End of the Regular Season

 

The Giants finished 12-4 and 20-13, which is generally a positive sign for the upcoming season. In this case, though, it's really hard to tell, because perhaps no more than half this team may return in 2023.   

What happened, anyway? How did a team that won 107 games last year fall 26 off the mark this year, instead of the 13 or so most of us expected? Given that the Giants, admittedly losing one essential player,  basically stood pat, exchanging one ace (Kevin Gausman) for another (Carlos Rodon), how did things go so bad so soon? Can a team built around a core of versatile Gabe Kapler-type players really win, or was 2021 a complete fluke?  

 

It wasn't a fluke at all. It was a team composed of the same kind of guys (mostly the same guys) we had this year, but also with three All-Stars having All-Star seasons-- Buster Posey (20 Win Shares), Brandon Crawford (31), and Brandon Belt (17).  That's a total of 68, or about 23 wins. This year? No Posey, of course, and Crawford dropped to 11 and Belt to 4 in limited duty. That's 15 total, 5 wins. So eighteen wins contributed by the big boys in 2021 disappeared this season.  And then we have a beleaguered bullpen that went from 4 wins above average in 2021 to negative-2 this year. That's 22 wins. (We can also note that Kris Bryant, in 51 games last year, contributed about 7 Win Shares, a rate of 21 over a full season.) The ripple effect of all this saw the Giants below average (WAA) at every position this year except starting pitching.  

We saw it in 2010, 2012, and 2014: a team of "jabronis", as one fan remarked, can win if that team is supported by two or three big bats and a solid pitching staff.  The Giants' failure to contend, to win the 90 or so games we all expected, can be attributed to the belief, or the hope, that Crawford, Belt, and the bullpen would do it again.  

It's human nature to stand pat when surrounded by success. It's a deadly mistake in baseball. One thing the consistently strong teams-- Dodgers, Astros, Braves-- do is use a successful season as motivation to  improve.  

What must the Giants do to improve? First is to prune the roster, perhaps ruthlessly. We can expect Logan Webb, Joey Bart, Thairo Estrada, J.D. Davis, LaMonte Wade, Wilmer Flores, Alex Cobb, Alex Wood, and Camilo Doval to return. Anthony DeSclafani will be back, presuming he's fully recovered, but will he be effective?  Austin Slater and Luis Gonzalez should return, and both Kapler and Farhan Zaidi have indicated Mike Yastrzemski will have one more year.  Brandon Crawford, still the "face of the franchise," will be in his last contract year. September callup David Villar (4 WS, 9 HR in 52 games) definitely deserves a chance to start.

Anyone else has to be on the margin. Likely some of the relievers who came up late in the year will get a chance. Looking down the list of players, our focus, and, we hope, the Giants' focus, is on players 26 years old or younger. Heliot Ramos, Sean Hjelle, Kyle Harrison... it's their time. 

As for signing "big" free agents, well, one top-quality starter will be needed to replace Rodon, who is likely to opt out (not that he himself couldn't be that top guy, for  considerably more money).  And with the infield and outfield up for grabs everywhere, finding one guy who can hit, one guy who can strike fear into the opposition, is a necessity. Each year the Giants have done exceptionally well, they've had that one guy, even if he's come in under the radar (Aubrey Huff in 2010, Crawford last year).  Aaron Judge, coming off his historic season, is that kind of player. Just an example... right?

Logan Webb won 15 games this year, and Rodon 14. The team was 18-14 in Webb's starts, 16-15 with Rodon, 10-18 with Cobb, 12-14 with Wood, and 10-7 with Jakob Junis. They were also 8-4 with "openers," which seems surprising. Quality starts: Rodon 25 (out of 31 starts), Webb 21, Wood 16, Cobb 14, Junis 10. The best start of the year was Rodon on July 9 at San Diego, game score 87. The worst was also Rodon, back on May 15 in St Louis, a game score of 11. 

Cheap wins: Cobb 2, Wood 2, Junis, and Webb. Tough losses: Rodon 4, Wood 4, Cobb 2, Webb, Junis.  The toughest loss was Cobb's on July 29 at home against the Cubs: game score 72 in a 4-2 loss. He pitched a three-hitter over six innings but the Giants, who stranded 13 runners, didn't score until the bottom of the ninth after the bullpen had surrendered three more runs. The Giants' season in microcosm? Cobb also had the cheapest win, just last week over Arizona at home in a 10-4 romp (game score 37).  

The Giants averaged 4.42 runs per game in 2022, seventh in the league, not nearly as bad as we might have guessed. Though Alex Cobb appeared to pitch in tough luck all year, he got team-average run support in his 28 starts. Junis (5 runs per game in 17 starts) and Webb (4.8 in 32 starts) also got good support, Wood, in 26, was just below average, but Carlos Rodon received slightly less than 4, well below league average. Given his 14 wins, 2.88 ERA, 237 strikeouts,, and 1.02 WHIP, he really had a terrific season. If he leaves, it's imperative the Giants sign a successor of similar quality.  

