[lex24]

Good story on Beck in the Athletic. Ross Stripling was highly complimentary of Beck, who has a 141 ERA+ in 50 major league innings, meaning he's doing 41% better than the average MLB pitcher. Stripling said "He's got an amazing heater. He's got two amazing breaking balls...he's a savage out there." Kapler also highly complimentary of Beck.

Giants can only send Beck down one more time without exposing him to waivers.

Giants are 14-4 when using Alexander, Walker or Brebbia as openers. I don't imagine that strategy will change much. ANd they're 31-26 against teams with .500 or better records, fifth best in MLB.

Giants now 15-5 using starters as openers, having used Alexander as today's opener, and winning 1-0 on Late Night Lamonte Wade's home run. They are 46-44 in all other games. Maybe not a fluke?

They only had three baserunners total...Conforto had a single and Diaz had a walk. Beck got the win, now 3-0. Manaea, Jackson, Rogers all got holds, Doval got MLB's leading 33rd save.

Giants now 12 games over .500, third in the league at 61-49, four games behind the Dodgers, all in the loss column and 1.5 games ahead of the Phillies for the first wild card slot.

Here's how the 2023 schedule compares YTD with the three world championship years in 2010, 2012 and 2014:

2023    61-49
2010    63-47
2012    60-50
2014    60-50

And yet, it’s the hitting….

The concern  is more than just “they’ve been cold awhile”. This is a team built primarily on power. They lack speed. And they strike out a lot. Currently, the Giants are 13th in runs, OPS and slugging. 12th in OBP. Only Pittsburgh and Milwaukee ( how do the Brewers keep winning?) have fewer runs. Giants are 8th in HRs. But even that is a little “troubling”. They hit 46 April. 30 in May. 46 in June and July combined. 


The key to their offensive fortunes lie in the veterans. Conforto - who has has in some ways a dissapointing year (.384 Slg pct ) Yaz, who has had some nice hot streaks but has had a hard time staying healthy. And seems to take some time to ramp up once back off injuries. Wade. Who looks healthier. Has swung bat much better last few. Legs look better. Crawford, see Wade. Joc. Another disappointment to date. In part injury related. Slater always does his thing vs lefties but he also can’t seem to stay on the field. Davis. Who went into a slump but appears to be coming out of it. And Wilmer, who saved July.

Estrada coming back should help the the offense . How much depends on how sound his hand is. Those injuries can linger.

After the weekend, then Giants are facing their toughest stretch. They aren’t going to win consistently scoring 3 or less runs. 

I’ll pick 3 key guys moving forward : Conforto. Joc and Estrada. They need power from Conforto and Joc. They are their main lefty power threats. And they need Estrada to solidify the order a bit, especially against lefties.

Two wild cards - Pollock and Haniger. If they get anything from either it will be a brobdingnagian plus.

 

[lex24]

Good story on Beck in the Athletic. Ross Stripling was highly complimentary of Beck, who has a 141 ERA+ in 50 major league innings, meaning he's doing 41% better than the average MLB pitcher. Stripling said "He's got an amazing heater. He's got two amazing breaking balls...he's a savage out there." Kapler also highly complimentary of Beck.

Giants can only send Beck down one more time without exposing him to waivers.

Giants are 14-4 when using Alexander, Walker or Brebbia as openers. I don't imagine that strategy will change much. ANd they're 31-26 against teams with .500 or better records, fifth best in MLB.

Giants now 15-5 using starters as openers, having used Alexander as today's opener, and winning 1-0 on Late Night Lamonte Wade's home run. They are 46-44 in all other games. Maybe not a fluke?

They only had three baserunners total...Conforto had a single and Diaz had a walk. Beck got the win, now 3-0. Manaea, Jackson, Rogers all got holds, Doval got MLB's leading 33rd save.

Giants now 12 games over .500, third in the league at 61-49, four games behind the Dodgers, all in the loss column and 1.5 games ahead of the Phillies for the first wild card slot.

Here's how the 2023 schedule compares YTD with the three world championship years in 2010, 2012 and 2014:

2023    61-49
2010    63-47
2012    60-50
2014    60-50

And yet, it’s the hitting….

The concern  is more than just “they’ve been cold awhile”. This is a team built primarily on power. They lack speed. And they strike out a lot. Currently, the Giants are 13th in runs, OPS and slugging. 12th in OBP. Only Pittsburgh and Milwaukee ( how do the Brewers keep winning?) have fewer runs. Giants are 8th in HRs. But even that is a little “troubling”. They hit 46 April. 30 in May. 46 in June and July combined. 


The key to their offensive fortunes lie in the veterans. Conforto - who has has in some ways a dissapointing year (.384 Slg pct ) Yaz, who has had some nice hot streaks but has had a hard time staying healthy. And seems to take some time to ramp up once back off injuries. Wade. Who looks healthier. Has swung bat much better last few. Legs look better. Crawford, see Wade. Joc. Another disappointment to date. In part injury related. Slater always does his thing vs lefties but he also can’t seem to stay on the field. Davis. Who went into a slump but appears to be coming out of it. And Wilmer, who saved July.

Estrada coming back should help the the offense . How much depends on how sound his hand is. Those injuries can linger.

After the weekend, then Giants are facing their toughest stretch. They aren’t going to win consistently scoring 3 or less runs. 

I’ll pick 3 key guys moving forward : Conforto. Joc and Estrada. They need power from Conforto and Joc. They are their main lefty power threats. And they need Estrada to solidify the order a bit, especially against lefties.

Two wild cards - Pollock and Haniger. If they get anything from either it will be a brobdingnagian plus.