Nice Start
You know it’s a tough division when you start the season 5-1 and yet you’re mired in 3rd place. Dodgers, Pads and us start out the season 20-1. That’s insane.
But look, a better road trip to start the season we could not have had. Now an off day to heroically return to Oracle before we get to feast on Seattle.
LFG
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Carstie Clausen
Wed, Apr 2, 5:19 PM (11 hours ago)
Flav: Was without access on computer for almost two weeks, but got help by Apple-connected techies just 42 miles away…and they got the system cleaned on the Flap donatied Imac just yesterday. So here goes.
Team accused to once again wallowing in mediocrity may turn out to become the MLB surprise squad after a 5-1 road trip vs. an up and coming Reds team and a highly rated Astros squad which Los Gigantes squashed in their home digs. So now its back to the Oracle for 6 v. the Mariners and those Reds once again…and then a pair of toughies out east…the Yank-Me’s and the Philthies.
So what’s been happening? Lots to do with the rotation, for starters. Roupp went four complete today, with 3 Ernies. The youngster did not do too badly against a tough Houston lineup…but not exactly up to current SF standards. It did not help that Randy Rodriguez allowed two inherited runners to score.
Otherwise, the rotation has been kick-ass, what with Rob going perfect for five; Webb being his usual bulldog; Hicks mowing them down and Verlander squeezed by one run in the Great American Bandbox. Overall Rotation grade at B+ by my reckoning.
Bullies: Pretty not to bad…still getting used to their roles. Birdsong was sweet music over two. Tyler shut em down on 8 submarines. Doval held em with goose-eggs on ten pitches. Rating:Bullpen at a straight up B.
Interesting conjecture is whether Melvin will double up for closers getting some rest with Walker and Doval as a combo for now.
Now for the offense: Secret Weapon…none other than our old buddy, Whilllmer with his 4th dinger over six games. HE’S BACK.
Then there’s the guy who I dub as “Hellcat” Ramos. His B.A. didn’t get any bumps today, going only one for five. HOWEVER, with his devastating double with a couple ducks on the pond, he put Los Gigantes in the driver’s seat with that pair of RiBeyes. Dude…built for power… is plumb dangerous when the bases are a bit heavy.
He’s still a bit of a sucker for high ones, a bit above the zone…but he may well lead the squad in dingers with 30+ and may also get his second All-Star choices.
Now, Adames and Chapman were expected to carry the team…not yet, so far. The magical quality of the non superstar lineup may be indicated by the number of pitch-counts Valdez was saddled with, along with getting stuck with 5 runs over the first couple of innings.
Now imagine YaZmaTaz as a stolen base threat. He got his second in game 6.
Hey! Have a lonnng look at Matos, who done got his dinger this afternoon. At something like age 23, he’s reminding me a bit of Willie Kirkland from back in my teenage days. Looks like a comer…totally unexpected by all those MLB prognosticators. A team full of pretty good players can upset a good many applecarts.
Thing is likely attributed to Melvin due to his strategy of employing a primary lineup which can hurt you right on through the full nine. Pitchers tend to get a case of nerves when they don’t face much for “soft-spots” in the array. Giants lineup is a world apart from Bonds25 and a bunch of has-beens and never-weres for backup.
Interesting how “Ol Bob” subbed Late-Night for Schmitty (who couldn’t hit and missed a play at first) where he was not charged with an error…likely to keep the home crowd happy…which led to a pair of runs instead of a GDP. Wade put a somewhat tenuous 5-3 lead with an 8th inning capper-dinger…pretty much on ice with only 3 Doval presentations with that three run bulge.
“Ol Bob” said it best some weeks ago that with some additions and corrections in the roster and with Buster as his boss (so to speak) that the vibe is different this season.
Remember all those one and two run losses last year? That situation doomed the team to an 80-82 record. Consider those additions and corrections and jump the vibe to positive and add ten games to a 90-72 finish…But I feel they are better than that…basically few if any holes.
