Kap Needs To Find Another Well
The Giants have played 14 games and Jake McGee has appeared in 9 of them. That is too many, especially coming off a short season where he only pitched 20 innings total. He’s been a nice surprise but if Kap wants to continue to get positive returns on him he needs to spread him out more. Now, who is the secondary closer is a good question. But I know one thing: it can’t just be McGee all season that’s not going to work.
To be honest with you I can’t remember what led to the falling out I had with good ol’ BassBaldy. It had something to do with him thinking Adam Duvall was the second coming of Barry Bonds. Something like that. I also suspected him to be an undercover Dodger troll but I could have been wrong about that………
This is a picture of Ervin, one of my main men on the scene in the Pacific Northwest. It was sent to me by PaSalon, my #1 First Mate in Reno. I have many questions about this picture: for starters, what did Ervin’s friend eat that was so good he cleaned his plate like that? And why is Ervin asleep? How could anyone sleep wearing that rad shirt, their must be a game on somewhere. Also, what is wrong with Ervin’s food? DId he think it was poisoned? Why didn’t he eat his food?
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
this video, which was already so funny, is ten times funnier now that the GREAT Jomboy has done a breakdown on it.
A taste of the South for you Flav…
Title of thread is sure accurate, but—manager will get daily report on who is available every game. Given the situation last night, nothing wrong with going to guy has closed all Ws so far.
However, maybe C has a hand signal/sign to Kap his pitcher is fast losing it.
Unfortunate that shaky as he was, Sanchez only gave up 1 of the 7 Marlins runs and Kap’s pen responsible for rest. Miller on radio made comment Wisler got burned again by hanging another slider.
Can’t Moronta close? We know he can eat, but can he close? I think he should be in the closer rotation with McGee. No more McGee with 9 appearances across 14 games. He can’t do that
Moronta? Isn’t he on the iL? Noticeable loss of velocity too off 2019. I had high hopes for him but idk I think he isn’t fully recovered yet. Kap btw said he thought McGee still had life on fastball after 2 popups according to Steve Kroner in Chron. Kroner took over for Slusser twitter on game yesterday. funny too I checked Baggs Pavs and Shea last night and none of them had any game time stories yesterday either. ?
Moronta hasn’t pitched in a week and he is on the IL, you’re correct
Waiting to hear announcement of Wood activated and who is dropped off roster. Giants do carry so called “taxi squad” of I think 7 players (could easily be wrong on #) on road trips. that also has mandatory C should Posey’s elbow would prevent him from being active for a game. Would that be Tromp I wonder.
I was just getting out of car yesterday to meet friends for dinner when Slater was announced as PH for GD. Checking phone while I waited for them to arrive, noticed he hit Earl Weaver special, 3 run bomb to CF to cap 5 run rally inning. Not too much mention of this yesterday’s thread but hella move by Kapler. Good day for Belt too.
Or they need bigger leads going into the 9th. Man, there was a lot going on with this game, and not just the relievers. After the Slater bomb, Solano hit a 1-out double but didn’t score. DeSclafani not scoring on Belt’s double. And Dubon maybe easing up on his groundout, costing a 2-run lead.
I get that most pitchers aren’t going to be burners, but not scoring from first with two outs on a ball that gets all the way to the wall is lame. Buster could’ve scored on that.
Moronta would seem to be the obvious guy to me, but I think he’s suffered a setback in his shoulder surgery, and his velocity was still down prior to going on the IL.The bullpen has been hit or miss so far, but Garcia’s little snafu last night was bizarre. Throwing to a veteran catcher like Casali, there’s no excuse for having so much trouble getting the signs straight at this level. Like Loo said, it’s not acceptable in HS, let alone the major leagues. Very tough loss.
No Grave Duggar vs. righty. Ominous…
1. Tommy La Stella (L) 3B
2. Mike Yastrzemski (L) RF
3. Donovan Solano (R) 2B
4. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
5. Alex Dickerson (L) LF
6. Austin Slater (R) CF
7. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
8. Curt Casali (R) C
9. Alex Wood (R) P
Six=hole for Slater strikes me as being a bit awkward. Why? Dude’s our one and only stolen-base threat. Consistently good at it. Example. Let’s say that SF manages to actually get a man on in the first, but that’s it. So starting out the 2nd, here’s Slater leading off. Simply switching him with Dick would be a simple move. IMHO, the R-L yoyo game is way over-rated, so messing with that time-worn tactic may not be a bad strategy.
Dodgers did that last season, varying L/R hitters in lineup. Makes it tough, especially with 3 batter rule, for late inning matchups. Kap’s a platoon guy, that’s how he’s gonna roll. In Slater’s case sure paid off last night.
