Maxed Out

Apr 11, 2023 | 2023 Season, Latest Post

by
Greek Giant

Maxed Out

The Giants lost 9-1 to the Los Angeles Muncys last night in a game that was not as close as the score indicated. Why do I call them the “Muncys”? Because Giant-Killer Max Muncie single-handedly demolished the Giants by driving in seven runs and hitting two homers, one of which was a grand slam that made a 5-1 game even uglier.

It was a very bad night for our beloved Giants. I do not want to dwell too much on this game but I will cover three points.

Point number 1: Max Muncie destroys the Giants, especially in San Francisco. Think I’m exaggerating? Think again: In 73 games against the Giants, the 32-year-old infielder has hit 23 homers — tied for the third-most among active players — and knocked in 51 runs. Three of his 10 multi-homer games have come against San Francisco. While Muncy has recorded the bulk of his home runs and RBIs against the Giants at home, he has a 1.013 OPS in 36 games at Willie Mays Field. Before last night’s game Muncy was 4-33.

Ouch!

Last night was one more night in the “Tales of Max Muncie in the Foggy City” book that sounds like a horrific story written by a poor man’s Edgar Allan Poe.

What’s Wrong With Logan?

Point Number 2: Logan Webb has now had three starts this season and is 0-3 with an ERA of 6.35. Not exactly what we were expecting from the ace going into this season. Last night Webb would give up four runs, one of the Muncy long balls and six hits while striking out six and walking two against the Dodgers. It was not his night.

Julio Urias is now 7-4 with a 2.09 ERA over 26 games agains the Giants, by comparison. Oh my. He shut down the Giants for the most part with his mixture of fastballs and curves. Urias is Exhibit A of how a pitcher does not need to have 96 MPH plus velocity to dominate. Between his location changes, his speed mixtures and his directional diversions, nothing out of his left hand is ever straight or easy to hit. He’s kind of like a Mexican Madison Bumgarner in that way, but with perhaps one more pitch in his arsenal.

The Giants Have a Strikeout Problem

Point Number 3: Last night the Giants struck out 13 more times. That gives them a ten game total of 115 Ks! That’s 11.5 per game if you are keeping score at home. That’s more than a third of every out and that’s just way too many. Chalk this up as yet another Analytics fail. Yes, it’s the fault of analytics because it preaches an approach at the plate that ignores the count and is just plain stupid.

What last night’s game shows us, dear Giants fans, is the difference between the two teams in terms of star power. The Los Angelinos have Betts, Freeman, Muncy, Urias and co. The Giants have… well… Logan Webb? And last night Webb’s shine was dimming a bit.

Wilmer did hit a homer to give Giants fans something to cheer about:

Tonight’s Game

Game 2 of the series is tonight and begins at 6:45PM. The pitching matchup is May Vs. Wood. The Giants need Alex to be a stopper here.