San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another
On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss the changing problem area, and another one being added to the body count.
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Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Wednesday, the Giants fell in the first game of the Oakland portion of the Bay Bridge Series, and third straight game overall, to the Oakland A’s, 7-1. Sean Manaea was the winner, while Jake Peavy was the loser.
The Los Angeles Dodgers also lost on Wednesday to the Milwaukee Brewers, so there was no game in the six-game deficit in the National League West.
Here’s what went on Wednesday.
1 – If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another
One night after a complete bullpen blowup, the Giants’ reliever bounced back with a great showing on Wednesday. Four relievers (George Kontos, Derek Law, Javier Lopez, and Chris Stratton) combined to throw 4.2 almost perfect innings, allowing just one hit. The bullpen wasn’t the problem, but that defense was atrocious.
Jake Peavy cruised through the first seven batters of the game, retiring them all on 21 pitches, but a weak pop-up from eighth-place hitter Marcus Semien began the downward spiral. The bloop into right field looked like an easy play for Mac Williamson, as he was coming in hard and appeared to be calling for the ball all the way. But second baseman Ramiro Peña maybe didn’t hear him, and the two came together, allowing the ball to fall for a three-base error, charged to Peña
Two batters later, Angel Pagan took a bad route on a line drive off Coco Crisp‘s bat. The ball scooted past him, and Crisp had a triple. Next up was Jed Lowrie, who drilled a ball into right field. Williamson looked like he had a bead on the ball, and got the sweet spot of his glove on it as he jumped at the wall. Much like Pagan’s attempt in Pittsburgh last week, the ball clanked off Williamson’s glove, resulting in a two-run home run.
The next batter was Josh Reddick, who popped up into foul territory, with what should have been out number three. Instead, brand new third baseman Ruben Tejada alligator armed a pop-up, giving Reddick new life. He would later walk.
Back to left field in the fourth inning, Pagan couldn’t corral a flyball off Semien’s bat, also using the alligator arms method to let it drop on the warning track. That resulted in another three-base error. When all was said and done, it was 7-0 after four innings. Peavy didn’t get out of the fourth, and it was definitely not all on him.
2 – Another One on the Body Count
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Ramiro Peña will be joining the ever-growing list of injured Giants’ infielders, adding his name to the list that includes Joe Panik, Matt Duffy, Ehire Adrianza, and Kelby Tomlinson.
Peña was injured on the collision with Williamson in the third inning, rolling his ankle. His ankle rolled inwards, rather than out, causing a sprain that will keep him out for a few days. Peña toughed it out for a couple innings, but was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the fifth when the pain became too much.
So now the Giants are tasked with finding yet another healthy body to put on the roster. The only position player currently on the 40-man roster is Andrew Susac, but bringing him up would give the Giants three catchers, and force Trevor Brown into utility infielder duty. Not ideal, but neither is the injury situation.
Every passing injury makes the thought of bringing up top prospect Christian Arroyo a little more appealing, but the Giants are not ready to push the 21-year-old’s progress that far yet. It would also be difficult to create yet another 40-man roster spot for Arroyo, or anyone else (Grant Green, Rando Moreno, as Alex Pavlovic says the team has discussed).
They already have three players on the 60-day disabled list, and will have to do some fancy roster management to get the already-injured guys back on the active roster when the times comes. They’re being backed into a corner, roster-wise, by all these injuries.
Next: Giants Morning Minute: Offensive Outburst Wasted
And that will do it for another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants and Athletics finish their Bay Bridge Series with the second of two games in Oakland. Madison Bumgarner will pitch (and hit!) for the Giants, matched against rookie Dillon Overton.