The Giants were 10-9 in Blowouts this year, and 22-27 in one-run games. They were 14-19 in Pitchers' Duels, and 7-1 in their few Slugfests. In eleven extra-inning games they were 6-5. 

The stat sheets show that the Giants were 44-37 at home, and the inverse on the road. In 70 day games they were 37-33 (44-48 at night). They were 21-15 in day games at home, 23-22 in home night games. 

The Giants' best days were Sundays, when they went 17-9. They were 14-12 on Tuesdays and Saturdays, 10-9 on Mondays, but 12-13 on Fridays, and 11-14 on Wednesdays. Thursdays were their kryptonite-- an execrable 3-12 including a doubleheader sweep. Take Thursday off and they're 78-69, .530, a 86-win pace. Yikes!

Roll the Statistical Parade

Joc Pederson is the only Giant among the league's top 20 in OPS (.874, 16th). Of the other five Giants with more than 300 AB, only two (Wilmer Flores and Thairo Estrada) were over .700.  Then we have Austin Slater (.774 in 277 AB) and Evan Longoria (.766 in 266). J.D. Davis was a robust .857 in 137 AB, Jason Vosler  is at .811 in 98, and Villar .786 in 156.  Joc is tied for 24th in the NL with his team-leading 23 homers.  Flores led the Giants with 72 RBI and Yaz was tops in runs scored with 73, despite a .305 OBP. He also struck out 141 times, by far the most on the team, and tied for 17th in the league with some major studs (Paul Goldschmidt, Max Muncy, Bryan Reynolds).  To be fair, Yaz also led the team in walks with 61. The Giants overall were fourth in the NL in walks, but 12th in batting average.   

Estrada, Gonzales, and Yaz together were an excellent 43-for-52 in stolen bases. The whole team was a solid 80% (64 for 80) in steals, better than a lot of teams who stole more and also had more caught.  

 

Giants pitchers were 13th in the league in ERA, with modest totals in strikeouts and walks. They were fourth in hits allowed. Webb was tied for fifth, and Rodon for ninth, in wins, and they were seventh and sixth in ERA, respectively. Rodon was second, behind Milwaukee's Corbin Burnes, in strikeouts with 237, and ninth with a 1.03 WHIP. Webb's 192.1 innings pitched were seventh. Camilo Doval was sixth in saves with 27 in 30 opportunities to go with his fine 2.53 ERA. 

Will this be the year Paul Goldschmidt finally wins the MVP award? A triple crown candidate all year long, he finished third in average, fifth in homers, second in RBI, and tops in the league with a .982 OPS. Teammate Nolen Arenado, the Braves' Austin Riley and Matt Olson, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor of the Mets, and the Dodgers' Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman provide stiff competition. "Goldy" has been among the league's best players for a full decade, he's never won it, and we think it's time...  Aaron Judge, with  62 homers, will win the AL award in a breeze... Rodon and Webb will get Cy Young Award votes, but it's likely to be Sandy Alacantara of the Marlins, our nemesis Julio Urias of LA, or the Braves' Max Fried who gets it... What do you make of ex-Giant  lefthander Tyler Anderson and his 15-5, 2.57 campaign with LA?...  There is a host of AL candidates, but Justin Verlander, back to being unhittable after TJS as if nothing happened, and Shohei Ohtani are the big names. We think Ohtani, truly one of a kind, is always a MVP candidate but figure he's unlikely ever to get the CYA... By the way, Ohtani was second in MLB with 14 wild pitches... Three guys who may be important in the playoffs, Houston's Framber Valdez, Atlanta's Kyle Wright, and the Cardinals' Dakota Hudson, induced 25 ground-ball double plays, best in the business... Valdez gets more ground balls than anybody, and our own Logan Webb is second... Rodon's on the other side, the second-most fly-ball-heavy pitcher in MLB behind only Cleveland's Triston McKenzie, who despite his 11-11 record is another Cy Young candidate... The Braves' Riley was second only to Judge in extra-base hits; among those tied for third are Mookie Betts and the inevitable Jose Ramirez. We're glad to see him back in form and we're glad to see his team in the postseason... Young Vladimir Guerrero grounded into 26 double plays and, like his dad, he rarely walks. But 35 doubles and 32 homers will do very nicely. Oddly, he didn't hit a triple this year, and if he would walk a little more he'd score more than 90 runs... Speaking of triples, the Indians' -- whoops, Guardians'-- shortstop, Amed Rosario, led the MLB with only nine... The top two base stealers are both Orioles: Jorge Mateo and Cedric Mullens, a combined 69-for 88. Best of the lot is St Louis' Tommy Edman, third in baseball with 32 and caught only 3 times... We finally found a flaw in Ohtani's game! He's 11-for-20 in stolen bases. Just stay put, big fella... Ramirez and Arenado put the ball in the air more frequently than anyone else. Oddly, Judge is not in the top 30 despite all the home runs. He's a complete hitter, not a one-dimensional  guy... Christian "What Happened?" Yelich has the highest ground-ball rate, and he slugged only .383... Anthony Rizzo, now with the Yankees, still leans into pitches at an alarming rate, but the Met's Mark Canha led everyone with 28 hit-by-pitch... Pay attention if Canha bats against the Braves' Charlie Morton later in the postseason. Morton hit 18 batters this year, second to the Reds' Nick Lodolo (19)... No less than six major-leaguers qualified for our favorite stat this year-- more walks than strikeouts. Juan Soto led 'em all with 135 walks against 96 K. The other qualifiers are the Rays' Yandy Diaz, Minnesota's Luis Arraez, Houston's Alex Bregman, Alejandro Kirk of Toronto, and Cleveland's Steve Kwan. All but one of those guys are going to the playoffs.  