Slater is a good Stanford man. He can adapt to any circumstance
Kat’s 7:04 last night, “Does anybody speak Garcia?” is still funnier than hell. Flems was losing it on radio after Casali got crossed up on first pitch, laid into him on the mound with Solano (hopefully able to translate message) in on the conference and then it happened again and he was yelling into dugout like wtf?
Maybe a little translator app, worn as a single ear-bud, would work well with pitchers who no habla Englis or whatever language they’re comfy with could be a big help. Can’t see where MLB would have a problem with that.
Great line!
The only other closer option on the team right now is that terrorist, Rogers . . .
McGee has not pitched 3 consecutive days this year, which is usually what you try to avoid with the closer. He throws nothing but fastballs, and had averaged only 11 pitches per inning before last night.
Eventually, the Giants will have at least a few games with larger leads going into the 9th. They’ll also have some losing streaks where the closer is brought in “to get some work.”
he’s not built for 9 appearances in 14 games. He’s almost at half of the number of innings he threw all last season and April in barely half over. Kap should be careful with him, period
When you have 8 straight appearances giving up zero runs, it’s your turn for an ass kicking, no matter how good you are.
I don’t mind that Kapler goes with McGee he had proven all year till last night to be quite effective, what bugs me is when he was obviously struggling with the famous Krukow arm slot, Kapler kept with him like his obsession with Gott last year instead of having another arm up in the pen he had nobody which is insane.A closer should never have to throw 35 pitches in an inning, and now is useless for today’s game.I really hate when a manager/Z callup a fresh arm (Doval) and feel they have to pick a right spot to throw him in the fire, that’s BS.Guess he’s waiting for the blowout game which could be today with Wood’s limited work and rustiness on a pitch count with a worn out pen except Doval..Who knows is there a unwritten rule where Doval with his blazing fastball/slider couldn’t pitch the 9th to see if he’s up to it?
genuine question: he threw 20 innings last year. How many do you reasonably expect him to throw this year? Keep in mind, he’s nearly at half last year’s total and we aren’t even close to April being over.
Kapler handled the 9th like any other ML manager would have done. If he’d pulled McGee for a rookie with zero ML experience, and Doval gives up a bomb, Kapler would never have lived it down. That said, absent the wider social context, it would have been truly awesome for Kapler to do exactly that.
Well, he’s injured now, but you didn’t answer the question. How many innings do you expect he’ll throw this year?
I thought Casali went over the top when he started screaming at the bench in that situation. I get it that he was getting crossed up, so talking to the pitcher and simplifying the signs, OK. Screaming at the bench while the guy is struggling and on the mound? NG in my book.
If Bassbaldy was who he said he was, he was a very accomplished bass player as I recall. Last I remember he moved to AZ but I don’t remember what happened for him to stop posting. Was there some sort of dust up? Did he become like the troll that went to the all girl college and could see Mexico from the ranch in Tucson?
BB toured with Cecil Taylor. Lot of other stuff, too. I think he was in the process of retiring when his interest in Giants baseball brought him here. He showed up briefly last year, out of the blue, to trade posts on potential jazz walk up tunes. Coltrane’s Giant Steps was my notion.
ok so they aren’t injured. That’s good. only way for McGee to get a break I guess
Baggs added there’s minimum duration for Covid IL, so both could be active for Philly.
there’s ‘no’ minimum duration
Webb was slated to start Tuesday game you were gonna go to, taking Cueto’s spot.
Been quite a lot of people getting really messed up from those jabs—particularly the AstraZenica one in Europe, but also the Pfizer and Moderna ones here in the states. Actual vaccine related deaths here are pretty low compared with the ones in Europe, though.
McGee has averaged 68 appearances a year over his career, same as Melancon. I’m not sure what makes SF’s current 6’4 inch, 229 lbs meathead so obviously fragile.
Using covid symptoms as a way to get wood and tromp up here was pretty smart on the Giants part
Just saw your question, Flavor. I hope McGee is needed and plays well enough to throw somewhere between 60 and 70 innings.
His fastball-only approach does feel a little tenuous. If he were in th 97-98 range, that would be more comfortable. But he still has a few more ugly outings to go before I lose faith.
I think I’m far less optimistic about pitchers in their 30s keeping their arms healthy. If I was in charge I wouldn’t look at his career appearances I would look at his age and ratchet the appearances down some especially considering how sparingly he was used last year and how successful he was when they handled him that way
So did the Giants no the covid effect from last night before throwing McGee out there?
Strange cause when covid affected Longo they gave him the dayoff on opening day..
No choice but to recall Tromp, with Posey day to day and the emergency catcher would of been Dubon lol 😂..
I’m sure the lingering covid symptoms is just a way to get these guys on an injured list because there is no minimum stay they can bring them back whenever they want
Here we go again. LaStella leads off with a strikeout on 5 pitches.
His K’s are the biggest ripoff of 2021 so far. When he struck out with a runner at third and 1 out in an earlier game, I ranted about it for the next 15 minutes.
