Giants homer past Padres

SF 3  SD 2

The Giants hit three solo home runs--Darin Ruf in the 2nd, Evan Longoria in the 4th, and Mike Yastrzemski in the 7th--and that was just enough to beat the Padres tonight in San Diego. Yaz had been scratched from the starting lineup but pinch-hit for Caleb Baragar with the game tied and got the big blow. Presumably his hand injury was acting up. He was hit by a pitch in the last Cactus League game and had been struggling at the plate in the early going. It was a dramatic blast but the win tonight really belonged to the pitchers. The lineup had a couple of other chances to score but could not get a clutch RBI and thus the bullpen had to step up.

Anthony DeSclafani got through the first five innings, yielding four hits and three walks on 86 pitches (23 batters), and got pipped for one run in the 2nd on a two-out hit. He showed a lot of grit and determination in the 4th to stymie a rally and got two big strikeouts to end the 5th, shutting down another big chance for the Padres. After that it was Matt Wisler who gave up the tying run on a triple that probably should have been caught in right-center. Mauricio Dubon and Austin Slater miscommunicated and it cost the Giants a big run. Caleb Baragar finished the 6th, and Reyes Moronta got three ground ball outs in the 7th. Tyler Rogers had a clean 8th and Jake McGee pulled off the save in the 9th. He put two guys on with two outs and gave up a long fly ball but it stayed in the park and the Giants had a satisfying, if nail-biting, win.

The Padres lost their superstar shortstop, Fernando Tatis, on a weird play. He struck out in the 3rd and fell down after the swing, grabbing his left arm. He was replaced by former KBO star Ha-Seong Kim. Tatis is of course a big part of San Diego's future, let's hope he isn't seriously hurt.

Aaron Sanchez gets the ball tomorrow at 7:10 Pacific and faces Yu Darvish.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Skunked

SEA 4  SF 0

Nothing but zeroes last night. Seattle starter Chris Flexen and his bullpen mates stymied the Giants hitting attack and the Mariners prevailed. Donovan Solano had two hits of course, but he also struck out twice, and that was the story as the lineup whiffed a total of 12 times. Logan Webb went 5-1/3 and allowed seven hits, three walks, and three runs on 97 pitches (25 batters). Reyes Moronta gave up the final run, a solo shot to the first batter, but otherwise was sharp, and both Matt Wisler and Jose Alvarez pitched well.

On to San Diego where Anthony DeSclafani gets the start Monday night, 7:10 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Much Better

SF 6  SEA 3

The Giants played a good game for seven innings on Thursday and last night they played a good game for all nine innings and notched their first win of the 2021 season. Johnny Cueto labored into the 6th and kept the ball in the yard and the team in the game. His final line was 5-2/3 IP with 6 hits and 3 walks with 3 runs allowed but it took 107 pitches and 24 batters to get there. It wasn't pretty but it was effective (7 K, 2 DP) and the Giants fought back from their 3-1 deficit to tie it in the top of the 6th and take the lead for good in the 7th. Buster Posey jacked another homer for the team's first run and Evan Longoria knocked a two-run bomb to tie it and added the go-ahead RBI later. Donovan Solano got the big hit, a two-run double that sealed the deal.

Speaking of sealing the deal, Wandy Peralta was summoned with two outs and the bases empty after Kap pulled Cueto in the 6th and he sparkled. He retired the next four batters on 17 pitches with two whiffs and gave the team a big lift. Tyler Rogers scared us all in the 8th by walking the first hitter and going 3-1 on the next guy. Then he got a tricky grounder that Solano made a good play on, followed by a comebacker and a strikeout. We all breathed a sigh of relief. Jack McGee had an effortless 9th: 11 pitches, 9 strikes, two whiffs.

