Game Thread: 4.30.17 Pads@Giants

[SFGRTB]

hitting and bully are the elephants in the room... but when your margin of winning is likely 1 run, little things get magnified

I'd say all of those balls were unlikely plays, maybe a handful of guys make all of them (Machado, Arenado...?).

 

[SFGRTB]

There has been plenty wrong about April for the 2017 Giants. How about looking at some of the good?

Kelby Tomlinson - In the 5 games he's appeared since replacing Crawford on the roster, Tomlinson has gone 4 for 8 with a run and a stolen base. He looks like a nice player to have off the bench so far.
Buster Posey - Despite his lack of extra base hits, Posey is still sporting an .863 OPS. That is good for 7th among MLB catchers.
Brandon Belt - His offensive performance (.840 OPS) puts him in the top 10 category among 1st basemen in MLB.
Ty Blach - He looked okay as a reliever, but in two starts he has gone 12 innings, allowing only 7 hits, 3 walks and 2 runs.
Hunter Strickland - He has looked to be the star reliever so far for the Giants' bullpen. In 12 outings, he has pitched 10 innings, gave up 5 hits and 5 walks, with no runs and struck out 11 batters.
Matt Cain - Who would have guessed that Cain would pitch this well in April after his last few seasons and this spring training? In 5 starts, he sports a 1.17 WHIP, 2.35 ERA and a 7.24 K/9.
Cory Gearrin - Despite an unseemly WHIP (1.44), the relief pitcher has only allowed one earned run in 8.1 innings pitched (and allowed only 1 of 4 inherited runners to score in two appearances)

The bullpen as a whole was actually pretty good. The last two days and the first day really skew their numbers. Unfortunately, since those were all winable games, and we didn't win much, they stand out.

I'd say the bullpen was probably the strongest part of the team in April, which doesn't say much because the offense and starting pitching was atrocious.

 

[LHG]

The bullpen as a whole was actually pretty good. The last two days and the first day really skew their numbers. Unfortunately, since those were all winable games, and we didn't win much, they stand out.

I'd say the bullpen was probably the strongest part of the team in April, which doesn't say much because the offense and starting pitching was atrocious.

I almost put Derek Law on the list but his WHIP was too high for me. Melancon has been okay but considering the need and the cost to get him to fill it, I thought he was far from being on this list. Ramirez and Stratton have been awful. Okert has been mostly good but that one awful game last week. Kontos has been poor, in my opinion, as well. But overall, they may be the best part of this team. Scary.

 

[Stokes1931]

The bullpen as a whole was actually pretty good. The last two days and the first day really skew their numbers. Unfortunately, since those were all winable games, and we didn't win much, they stand out.

I'd say the bullpen was probably the strongest part of the team in April, which doesn't say much because the offense and starting pitching was atrocious.

Well, the Giants have blown five saves already (two by our uber-closer), which puts us on a pace for 31 blown saves. The bullpen did pretty well during a bad month, but the blown saves were the very thing we were trying to avoid as an issue. I'd say it is still an issue. They only compound our .346 winning percentage. If we convert those five blown saves we are 14-12 rather than 9-17.

At least we aren't the Rangers.

 

[calsnowskier]

Well, the Giants have blown five saves already (two by our uber-closer), which puts us on a pace for 31 blown saves. The bullpen did pretty well during a bad month, but the blown saves were the very thing we were trying to avoid as an issue. I'd say it is still an issue. They only compound our .346 winning percentage. If we convert those five blown saves we are 14-12 rather than 9-17.

At least we aren't the Rangers.

5 BSs <> 5 individual games. Game 1, for example, featured 2 BSs (Law and Melancon).

 

[SFGRTB]

I almost put Derek Law on the list but his WHIP was too high for me. Melancon has been okay but considering the need and the cost to get him to fill it, I thought he was far from being on this list. Ramirez and Stratton have been awful. Okert has been mostly good but that one awful game last week. Kontos has been poor, in my opinion, as well. But overall, they may be the best part of this team. Scary.