Do you recall those “designated starters in ’24? Not likely this year as both rotation and bullpen depth this go-round is ALL different.
The take from Wes Westrum country here, as a Giants fan since ’54 at age ten: Somewhere between 92 and 95 wins and THREE NLW teams make the playoffs. Yeah, not a sooperstar in sight, but a keenly balanced set of guys who make up a TEAM.
Book em, Gang. The emotional and psychological jelling of a squad on a mission could make for a team which MAY have the something resembling 2010…the surprise of the year for MLB.
Thanks stix, not much else to say after that except I’m very glad we don’t have to play the dogs 18 times any longer. Hope we can keep it going.
Thanks for sharing that Flav.
Willie Kirkland btw is still alive at age 91. Brief bio from BR bullpen on B/R site. Had couple nice years with original SF Giants, just got crowded out of the OF, as happened to so many of them in those early years in SF.
At 6-1, Kirkland built differently than Matos, but Matos put charge into ABs yesterday. As with others, sure looks like different player than last year.
Rodriguez did good job limiting the damage after Roupp melted down, loading bases with Alvarez at plate and none out. The lone “hit” he allowed was the ball Schmitt couldn’t handle at 1b, right? Originally it was scored an error. After the runs scored Rodriguez got a foul out and 2 Ks.
Rodriguez did what he was supposed to do, beautifully, even after Schmitt didn’t. Altuve’s sky high pop up that landed right in front of the plate ruined Roupp’s day, moving a runner into scoring position. Rodriguez came in to pitch through that bad luck and then wound up pitching through even more after Schmitt let two runs score. Very impressive.
OPENING DAY BABY LETS GOOO!!!
Crazy it will be Verlander’s first appearance back at Oracle since 2012 when Pablo Sandoval Destroyed him for 3HR’s! Well he doesn’t have to face Panda anymore atleast lol
Beautiful Day ( not the band but they were great)but Oracle should be ROCKING!!
Maybe some of the fans go all in and join the 999 club! 9 hotdogs 🌭9 beers 🍺 in 9 innings!!
Hey dog pile&Pads haven’t even played a road game,so the Giants 5-1 road trip looks like an advantage with 6 home games coming up against stiffs like Seattle&Reds again!!
Remember Chadwick Tromp? Started at C for Braves last night, yikes. ATL lit up Blake Snell for 5hits/4 BBs in 4, but blew 5-0 lead (all runs unearned due to couple errors by Muncy) as Dogs pinned blown save and L on Raisel Iglesias after 2 run double to tie game in 8th and Ohtani walk off HR in 9th.
One of the weirdest “lines” I have ever seen for a pitcher – 5 runs tallied in 4 innings pitched and all non earned. Grrrr . . . Not certain if I dislike Snell or Muncy more. Minimally, Snell should be buying Muncy dinner for the next few weeks. Regardless, thank you for sharing Willie.
Snell is Snell. The Giants didn’t even bother to talk to him after last season. Thought his no-hitter was pretty cool.
Sure, he was gonna get his truckload, but Christ, talk to the guy.
And fuck Muncy.
Without a salary cap in baseball their is no parity which SUCKS!
Dogpile&Yanks with their billion dollar LU’s will continue to dominate while the rest of the league just can’t compete overall.And do they really give a shit about going over the collective bargaining agreement getting a fine for going over it?Fuck No!!
Shit I’m losing more brain cells, I thought the Giants play today?Friday opener uhh ok makes sense though ending a series on Sunday duh..🤯🫡
Yeah I’m finding it hard to keep brain cells myself.
This excellent start by the Giants seems to have at its core a different sort of buzz or mindset. All the players have talked about it, and they seem to playing loose and with a sense of fun. And yet, compared to last year’s team, the only new players of note are Adames and Verlander. That’s all. The only big difference is Buster replacing Z. Interesting to think that just that one change lifted some kind of weight from the team and has set loose what we’re watching so far.