Put on the game just in time to see a fuckup on the bases.
Although Solano got to second, so it didn’t matter..
Don’t think it’s fair to compare innings pitched to last season. The key this year is to have a full off season plus regular ST to prepare–and all pitchers are in same boat. This is challenge all teams face. Gausman for example made dozen or so starts but will hopefully make 30+ 2021.
Lopez is mixing 4-seamers and changeups quite well. Yaz must have been running with the pitch and Donnie, probably hyper-anxious to make something happen, went after a CU right int he zone, but managed to hit it back to Lopez. Only good take is that the YazMaTaz bat has been showing signs of life lately.
Give the new kid Doval a look at closer….
Damn, it would be nice if Wood stayed healthy.
Wood is pretty herky jerky, no wonder he’s had back problems.My guess he won’t hold up..
Fourteen pitches in the first, but Wood, largely through his own acumen in that pick-off move, got out of that inning with no serious damage. Seems like bad base running tactics are a bit contagious.
@Bozo: Mr. BassB said he knew Jymie Merritt, who passed just a year ago this month. He was part of 2 great Art Blakey Messngers, groups. He was on Moanin with Bobby Timmons Benny Golson and Lee Morgan, and my personal fav Mosaic with Cedar Walton and different frontline Freddie Hubbard Wayne Shorter Curtis Fuller.
As you said, he was himself accomplished professional musician, more into avant garde than I am.
I think BB is this guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisle_Ellis
Just saw your post . . . I have known for a long time that’s him, i.e., multiple sites (including white paper) indicate it’s him, e.g., he used “Lisle” name here, Bisbee mentioned as residence on “white paper” sites and Flap, etc. Of all the people whom have ever posted here, he’s undoubtedly the most “famous” (if you go by multiple music review sites, Wiki notation, collaborations with other famous musicians, etc.). lqtm
Only flapper with a wiki page? Probably.
Yeah, that was the name he posted under before switching to Bassbaldy, Gotta be his real name, not an alias one would just pick outta of a hat. Dang, that is some pretty heavy hitters that he’s played with.
Lopez has limited command of his curveball, still mostly reliant on 4-seamer and changeup. Break on the FB is almost consistently at 24 degrees. He got Dick with that one. On the change which nailed Casali, the break on his CU was far more pronounced than before. Craw raked a change which did not have that pronounced a break. Second go-round vs. Lopez I’m anticipating the guys may hang on that 4-seamer, provided the location and break remain pretty static. Automatic out to start the third and then LaStella needs to make contact and get a successful BBIP.
Wood’s slider is his best pitch–good variability in break, from some 45 degrees, down to the 24 with which he quickly dispatched that pest, Chisholm. Bit of rust showing in the 30 pitch two innings, but his overall command is okay, but still a bit off on the changeup.
Dick got a read on that low changeup and provided enough dictation to get LaStella in. Kinda figured Tommy would solve Lopez on his second go-round. He’s a good reader and a major pest. Good to see Alex back in the swing of things.
Lopez pitch count at 57 after three. His changups seem to work better on RH batters like Slater.
Whoa, nice catch by Slater.
If slater stays healthy he’ll bury GD and Doibie both and Ramos may get a shot. SS though.
Yeah I sure would like to see 2 Right handed hitters with pop then no pop Dubon.
Nice read and great catch by Slater!
Good for Dickerson, who isn’t off to much of start. Last season Aug 3 he was hitting .308 with 1.000 OPS, but by late in month had slumped to .195. finished strong with 6 bombs in September and got BA up to .298 by end of season.
You know Ruf isn’t doing much to solidify OF spot. I could see at least one of Wade Jr or Duggar sticking around if they can hit a bit.
Looking at track records, Wade would be the far more probable.
I’d say Wade jr over Duggar in any scenario.If GD can’t get a start today against a right hander, that speaks volumes on what the Giants really think of him..
Wood seems to be using his changes to set up his bread and butter slider.
He just perfectly placed a couple of FBs
Count reading through four: Wood 52–Lopez 69. Fifth could be interesting.
Why is it always YOstremski or YOUstremski with kuip and Kruk and now Lopez?
Driving back from SV this morning I didn’t hear Miller having trouble.
They stole the line from Yo Adriene?
I’ve never seen any of the rocky franchise movies and yet I recognize that.
Nasty stuff by Wood.Low pitch count, Let’s see how quick Captain Hook pulls him though.I’m sure it will be the blah blah certain amount of pitches crap..
Pregame radio show Captain Kaplan said he might let wood go beyond six.
With Wood just coming off the DL/IL/IR/grave, they’ll likely tread lightly.
Got to keep the Wood firm.