Vin Scully 1927-2022

We posted our tribute to "The Voice of America" upon his retirement a few years ago, so we've little to add here. But pause a moment to consider the remarkable life of this man, born the year Babe Ruth hit sixty home runs, a man who saw Ruth play and also saw Shohei Ohtani play, a man whose professional career spanned the terms of eleven American presidents, and a man who never once seemed all that impressed with himself, but whose impressions of many of our most memorable moments became part of the national landscape. Prayers for his family, and honor to one who was a true man of the people. 

Trouble In Mind

Two weeks? How about five?  Not that it matters. Things have not improved. They've gotten worse.

The Giants made one move at the deadline, unloading Darin Ruf in exchange for J.D. Davis, and Davis has played well since his arrival. Thing is, few other Giants have. Since our last post the Giants have sunk below the .500 waterline, and after losing two of three at San Diego this week they are 7 1/2 games out of the wild-card race and slouching toward irrelevance well ahead of September. Relief pitching continues to be a serious problem for the Giants; witness yesterday's debacle where, after taking a 7-6 lead in the top of the sixth, Yunior Marte and Jarlin Garcia surrendered seven straight two-out base hits and watched the game go down the drain.. The Padres themselves were struggling mightily when the Giants came to town; they're in better shape now, though still far from where they want to be, or were a month ago.

No, nothing has really changed around here. Starting pitchers-- Rodon and Webb, primarily-- are still the only above-average Giants. Alex Cobb, whom we really like most of the time, continues to pitch in tough luck. And Alex Wood had a gem of a start, his best of the year, to open the San Diego series, seems like ages ago already. John Brebbia has been the best of the relievers, with a 2.40 ERA and 1.17 WHIP.  The above-mentioned Davis has a 1.093 OPS in 7 games; Joc Pederson is the only regular over .800. Austin Slater and Wilmer Flores are playing generally well, Thairo Estrada's been strong defensively (as has Davis) and Joey Bart is now hitting the ball with some authority and plays his position very well (witness that perfect tag on the relay play in Monday's game that saved Wood's shutout). All of this would look a whole lot better-- a lot more like last year, in fact-- if the Giants had one or two guys really tearing it up offensively. They don't. 

The National League has three legitimate boss teams, led by the Dodgers, who are hot again, having won 10 in a row. They are now are at .700, 16 games ahead of San Diego. Call that one. Then there are the Mets and the Braves. New York shook off a shaky month and have now won six in a row to move  seven games ahead of Atlanta, who are still an almost-certain wild-card team. The Phillies, meanwhile, are riding a 9-1 surge, with seven wins in a row, and have moved into second position. Then there's San Diego. Yes, they took two of three from the Giants, but since making those monumental trade-deadline deals they've been floundering--  losing, not gaining, ground. Juan Soto has been great, Josh Bell has been good, but Josh Hader-- well, the Giants chased him right off the mound on Saturday, before blowing the game themselves. If the Padres fade so badly that they miss the playoffs, or are quickly excused in the opening round, there's gonna be a whole tsunami of disappointment come crashing down around that team. Again. 

It's beginning to look as through the NL Central division race will be win-or-go-home. Neither the Brewers nor the Cardinals have really caught fire or looked especially impressive for long this season; currently St Louis is hot and in the lead. Milwaukee is the team immediately ahead of the Giants in the wild-card standings, as they trail San Diego by one game. A wild-card team could come from the Central; it just doesn't look too likely.