Ramirez had one blow up in Coors and then the other day where Bochy rode him for 50 pitches. Ramirez is not a reliever I trust, but I can give those 2 outing a pass because it happens in Coors and the other one, Bochy left Ramirez out there to die.

Stratton has pitched in 2 games, one great, one awful. But again, Bochy put Stratton in a terrible situation.

Kontos 2 bad outings (both against the Padres), other than that, fine. He has allowed 0% of inherited runners to score.

Law still looks a little rough.

Among all this though, it's such a small sample size to judge individual relievers. I think Ramirez and Stratton looked pretty good in low leverage situations. As a unit, outside of the 3 games, it has looked pretty solid. It all comes back to this unit being mis-managed, IMO.

You know who has inherited the most runners so far this season? Neil Ramirez. Strickland, Law and Melancon don't even have as many combined than Ramirez. That's a problem.

 

[SFGRTB]

Well, the Giants have blown five saves already (two by our uber-closer), which puts us on a pace for 31 blown saves. The bullpen did pretty well during a bad month, but the blown saves were the very thing we were trying to avoid as an issue. I'd say it is still an issue. They only compound our .346 winning percentage. If we convert those five blown saves we are 14-12 rather than 9-17.

At least we aren't the Rangers.

Yeah, what Cal said. And to piggy back, a blown save doesn't = a loss.

 

[LHG]

Ramirez had one blow up in Coors and then the other day where Bochy rode him for 50 pitches. Ramirez is not a reliever I trust, but I can give those 2 outing a pass because it happens in Coors and the other one, Bochy left Ramirez out there to die.

Stratton has pitched in 2 games, one great, one awful. But again, Bochy put Stratton in a terrible situation.

Kontos 2 bad outings (both against the Padres), other than that, fine. He has allowed 0% of inherited runners to score.

Law still looks a little rough.

Among all this though, it's such a small sample size to judge individual relievers. I think Ramirez and Stratton looked pretty good in low leverage situations. As a unit, outside of the 3 games, it has looked pretty solid. It all comes back to this unit being mis-managed, IMO.

You know who has inherited the most runners so far this season? Neil Ramirez. Strickland, Law and Melancon don't even have as many combined than Ramirez. That's a problem.

And that is on Bochy. Why throw the new guy who came on a minor league deal out in the most high pressured situations?

 

[SFGRTB]

And that is on Bochy. Why throw the new guy who came on a minor league deal out in the most high pressured situations?

It's been like this for a few years now. Hell, I'm sure he's always been like this, but we've always had great bullpens top to bottom that it really hadn't been an issue. It's quite frustrating, because a simple tweak could mean a lot.

Look, I like Boch a lot. He seems to get along with most of the players (there have been a number of instances to the contrary though). He's probably a HOF guy thanks to the 2010-2014 run. I wouldn't mind some fresh blood in here though. At the same time, the Giants probably would replace him with someone like-minded, so it probably won't make a difference.

 

[Stokes1931]

Yeah, what Cal said. And to piggy back, a blown save doesn't = a loss.

I forgot about the first game having two blown saves. Still, all four games with blown saves have been losses for us. And we were supposed to have this fixed after the post-ASB melt down last season. Work in progress.

 

[calsnowskier]

It's been like this for a few years now. Hell, I'm sure he's always been like this, but we've always had great bullpens top to bottom that it really hadn't been an issue. It's quite frustrating, because a simple tweak could mean a lot.

Look, I like Boch a lot. He seems to get along with most of the players (there have been a number of instances to the contrary though). He's probably a HOF guy thanks to the 2010-2014 run. I wouldn't mind some fresh blood in here though. At the same time, the Giants probably would replace him with someone like-minded, so it probably won't make a difference.

I would not be shocked if Bochy steps down after this year. It is painful watching him walk out to the mound, and he is having ("minor") heart surgery on the reg now.

And if this really is the closing of the window, do you really think he wants anything to do with a rebuild?

 

[Stokes1931]

Bryan Morris Stats, Fantasy & News is a combined 1-12 in save situations for his career. He ought to fit in nicely. And he was initially drafted by the Dogs in 2006.