by
Greek Giant
One of the most interesting indicators of Gian fan excitement is the number of daily comments on posts for our vey own TWG. When the Giants are going good we will get upwards of 800-1000 comments. When the Giants are going bad we get under 200, as was the case yesterday.
Last night the Giants dropped a 5-1 decision to the Braves. In that game Dansby Swanson showcased why he will be a highly coveted free agent if the Braves do not sign him this season. Swanson drove in three runs and had two hits, one of which was a home run on a hanging “hit-me” slider from Jakob Junis. Kyle Wright earned his 18th decision for Atlanta which snapped a season-high three-game losing streak. Yes, you read that correctly: The Braves season-high losing streak was three games.
Wow. That’s the sign of a good team, ladies and gents.
For the Giants, Junis ended up going five innings allowing four runs on seven hits. He was not terrible. It’s just that Kyle Wright was mostly lights out. End of story. Apart from a first inning RBI hit by Joc Pederson that gave the Giants a brief 1-0 lead, there was not much to cheer about for San Francisco fans.
The Giants mustered a grand total of four hits in the game against a smattering of Braves pitchers, five in all. Wright pitched only into the sixth.
The Braves played a solid game and showed why they are defending World Series Champs and why they could repeat. The Giants were no match for them on this night.
The Division Race Is Over
With the Loss the Giants are now 68-74, 30.5 games behind the Bums, who clinched their ninth National League West Division championship in ten seasons. Congratulations to our rivals in the Southland.
It’s time to burn the City Connect uniforms in a ritual bonfire at the plate. Let Hunter Pence give a speech. The Giants could sell tickets.
Cole Waites Makes Major League Debut
He pitched one inning and allowed one hit and a walk but pitched a shutout. Cole Waites is a milestone since he is the first player drafted by the Zaidi regime to reach the Majors. Congratulations kid.
Showtime for @cole_waites35 đź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/DyPZkP19Zq
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 14, 2022
Zack Littell Demoted
Zack Littell was sent down to AAA Sacramento for an attitude adjustment after some sassy talk towards Gabe Kapler in Monday’s game. Presumably he was also sent down for an adjustment of his results as well since the Littell of 2021 has been MIA this year. Here is the Giant Manager on the move:
“I can understand why that would seem correlated from the outside but we’re making this move to get somebody on independent of the incident that we had,” said Kapler, who told Littell there would be an opportunity to return. “I’ll say this, good teammate behavior is part of performance as well, so I don’t want to say that there’s no part of makeup that we consider when we make decisions. That’s always going to be considered and we’re going to appreciate and respect the highest level of teammate behavior always.”
Ahem…
Will the Zaidi Tenure Go Beyond 2023?
According to insinuations perpetrated by Andrew Baggarly, the Giants plan on extending Zaidi’s contract, which ends in 2023. Despite a historic regression and a shaky draft record, not to mention fan attrition and disinterest, dissent in the ranks of the players and general Analytics-philosophy issues, Giants ownership is happy with Zaidi. Baggarly even suggests that the agreement is already in place and has not yet been announced.
Here is Giants Chairman Greg Johnson on Zaidi, per Baggarly’s article:
“We are fully behind Farhan and (manager) Gabe (Kapler) and the coaching staff. We recognize that you have a team that did get older and that presents some challenges, and a farm system that I would say hasn’t progressed as quickly as we’d like to see. There’s been some injuries to key people and COVID has set back the timeline on development in some cases. But the general direction, the tone, the work ethic, the dedication that these guys put in every day, and the morale we see even in a tough year, we’re very much committed to Farhan and his team.”
WOW! Talk about a tone deaf ownership group. Talk about a boatload of excuses!
Let’s compare Theo Epstein’s tenure to Farhan Zaidi’s. In his fourth season Epstein won the World Series with Joe Maddon as his Skipper. Epstein inherited a bottom-rung team with a dismal farm system. While he inherited some excellent players he also made great draft picks, shrewd trades and in a matter of three years made the Cubs a force.
That’s what I want from a GM.
Maddon on Analytics
Speaking of the aforementioned Joe Maddon, the former Cub, Angel and Rays Manager had some interesting things to say recently about the influence of Analytics in baseball:
“I want all this information. I do,” Maddon told us, less than three months after he was fired by the Angels. “I just don’t like … the way it’s implemented.
“It gets to the point where the pregame is a meeting every day. And it’s an elongated meeting. And players don’t need all this information, quite frankly. They need nuggets. They don’t need dissertations.”
He then launched into an illustration of the onslaught of data that players now receive from their ever-helpful analytics department. Suffice it to say it was a lot more complicated than: “Get a good pitch to hit.” It sounded more like somebody reciting from a physics textbook.
“But you just need a nugget,” Maddon said. “You don’t need all this.”
and this:
“I want analytical people on my staff. But I don’t want them in the dugout. I don’t want them in the clubhouse. I want them to do their job, give the work to the coaches, let the coaches then teach the players. I don’t need presenters in the dugout, I don’t need presenters in the clubhouse. … It’s getting to the point where their impact or authority is exceeding that of a coach. And that’s what I think is wrong.”
Bravo Joe!
Today’s Game
The finale of the three-game series against the Braves is today at 12:45 PM at Willie Mays Field. It’s Charlie Morton against Carlos Rodon. It should be a good one.