If there's any comfort here for Giants fans, it's that the club is underperforming its expectation by three games, while the Padres are two games above their Pythagorean number. Cold comfort indeed. Also, there are no teams closing the gap behind us any more. Six teams will make it, and if you count the Giants, eight remain in it. 

Over in the American League the Yankees have cooled off from their ridiculous early-season pace, but still hold a ten-game lead in the East. Houston has an identical record, and lead, in the West. Seattle, who have not made the postseason since 2001, are currently neck-and-neck with Toronto for the boss wild-card team; they've been red-hot since the break, and it remains to be seen whether they'll do another fade-out as they did last year. The AL Central, like the NL Central, is a back-and-forth battle between teams who face daunting odds in the wild-card race; here it's three teams, with Cleveland, Minnesota, and the White Sox all tangled up just north of .500. But the big American League story is, of course, the oft-ridiculed Baltimore Orioles, who have come out of nowhere and are tied with Tampa for the third wild-card spot at the moment.   

Yes, Baltimore. It's been a long time coming, and we wish them the best. After all, there has to be one orange-and-black team represented in the newly-expanded postseason this year. 

 

The View From Here

It ain't pretty, sports fans. Less than three weeks ago the Giants were at 37-27 and solidly in place as the NL's second wild-card candidates. Since then they've hit a 3-11 tailspin and they're trailing not only San Diego but Atlanta, St Louis and Philadelphia, with Miami coming up on the outside. A storyline a few days ago raised the question of whether the Giants, coming off a 107-win season, might be sellers at the upcoming trade deadline, perish the thought.

That's unlikely to happen. Even slouching along barely above .500, or at or slightly below .500, the Giants will remain in contention for a wild-card spot. As long as that's the case, they won't sell. And another reason is, who, exactly, would they sell, or could they sell?

It maybe don't look like it, but the Giants' strong suit so far this year has been starting pitching. Their top three players at any position, by WAR, are Carlos Rodon, Logan Webb, and IL denizen Jakob Junis. Alex Wood and Alex Cobb have been less effective, working at about league average, but overall the Giants' starters rank fifth in the league in Wins Above Average (+3), ahead of the Mets, Cardinals, Padres, and Brewers. That the rotation hasn't looked especially effective for much of the year is due more to a terribly inconsistent offense than it is to the starters' performance.  

It's hard not to draw the conclusion that five veterans-- Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Darin Ruf, Evan Longoria, and Tommy LaStella-- are dragging the Giants down. The club is in the bottom five in WAA at first base, shortstop, and third base, and both offensive and defensive metrics are down at those positions. Way down. The Giants invested 108 at-bats on Joey Bart's .596 OPS and Curt Casali, a career backup, is the starting catcher, though he is doing reasonably well. 

There just really isn't a lot going on with this offense; Mike Yastrzemski remains the most valuable Giant in the lineup, with  Casali second. They're the only ones with positive numbers on both sides of the ball. Joc Pederson is the team's best hitter, but he doesn't play full time. Austin Slater and Luis Gonzalez have been generally solid as role players, and would be a lot more so in a balanced offense that wasn't carrying two or three automatic outs. Note that rookie David Villar, in one game, has already posted more runs above average than six Giants regulars. Overall the Giants' position players rank 12th in the 15-team league, 4 wins below average.

The bullpen numbers are equally depressing. Using the adjusted pitching WAA which favors relievers, the Giants' two best out of the 'pen are Kervin Castro and Yunior Marte-- both currently pitching at Sacramento. Camilo Doval, the one for-sure keeper, has posted a 0.8 WAR already despite some late-inning struggles. But get this-- three Giants position players rank higher on this chart than everyone else in the bullpen. At the bottom are Jake McGee and Tyler Rogers, who have been genuinely awful and can't be trusted with late-inning leads any more. Thanks mostly to Doval, the Giants' relievers rank ninth, out of fifteen, in WAA.  A few good pitchers are keeping San Francisco on the fringes of contention.

Brandon Belt, 34, hit 29 homers last year, his career high. He's at .687 OPS with an anemic .352 SLG. His contract is up this year. Brandon Crawford, 35, had 31 Win Shares last year and could have been the MVP. He's at .663 OPS, .350 SLG, and he has one year left on his contract. Evan Longoria, 36, to his credit has been walking more and hitting for decent power of late, boosting his OPS over .800, but he too will be gone after this year.  It's the first week of July, the halfway point. The All-Star break is late this year, two weeks away, but it's already past time to face facts and realize how unlikely it is that these guys are going to suddenly "turn it around" in 2022.

So what do Gabe Kapler, Scott Harris, and Farhan Zaidi do about all this? There has been talk regarding Juan Soto, the Washington Nationals' brilliant young-- young! 23 years old!-- outfielder, who may be the best player in the game, on a last-place team. There's been talk about the Cubs' catcher Willson Contreras, who is not young but who's having a terrific season on another team going nowhere. This is his pre--free-agency year and the Giants have a crying need at the position. Would they trade, say, Heliot Ramos or Sean Hjelle for Contreras? Probably not unless they were convinced they could sign him for 2023 and beyond... but they might trade Bart even for a possible rental.

