacific.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

 

p.s. Logan Webb, Tyler Anderson, and Trevor Cahill this weekend.

Comeback!

 SF 7  HOU 6 (10)

I almost titled this one "Gabe Kapler's a Genius" but that would be a bit much. The skipper does deserve a nod for getting Hunter Pence into the game against rookie lefty Blake Taylor in the 7th. The three-run pinch-homer turned an apparent 6-2 rout into a 6-5 nail-biter. Pence raised his average to .118 with another big hit in the 9th that set up Darin Ruf's game-tying hit. Ruf came in as a pinch-hitter in the 7th like Pence. The Giants got a "magic runner" in the 10th and got him home to make it 7-6 but were feeling like they should have scored more. In another Kap-move, Tyler Rogers was tasked with the save. He struck out Carlos Correa and Kyle Tucker to end it. Can you imagine the heat Kapler would have taken if Rogers had blown it again? And he has stuck with Pence despite the horrid start--they need the vets (BCraw, Belt, Longo, Panda) to step up.

Tyler Anderson started and gave up four runs in five innings, but the real hurt was Rico Garcia giving up two more in the next frame. After that the 'pen was tough, allowing no hits but yielding four walks, and of course no runs. Shaun Anderson got a little help when Tyler Heineman threw out a runner at third to end the 8th. The Giants have hurt themselves in the field this season so it is good when they can execute and get a big out.

It's been a very tough road trip but the Giants can at least say they won a game in each park. Tomorrow they face Zack Greinke at 4:10 p.m. PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Ouch

LA 6  SF 2

Tyler Rogers had one job: keep the ball in the yard. He hadn't allowed a homer in 2020, despite inconsistent work, but streaks like that don't last. I wonder if the Rogers experiment might need re-thinking. It was certainly an intriguing idea, that a submariner could work both sides of the plate, get a lot of ground balls, and do multiple-inning stints. I was all for it, in fact. Unfortunately the results haven't been there for Rogers. Today he gave up a hit, got a strikeout, and then got tagged with the big three-run bomb. Overall for 2020 he's faced 43 batters in 8-1/3 IP (9 appearances), yielding 12 hits and 11 runs with two walks, three hit batters, and six strikeouts.

Gabe Kapler will likely take some heat for pulling Kevin Gausman with one out and one on in the 7th. He dominated a tough LA lineup with a sizzling fastball through six innings and then gave up a long fly out to Mookie Betts to start the next frame and a single to Cody Bellinger. Kap had seen enough even though it was only 80 pitches (Gausman had thrown 83 in Colorado in his last start). You have to figure they are being really careful about stretching out their starters. Gausman is one of those guys who seems to have all the parts but the sum hasn't always been there. The Braves dumped him after a very poor start last season and the Reds gave him a shot but kept him in the bullpen. The Giants took a chance on his live arm and, I think today, tried to protect him from that "third time through the lineup penalty." It didn't work out. Like I said Kap will get some heat for sticking to his saber-script instead of going with his gut but it was a defensible move. Rogers needed to execute in that situation and unfortunately did not. Gausman records the Giants first "quality start" (6-1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K) of 2020.

The Giants offense couldn't really get anything going against Walker Buehler and the Dodgers relief corps. Mike Yastrzemski got a clutch two-out two-run single, but that was it. The Giants bullpen fell apart in the 8th and LA cruised to a win in a game that looked like the Giants might sneak away with.

Giants head for Houston tonight and play tomorrow at 6:10 p.m. PDT.

--M.C.

 

p.s. I should note that Yankees manager Aaron Boone had a similar decision today, his starter James Paxton had a 3-0 lead over the Rays after six and he let him come out to pitch for the 7th. Result? Double, out, homer, homer and a 3-3 tie! Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Giants chase Kershaw

SF 5  LA 4

It's not often the Giants get the better of Clayton Kershaw but they did just that in LA tonight. In the 3rd inning Austin Slater and Mike Yastrzemski hit homers off the big lefty to make it 2-0 Giants. In the 5th, Slater hit another bomb and doubles by Donovan Solano and Yaz made it 4-0 and that was it for Kershaw. Meanwhile Johnny Cueto no-hit the Dodgers through five. In the top of the 6th, Hunter Pence got a hit (only his second of the season!) and came around to score later on a sacrifice fly by Mauricio Dubon. That would be a crucial run. Pence blew a routine fly ball (lost in the lights?) to open the bottom of the 6th. It turned into a triple and the next batter drove in the run with a ground out. Cueto then lost it, walking the next two batters. He probably should have come out then (his pitch count was up to 90) but with a 5-1 lead and an over-worked bullpen Kap let him pitch to Justin Turner. A 400-foot 3-run homer ended Cueto's night but Tony Watson got the last out of the inning and the bullpen did the rest. Tyler Rogers got the next six outs and Trevor Gott held his nerve against the heart of the order in the 9th to get the save.

The Giants have had really poor starting pitching so far this year and it looked like JohnnyC was going to fix that problem. He did just that for five innings but the "third time through the lineup penalty" bit him on the ass. The unfortunate misplay by Pence that ended the no-hit bid was a gut punch and certainly did not help. But the walks have been an issue so far for Cueto (9 in 18-1/3 IP) and they hurt him tonight. He does appear to be getting stronger and starting to look more like his old self and that is certainly good news. Slater's emergence as a hitter is also good news. He's slashing .310/.394/.586 so far!

Kevin Gausman tomorrow afternoon (1:10 PDT).

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Eight

I'm assuming the Giants will have an 8-man bullpen. Obviously at least one of those guys will be long relief/spot starter. And we may see the "opener" strategy used as well so that may impact who gets picked. As always, take a look at the contract status and number of options remaining. Sometimes that's the only difference between a guy who makes the cut and one who does not.

Tony Watson is a lock. He's signed for the season at $3M. Fellow southpaw Wandy Peralta is also signed ($0.8M) for 2020 and will certainly open the season with the big club. He was claimed off waivers last September. Lefty Jarlin Garcia is another waiver claim that will likely make the team. Both guys have flashed strikeout stuff in Spring Training.

Righties Trevor Gott and Tyler Rogers (the submariner) will probably be there, too, as manager Gabe Kapler mentioned they were both important bullpen pieces. Jandel Gustave was sent down and he seemed to be in the running for one of the remaining three spots.

Roster Resource likes Shaun Anderson, Sam Coonrod, and Dany Jimenez. Anderson might be anything from an opener to a closer but is still only 25 years old. Coonrod has been hit hard so far and that might open a path for someone like Enderson Franco or Carlos Navas. Dany Jimenez is a Rule V pick from December so if he makes the roster he has to stay on it. He can't be optioned (even though he has three options) and must be waived to clear the spot. He is 26 and has 200 IP of pro ball (no ML time) experience. He is a strikeout artist (11.7 K/9) and has been used as a closer.

--M.C.