Logan Webb tonight, an hour earlier at 6:10 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Craziness in Seattle

SEA 8  SF 7 (10)

The Giants combined a superb start from Kevin Gausman with a spectacular late-inning collapse to create a dramatic extra-inning opener in Seattle. Maybe "ugly" is a better word than "dramatic." Perhaps you might accept "weird." It looked like the Giants were cruising, up 6-1 in the 8th, but a whole bunch of bad stuff happened in the bottom half and it was suddenly 7-6 Mariners. Let's rewind a bit.

Kevin Gausman had a fine debut, shutting down the Mariners on two hits and one run over 6-2/3 innings. He had excellent command of his fastball and threw his splitter for strikes. He walked two and struck out six and induced a lot of weak contact. He threw 90 pitches to 24 batters.

The lineup delivered impressively as well, racking up ten hits (six for extra bases) and working four walks. Evan Longoria belted a solo homer off Seattle starter Marco Gonzalez in the 2nd, and Buster Posey added his own in the same frame. Wilmer Flores doubled home Donovan Solano in the 4th, Austin Slater popped a solo shot in the 5th, and Brandon Belt added an RBI single three batters later, driving in Solano. Flores scored an unearned run in the 8th after his second double and it was a five-run lead for the visitors.

Back to the horrid debacle. Matt Wisler opened the 8th with a walk. After two hits and a run scored he was out, and in came Jarlin Garcia. He made a mess of it with two more walks sandwiched around a strikeout. In came Tyler Rogers who gave up a double to the first man he faced and it was suddenly a 6-5 nail-biter. He then hit the next batter which loaded the bases. On the next play Brandon Belt made a throwing error on a ground ball that could have been an inning-ending DP. The Mariners, impossibly, had a 7-6 lead.

But, the Giants have a deep bench. Alex Dickerson, pinch-hitting for Slater, bopped a homer in the 9th to rescue the evening and make it 7-7. At least it gave us all hope. Jake McGee put up a zero but the Giants, despite the automatic runner in the top of the 10th, failed to break the tie. That gave the Mariners a shot against Jose Alvarez with their automatic runner and they pushed across the winner without swinging the bat. Alvarez walked the three batters he faced! Seven walks and a hit batsmen for the bullpen tonight, not to mention seven runs allowed. My goodness, that's as bad as it gets. I'm going to focus on the good stuff, like the start by Gausman and the strong attack by the hitters. Tomorrow is another day.

Johnny Cueto at 7:10 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Final roster

 

The taxi squad will consist of LHP Conner Menez, RHPs Trevor Gott and Nick Tropeano, C Chadwick Tromp, and OF LaMonte Wade, Jr. These players will be available for road trips and can be "called up" for action immediately if someone on the active roster is injured. It does not impact their contract status or count as an option.

--M.C.

26

The Giants will open the season with 13 pitchers. The five starters are all right-handed. Southpaw Alex Wood (#57) will likely be placed on the Injured List. There are 10-day, 15-day, and 60-day assignments. The Giants have three off-days in their first twelve games. Wood, with a 15-day stint, could come off the IL for the road series in Miami starting on April 16th.

Kevin Gausman (#34), Johnny Cueto (#47), Logan Webb (#62), Anthony DeSclafani (#26), and Aaron Sanchez (#48) make up the rotation.

That makes eight spots for relievers. Five of them are lefties: Jake McGee (#17), Jarlin Garcia (#66), Jose Alvarez (#50), Wandy Peralta (#60), and Caleb Baragar (#45).

The three remaining right-handers are Reyes Moronta (#54), Matt Wisler (#37), and Tyler Rogers (#71).

That leaves 13 position players. Lefty-hitting shortstop Brandon Crawford (#35) and lefty-hitting first baseman Brandon Belt (#9) will be back for perhaps their final seasons in orange-and-black after a decade of fine work. The same could be true for veteran backstop and franchise icon Buster Posey (#28). Curt Casali (#2) will catch when Posey sits.