None of this is what we wanted to write today, or any day. In our more reflective moments we've noted that the Giants, this year, are about where we expected them to be last year. But 107 wins has a way of skewing the expectations, and the last two weeks have had a way of skewering those expectations. The Giants will be going to San Diego, and hosting Milwaukee, before the break. Let's see what this team looks like two weeks from today.

Walking With the Queen (City, that is)

Notes from a Memorial Day weekend in Cincinnati...

It's maybe not everyone's idea of a vacation destination, but the Queen City's downtown and waterfront are pleasant and scenic. Both the Great American Ballpark and Paul Brown Stadium sit along "The Banks," a stretch of parkland abutted by freeways along the Ohio River, with Kentucky just across the water. A nice walk on a nice day. And on game nights, the two-block-long "DORA" (Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area) next to the ballpark is replete with restaurants, sidewalk cafes, clubs, and plenty of foot traffic. We were made to feel most welcome despite wearing enemy colors, and while we're at it, here's a shout-out to the numerous Giants fans we met over those three days.  We'll also add props to the Reds' house DJ, who treated us to a lot of Motown and Stax over the weekend.  

The weather swung from a chilly, rain-soaked evening on Friday to a sweltering, humid, sun-splashed Sunday morning, and the baseball action seemed to follow suit. They may be a last-place club, but the Reds are playing much better than they did a month ago. After that horrendous 3-19 start they'd gone 11-11 as we and the Giants arrived in town, and they were within sight of fourth place as Friday's game began. 

It began late, following a two-hour rain delay. After waiting for the game to start, we waited, and waited, and waited some more for the Giants to snap out of what amounted to a nine-inning torpor. Cincy sent out rookie Graham Ashcraft, with four major-league innings on his resume, against Carlos Rodon that evening, and the resulting pitching lines, while not quite a mismatch, were mostly one-sided-- the wrong way. Rodon clearly did not enjoy pitching in a steady drizzle that occasionally amplified into a steady downpour, and the Reds punched through three runs in his five innings as most of us scrambled to the safety of the overhang. It let up eventually, and Ashcraft held his unlikely shutout into the seventh. 

The  Giants got their only real chance against reliever Alexis Diaz in the eighth, loading the bases with one out as Art Warren took over against Joc Pederson. A group near us in section 112 had begun an impromptu Pederson "fan club" that evening, perhaps energized by the pregame dustup Joc had with the Reds' Tommy Pham. The catcalling subsided when Warren hit Pederson with the pitch, forcing in the Giants' only run, but it worked out nicely for them as Brandon Crawford then grounded into a double play that settled the issue. We'd rather have seen Pederson get a chance to swing the bat.

Saturday, from our perch in the upper boxes, was an excruciating test of character, or something like that. Tommy LaStella opened the game with a double down the right-field line, went to third on Mike Yastrzemski's sac fly, and died there, an outcome that we would see repeated again and again that day. In the Reds' first, Alex Wood allowed a hit, a walk, and a three-run homer to Kyle Farmer. Then, having got that out of his system, Wood settled down and worked steadily into the sixth, allowing just two more hits and nothing close to a run. For his part, Reds starter Vladimir Gutierrez, 0-6 with a ERA north of 8 coming in, held his own in what turned into a pitchers' duel with Wood. And Gutierrez earned his first win of the year, because that squandered first-inning chance became a whole series of blown chances. The Giants rapped out twelve hits, drew two walks, put sixteen men into scoring position-- and brought one of them home, Yaz scoring on Pederson's double in the third.

Cincinnati, meanwhile, left no one on base at all until the sixth. By then it was a one-run game, thanks to Evan Longoria's solo homer in the top of the frame. And the denouement, the final indignity, awaited us in the top of the ninth. Curt Casali opened with an encouraging single, and Joey Bart went in to run. Yaz, 2-for-4 on the day, drew a walk, moving the tying run to second. With two down and the tension high, Wilmer Flores drilled a base hit directly to rookie right fielder Aristides Aquino on one bounce. Known informally among Reds faithful as "The Automatic Out" for his struggles at the plate, Aquino has a fine throwing arm, and he proved it right then and there. His throw home was on the money and Bart was easily tagged out to end the game. As we shuffled dispiritedly toward the exits, we wondered aloud whether third-base coach Mark Hallberg had let a moment of quiet desperation override his common sense as he waved Bart to his doom. 