Solano keeps getting low-jam strikeouts. Breaking stuff, low and in may be his weak area. He could also be hyper-anxious batting in the 3-hole. Maybe a switch in lineup spots with Slater would help him relax a bit and not feel hyper about performing in that critical slot.
Baggs twitter said Doval likely makes debut today and has 15 seconds of highlights for G Santos as he K’s couple A’s at alt site and hits 100.
BUT–he also retweets a fantastic thread from Super 70s guy with great pic entitled “Willie McCovey led the NL 6 times in Badassery Above Replacement.” great stories and replies plus great pic of Mac sitting in front of his Caddy with WM 44 license plate.
thanks Mac! replies on thread are great plus another great pic later on it
I once met Willie Mays wife Mae Mays back in the early 70’s when I was a young grocery clerk bagger( courtesy clerk proper term nowadays) she had a bunch of groceries that I took out to her pink imperial.Loaded them all in her trunk when I noticed the license plate “Say Hey”.. I was awestruck.Nice lady.
Hooooo. Lucky break there. Dickerson with the ole defense. At least he got his body in the way.
Ha, Jazzman deserved that after loafing out of the box.
Sure did with his speed that’s a standup double Willie Mays Hayes! Drop and give me 20 push-ups..
Through 5 Wood looking good. Unfazed by Belt Boo-boo.
EXTRA!! EXTRA!! Read all about it. Belt doubles past the Mendoza line, now up to a hefty .206. LHBs seem to hit Lopez pretty on second and third views.
Down with this call. Up to the fucking pen again, tho
Yep, even though Wilmer didn’t come through, the right call. The pen is either going to perform or not. Get rid of the Bad Penny year types early on if they don’t turn it around soon.
Big opp for Wilmet here.
Marlin’s mgr must desperately want to get Wood out of the picture. IP to Craw and then a constant rain of low and in changes to Casali, to either sucker him (his weak zone) or a semi-intentional to get at Wood or his PH.
Considering how the pen has done last 2 games I don;t blame them.
This picture showed up in my Google photos today. It is historically significant. It is the first time my boy Ervin, our man in Seattle, read one flap down. I remember the moment well, we were at the Las Vegas airport coming back from a trade show. 2012.
Kapler yielded to temptation. So did Wilbur. Now the Marlins have 4 innings of opportunity vs the Giants pen. 101 pitches for Lopez.
Just get this 3rd out.
Clean outing by Alvarez. Gets his ERA down to 4.15—tolerable for an early-middle reliever.
His highest ERA after his rookie year was 3.88. He’s had 5 consecutive solid years.
Belt being Belt doesn’t swing at the meatball and takes the walk.
Why he aggravates me. Runner at 2nd, 2 outs, and he isn’t aggressive.
Strange move by Kap, replacing Dick with Duubs. Detwiler’s command not so good with LHBs. Hope it works.
K’s stragedy did not work.
Dubon is useless right now..
Another 2-3 weeks of Mauricio being Dubious and Ramos gets the call. Couldn’t get much worse, but maybe he’ll get it together by the next home-stand.
But SS
A bunch of leadoff batters reaching base getting wasted, this does not bode well.
Alright Doval time and and they hopefully got there shit together bringing out Solano with Casali and Crawford to get these signs right! Unleash hell at 100mph!!
More of this guy please
Not even Jesus was ready for those bad-breaking sliders after a whiff of that 97+ FB.
What a beauty of a slider!
Pretty cool glove Doval has. I’d recommend a different number.
Whoosh and yes as Kuiper says that will end the inning.
Doval > Duvall.
New blood is better than Bad blood!
Get him in a role stat!
Let’s hope the Giants go down 1-2-3.
Senor Doval does not mess around with Duvall. A sniff of that 98+ FB and those vicious sliders gets him. Nice,economical 11 pitch inning for his first go at The Show.
Kid throws strikes, what a concept..
Most impressive..
If Doval had placed that 98 mph heater to Duval a few inches higher he might’ve had a SO or pop up. Instead, he evaded a bullet with a foul. Otherwise, he was just about perfect.
Only listening but Doval sounded impressive…did he look like a stud potential closer???
Fleming was certainly impressed….
Why not? he can bring it and throws strikes 11 pitches 9 strikes with 2 K’s!
He’s got the pitches, and he threw strikes.
Incredible 64% breaking action on that first slider Curtiss ouched to Crawford. Wily vet. Maybe SF should sometime before the break, tempt Miami with say our #6 outfield prospect plus one of our fill-in relievers.
And of course the obligatory i have to pull him só the BP can blowup.
Blue boy Jazz another in the line of good SS!
Anybody that can turn on a 100 plus heater upper deck off of Degrom has my knowing nod..
Baragar in an impressive 11-pitch 8th. He has yet to go beyond a 0.00 ERA this season. He hadn’t pitched in a setup role before, so this outing may have been a foretaste of a promotion.
Baragar pretty sharp in 8th.