Evan Longoria (#10) will man third base and be backed up by lefty-hitting FNG Tommy La Stella (#18) who will also see time at second base. Donovan "Donnie Barrels" Solano (#7) will mostly man the keystone. Versatile Mauricio Dubon (#1) will see time in the infield as well as in center field. Wilmer Flores (#41) returns in his multi-position role, mostly on the left side of the infield.

Lefties Mike Yastrzemski (#5) and Alex Dickerson (#12) will be the main corner outfielders although Yaz will man center field as well. Austin Slater (#13) will see playing time in all three spots and Darin Ruf (#33) will come off the bench to play left field and likely get starts at first base.

Like last season, expect to see platoons against lefties. Marco Gonzalez starts for Seattle tomorrow so I think we'll see Slater leading off and playing left field, followed by Yaz in right, Solano at second, and Longo at third. Flores will DH with Belt, Posey, and BCraw behind him, and Dubon in center in the ninth spot. Or something like that!

Projection systems are not kind to the 2021 Giants, calling for 74-77 wins. Bettors have the under/over pegged at 75-1/2 wins. If the starting pitchers can stay healthy I think a .500+ record (82 wins) is a real possibility, even with the stiff competition in the NL West. The Dodgers have even more talent now than before, and the Padres are the most improved team in baseball. It will be a grind for the Giants, but they have good pitching depth overall even if there aren't any superstar arms, and that will be crucial this year. The team is a little thin at key positions like SS and CF so let's hope they avoid injuries in those spots. Fielding was an issue last year and in spring training so they'll have to clean up the defense to stay competitive.

I'm of course excited for Opening Day and the possibility of a full season of baseball. The first game is in Seattle against the Mariners tomorrow night at 7:10 PDT.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

p.s. I know it is hard to keep track of all the changes and all the new guys so I recommend FanGraph's ROSTER RESOURCE pages. I'm there almost every day. (I have a link in the sidebar.) Like I said before I'm glad they are putting the names on the home jerseys this year!

Logan Webb gave up a run

Heliot Ramos was selected for the Barney Nugent Award which is given to the best of the first-time-in-camp ballplayers. Ramos is only 21 and it is exciting to see his emergence. I suspect we will see him on the big league roster sometime this season. The 2017 1st-round pick went 15-for-36 with 3 doubles and 3 homers. He's been in pro ball since he was signed out of Puerto Rico at age 17 and has logged over 1100 PAs in the minors. He'll start the year in AAA-Sacramento.

But the real story of the spring, for me, is that of Logan Webb. He gave up a run against the A's today in the Giants final tune-up. (The 7-2 win gives them an 11-12 Cactus League record.) What's notable is that's the only run Webb allowed in his 17 IP across five starts. The 24-year old from Rocklin has also been in the organization since he was 17 years old and he has logged almost 400 IP in the minors. He's spent time in the bigs the last two seasons, starting 19 games, but the results haven't been there. Armed with a new change-up he's elevated his game and secured a spot in the starting rotation. Webb will pitch on Saturday against the Mariners in Seattle.

Kervin Castro was another spring standout. The 22-year old right-handed starter from Venezuela has yet to pitch above low-A ball and will probably be assigned to the new high-A affiliate in Eugene. Here's the word from Kap:

"That is a future Major League pitcher," Kapler said after Castro posted a quick, 1-2-3 inning against the Padres on March 5. "That pace, that tempo, he's on the mound and ready to deliver the baseball before the hitter is ready. He's pounding the strike zone, and when he's not in the strike zone he's very close to it and throwing his secondary weapons for strikes.

“He's just a really impressive kid."

The Giants need good, young players and they especially need good, young pitchers. Let's hope we see more performances like these.

I'll do another post on the final roster before Thursday's opener. Looks like the only NRI that will make the team is Nick Tropeano. The 30-year old journeyman right-hander has mostly been a starter and will likely be the key swingman/long reliever/bulk innings guy out of the 'pen.

--M.C.