11:35 on a Sunday morning is the earliest we've ever attended a major-league ballgame, and it was bright and sunny from the start. But the continuing sense of desperation slowly settled in as Alex Cobb worked his finest start of the season, and got no help. Cobb struck out 8 and allowed only two runs over six innings, the last on Joey Votto's ringing double, the 2,044th hit of his fine career. But across the way, Tyler Mahle was pitching-- well, he was pitching a no-hitter, and somehow that seemed totally fitting given the way the weekend had gone. All but resigned to personally witnessing our guys being swept by a last-place team, we had the stirrings of baseball history in the air as Mahle got the 19th and 20th outs opening the seventh. Then, on his 104th pitch, Thairo Estrada crushed a double off the wall in right-center. History, and brother Mahle, made a quick exit-- and so did the Giants again. We endured yet another indignity as our old friend Hunter Strickland came in, struck out Luis Gonzalez, and walked off with just a hint of the old swag. 

Years ago on the Giants usenet discussion board, some fans came up with the concept of "Earnest Ragging," the practice of chastising or ridiculing a favorite player with the fervent hope that it'd help him snap out of whatever slump or funk was plaguing him. One of our party was deeply into this with Evan Longoria on Sunday. In the eighth, "Longo" came up with runners on first and second and two out. Pederson had just broken the shutout and made it a one-run game with a seeing-eye single, and the whole scene had the feeling of The Last Opportunity for the Giants. Our companion kicked the ragging into high gear. "He's already made his quota for the week!" was the claim, referring to Longoria's too-little too-late homer Saturday. "Now he can go back to striking out!" 

It had already been a tough day for Longoria;  he was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. On the last K, a 3-2 pitch, "Longo" had taken what he thought was ball four. Umpire Shane Livensparger had waited until Longoria bent down to to unsnap his shin guard before calling a rather ostentatious strike three, earning a long staredown from the player. 

Now, on a close 3-1 pitch, recent history repeated itself. Longoria reached for his shinguard clasp; Livensparger barked out a strike-two call. Straightening up, Longoria faced one nemesis, then turned and faced the other, pitcher Art Warren. In came the pitch, and out it went, a no-doubt-about-it opposite-field blast, and Lord have mercy, it was as though a dam had broken. The Giants' dugout, directly in front of us, erupted with whoops and hollers we could hear above our own noise. Flores and Pederson came in and waited for the big guy to finish his round, with high-fives everywhere. And the runs came thick and fast after that. Crawford walked, Estrada beat out a base hit, and Gonzalez ripped an opposite-field shot into the corner in left as they both came around to score. It ended with Darin Ruf, who had opened the inning as a pinch-hitter and taken a called third strike, batting for the second time in the inning and striking out again. You can bet his teammates showered a little "earnest ragging" on him after the game!

Tyler Rogers got a double-play ball to finish the Reds' eighth, and Camilo Doval made it a little too "interesting" in the ninth. As we sat in anticipation, maybe just this side of anxiety, the young fireballer surrendered a two-out two-run homer to Albert Almora jr, making it 6-4. Alejo Lopez then batted for former Giant Aramis Garcia and softly lifted a 1-2 pitch to Gonzalez in left, and we walked out winners at last.

Props to Wilmer Flores, who made a terrific unassisted double play at first base to end the fifth, one of three Giants double plays in Sunday's game. And major props to Cobb, whose fine start gave his team the chance to win. He also made a nifty fielding play, taking an awkward overhand throw from Flores and showing some fancy footwork to beat Garcia to the bag at first. Called safe initially, the call was reversed on replay, and there was no question about it.

The aforementioned Aquino not only can throw, he can run like the wind and field his position. He made the catch of the weekend on a drive hit by LaStella opening the seventh on Saturday. Looking at the replay now, it's still hard to tell whose ball it was, but Aquino, running full speed, snagged what might have been a sure triple out of the air before crashing into center fielder Nick Senzel. Both went tumbling, Aquino held the ball, and they sat there stunned and looking at each other for a few minutes afterward. We may be thankful neither was hurt.  Aquino also doubled up Yaz at first base after making a catch in right on Friday: our first indication that the young man has a fine arm. 

Joey Bart's struggles continue.  Mike Papierski, since reassigned to Sacramento, started behind the plate Friday. Bart replaced him in the eighth and was called for catcher's interference in his one inning. Curt Casali, back from the IL, started Saturday as Bart was limited to (unsuccessful) pinch-running. On Sunday, Bart did get the start, went 0-for-2, and was taken out for a pinch-hitter. He's at .160 right now and offensively his only real contribution is 13 walks in 97 appearances, which boosts is OBP to .299. But then there's the 43 strikeouts. 

On a positive note, Yaz, who was hitting in the .220s last time we checked, is back up at .300 and playing full-time after finishing 2021 in a platoon role. Also, both Brandon Belt and Austin Slater are expected back before this week is out, and we hope LaMonte Wade and Steven Duggar can be back before this month is out. 

