by
Greek Giant
This was a strangely exciting game. When you least expect baseball will take your breath away. Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson made his Major League debut and pitched two shutout innings while Adrian Houser pitched five shutout innings in relief and Dylan Smith saved the game with two more zeroes in the eighth and ninth innings. This was intriguing pitching matchup with two portly, lefty rookies facing each other in Wilkins and Parker Messick, The Cleveland wunderkind. He pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed the lone run of the game when Juan Bericoto hit an infield single to drive in Rafael Devers in the top of the fourth inning.
Wilkinson was left with positive vibes following his Major League debut:
Wilkinson, who wasΒ acquired from ClevelandΒ in exchange for catcher Patrick Bailey on May 9, impressed while making his first career start against his former organization. He retired six of the seven batters he faced, topping out at 91 mph with hisΒ signature βInvisiballβ fastball.
βThat was cool. It was definitely a long-awaited moment. Iβm happy it could happen here, of all places. Iβm happy to get that win under my belt. Hopefully, thereβs more to come.β
-Tugboat
That lone Giants run would hold up thanks to great work by the aforementioned Giants pitchers. Houser threw a devastating changeup that broke down and away to lefties. Dylan Smith powered 97-96 MPH fastballs by the Guardian hitters, including one down the middle to Patrick Bailey to end the game. That pitch was taken by the former Giant and the San Franciscans would earned their 52nd win of the year, blanking a strong Guardians team in the most unlikely of ways.
Willy Adames went 3-4 and Jung Hoo Lee had two hits. The Giants were mostly overpowered by Messick, who looks like a future Cy Young Award winner. There were interesting plays, doubles by both teams with runners on first that, in most circumstances with two outs, would have scored the runners. But in both cases, Lee for the Giants and Kwan for the Guardians, the outfielders played the hits perfectly to prevent the attempts to score. It was good baseball.
Today’s Game
Roupp (7-10, 4.31 ERA) versus Williams (11-7, 2.74 ERA) at 1:10 PM, Cleveland Time.
Andrew Baggarly Second-Guesses the Patrick Bailey Trade
In today’s Athletic Andrew Baggarly calls the Giants decision to trade Patrick Bailey “head-scratching.” Hmm.. not my head. I don’t understand his take. Patrick Bailey was an elite pitch framer and thrower out of runners but he had other deficiencies as a catcher, namely blocking balls and fielding balls from the field of play to tag runners out. His career batting average and OPS are both below replacement level. Let’s remember that the Giants received a mid-level pitching prospect, Matt Wilkinson, who just made his Major League debut last night. The Giants also received Clevelandβs competitive balance pick, No. 29, which they used to take high school left-hander Carson Bolemon.
I am ok with this deal. I like the deal and I see why Buster made it. It seems Baggarly has some axe to grind. When you consider Andrew Susac’s promising debut this year and the Giants depth at the catcher position in the Minor Leagues, the return for a team in dire need of pitching seems good. Bailey was not a catcher or a player you can build your team around, no matter what any advanced metrics tell you. Buster knew this. Getting two potential starting pitchers for Bailey is a win for the Giants.
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