And finally--  finally!-- we got to see the hitherto-invisible Stuart Fairchild in action yesterday. He took over center field in the ninth, with Yaz moving to right and Gonzalez to left, and he made the first putout of the inning. Way to go, young man!

The above photograph is published by mountain-dreams and is posted without permission. It will be removed upon notice from the copyright holder. 

Roger Angell 1920-2022

 

THE finest baseball writer of our lifetime. Roger Angell, who died this week at 101 years of age, wrote about many subjects, but it's his writing about baseball we remember today. No one was like him: erudite, dryly humorous, able to capture in words the essence of a fan's love for the game.  We have most of his books; Season Ticket may be the best. His description of the memorable1986 postseason ("Not So, Boston") will serve as a great introduction to his work.  

Photograph by Brigitte Lacombe for The New Yorker. Posted without permission and will be removed upon request.

Bright Moments: Opening Weekend

 

• Joey Bart, opening the season with a home run and a game-saving putout at home (more on that later). 

• Heliot Ramos, just 22 and he don't mind flyin'.  How about a base hit and a run scored in his first major-league at-bat, a 2-for-3 day as the Giants win their opening series, and a standing O from the fans in left field. Welcome to the big leagues, young man. Now guys, let's keep him up here.

• Carlos Rodon, on a five-inning leash, striking out 12, allowing three hits and one run, which scored on a swinging-strike-three wild pitch. Entertaining, and mighty good, and deserving of the win he didn't get. 

• Logan Webb, unruffled as the Opening Day starter ("Of course," his demeanor on the mound seemed to state), pitching a whole lot like he did down the stretch last year and also deserving of the win he didn't get.

• Zack Littell, getting the ground-ball double play he needed in the seventh yesterday to preserve the lead and the win.

• Dominic Leone, rebounding from his horrific Friday to get a three-up three-down save yesterday. With this many relievers on the staff, no one is irreplaceable, and brother Leone did what it takes to pitch another week. 

• Darin Ruf's electric bang-bang unassisted double play at first base that killed Miami's last rally and made Tyler Rogers day a whole lot easier. 

• Austin Slater (more on him later) throwing out Jesus Sanchez trying to stretch a single into a double. 

• And the whole tenth inning on Friday, which looked for all the world as though the Giants were going to egregiously blow Webb's fine start and the home opener. John Brebbia, the last man out of the bullpen, replaces the shellshocked Camilo Doval to start the frame, and with the "phantom runner" lurking on second base immediately walks the leadoff man. Might as well chalk up a run right now, huh? Jesus Aguilar does his job perfectly, advancing the runner to third with a deep fly ball. Then Wilmer Flores, always "adventurous" anywhere in the field, makes a perfect throw home from third and Bart tags out that runner. Gabe Kapler makes the obligatory lefty-lefty switch, and the Giants are out of it without a scratch.

• But that ain't all. Bottom of the tenth, and Mauricio Dubon starting off on second. His baserunning mistakes are already  the stuff of legend, and, oh-my-laundry-- here's another! Or was it really a perfect 9-4-5 relay that got him trying to take third on Brandon Belt's fly ball to right?  Either way, Giants now have two out and nobody on. Then Darin Ruf draws a four-pitch walk. And Austin Slater-- doesn't he do this all the time?-- rips one all the way down the left-field line into the corner and here comes Ruf, motoring around with the winning run. Just like they drew it up on the whiteboard!

• And finally.... Austin Slater. Again. Why? Because we like you.  

 

The San Francisco Giants Open the 2022 Season!

 
Pitchers
 
Logan Webb, R, 25: Ready to break through as staff ace 
 
Alex Wood, L, 31:  Last back-to-back good seasons were 2017-2018  
 
Carlos Rodon, L, 29: Posted 2.76 ERA in AL as White Sox ace  
 
Anthony DeSclafani, R, 32:  Career year in '21; can he stay healthy in ’22?
 
Alex Cobb, R, 34:  Pitched well for Angels in limited duty a year ago
 
Camilo Doval, R, 24: Question is when, not whether, he becomes closer
 
Tyler Rogers, R, 31:  Gave tremendous effort in the 2021 division series
 
Jake McGee, L, 35: Saved 31 last year; was he fatigued late in the season? 
 
Dominic Leone, R, 30:  Another who’s revived a faltering career here
 
Zack Littell, R, 26:  Last year gives him something to build on
 
Jarlin Garcia, L, 29:  Fine K/W and WHIP for first lefty out of the ‘pen  
 
Jose Alvarez, L, 33:  Became fly-ball-out pitcher in Oracle Park

Tyler Beede, R, 29:  Former first-rounder at Last Chance Motel

Sam Long, L, 26:  Has left arm and relatively young age working for him

John Brebbia, R, 32:  15 pitchers?! Somebody's not getting enough work

Position Players

Brandon Crawford, ss, 35: Coming off MVP-worthy season 

Brandon Belt, 1b-dh, 34: You know he’ll hit, but will he stay healthy?

Wilmer Flores, if-dh, 30: Will likely play every day at 1B, 3B, or DH

Mike Yastrzemski, rf, 31: Will he platoon or regain full-time role?

Steven Duggar, cf, 28: Team’s best option in center as long as he hits

Joey Bart, c, 25:  High hopes riding on his success; good spring numbers

Thairo Estrada, if, 26: Could get platoon role at 2B if he hits like 2021

Joc Pederson, of-dh, 30: Can he regain great numbers against RHP?

Austin Slater, of-dh, 29: Giants’ most versatile outfielder will get his reps

Darin Ruf, 1b-of-dh, 35: Slugged .914 and DH rule may be made for him

Curt Casali, c, 33: Played regularly in '21 and pitchers loved him

Luke Williams, ut, 25: Hit well in spring, plays anywhere, and he’s young

Mauricio Dubon, if, 27: Running out of chances, facing stiff competition

Evan Longoria, 3b, 36 (IL): Opens final season of big contract on IL

LaMonte Wade jr, of, 28 (IL): Show-me season-- can he play full-time?  

Tommy LaStella, 2b-dh, 33 (IL): Chance for full-time job once healthy

 

Designated Hitless

 

As the new season approaches with its universal DH, we recommend everyone read this excellent article by the excellent Tim Kurkjian at ESPN:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33621715/a-little-less-magic-mlb-lose-forever-pitchers-stop-hitting

It's a look back at the highlights and lowlights of big-league pitchers at the bat, over 120-some years of baseball history. And we're constrained to mention, perhaps yet again, that we were in attendance at two of the greatest hitting days by any pitcher, both of which Mr Kurkjian recalls--  Atlanta's Tony Cloninger's two grand slams on July 3, 1966, against (all together now) our Giants, and Yankees' rookie Mel Stottlemyre going 5-for-5 and pitching a two-hit shutout against the Washington Senators at old D.C. Stadium, our first major-league game. 

As an aside we'll note that Cloninger's two blasts weren't the only home runs hit by pitchers that day at Candlestick: Ray Sadecki of the Giants, who gave up one of the grand slams, himself homered off Cloninger a couple of innings later.

The season starts in 4 days!   We'll see you soon.

Spring Cleaning

Well, it is spring, all right. Major-league baseball, practice version, starts tomorrow after a cold winter's lockout, and we've cleaned up the site here a little bit. Our cold war with Google Blogger has been settled to our satisfaction, and it looks like this blog won't be moving after all.  That's a relief-- who wants to do that much work when there's a game on? (Actually, the game today is our Tennessee Vols versus Longwood in the NCAA opening round, but baseball is coming soon.)

Over on your right, all four of the ongoing pages have been updated. If you peruse the Greatest Giants Players page, you'll see that the team's two valetudinarians, Brandons Crawford and Belt, have both moved up. Crawford's epochal 2021 season has vaulted him into a tie with Gaylord Perry for tenth on the all-time San Francisco list, and there's every chance he could eventually end up as the fifth greatest SF Giant of all time, behind only Mays, Bonds, Marichal, McCovey, and Posey. As for Belt, all we can think about is how he was missed during that LA series, but we will note that his fine 2021 elevated him to 17th all-time, ahead of Jason Schmidt and Jack Clark.

With Buster Posey retired and Johnny Cueto and Tony Watson now gone, Crawford and Belt are the only Giants who've been with the team since before 2018. Evan Longoria, entering the final year of his contract, is now the club's third-longest-tenured player, and Tyler Beede (!) is now the senior member of the pitching staff by service time. 

Does that mean the makeover is almost complete? What team is this, and whose team is this now? Brandon Crawford seems to be the latest "face of the franchise," with Logan Webb a contender. We may see Heliot Ramos join Joey Bart in the everyday lineup before the year is out. We're not sure who's going to play second base--  is Mauricio Dubon still in contention? Gabe Kapler's Giants still have an outfield/DH rotation full of Gabe Kaplers, with Austin Slater, Steven Duggar, Darin Ruf, Mike Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade, and Wilmer Flores all in circulation. Carlos Rodon brings a second left-handed arm to the rotation, and Alex Cobb may be the latest candidate to try and pull a mid-career revival here, in the manner of the dearly-departed and newly-rich Kevin Gausman.

And, oh yeah, the DH. It's a "thing" now, National League fans.  As much as we've resisted it over the decades, all indications are it will help this team win. And you know that can't be bad.