San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: Rock Bottom? Not For Blach, At Least
On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss the latest rock bottom, and a special debut for a rookie pitcher.
Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Monday, the Giants dropped the first game of a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies, 6-0. Chad Bettis (12-7) cruised his way to victory, while Matt Moore (2-4) couldn’t get through the third inning.
The Los Angeles Dodgers massacred Zack Greinke, running away to a 10-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Their lead in the National League West is up to four games. The St. Louis Cardinals also won, closing to within a half-game of the Giants for the first wildcard spot. The New York Mets won as well, and are just 1.5 games back of the Giants in third place.
1 – Rock Bottom? We Can Only Hope
There’s usually a rock bottom for skids like this. Maybe getting two-hit in a shutout by Chad Bettis, a pitcher who entered the day with an ERA above five, at Coors Field is that rock bottom.
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The starting lineup looked tired and worn down. Their swings are sluggish and more often than not, they result in weak groundballs. It’s difficult to watch this team play as they are.
Even in the hitting friendly confines of Coors Field, the Giants managed just two hits. One of them was a bloop single from Eduardo Nunez. One of the only well-struck ball all day came off the bat of Trevor Brown, the backup catcher starting for just the 12th time since the All-Star break. He led off the sixth inning by stroking a line-drive double to the wall in center field.
Only four balls hit by the Giants left the bat with an exit velocity over 100 miles per hour. Two were hit by Denard Span (103 in the first inning, 102 in the ninth), and two by Hunter Pence (110 in the second, 109 in the seventh). They all resulted in groundball outs, so even when they do connect well, they result in nothing more than outs.
Other than that, Giants’ hitters got to three balls in a count three times. All of them came within the first six at-bats of the game. They were lucky not to get Madduxed (a complete game shutout on under 100 pitches), as Bettis finished his day just north of that, at 103 throws.
To call this a stretch of offensive ineptitude would be a vast understatement. Do you remember Mario Mendoza, the guy for which the “Mendoza Line” was named because he was such a poor hitter? His career slash-line was .215/.245/.262. In five games in September, the Giants are hitting .099/.166/.174. Those numbers make Mendoza look like a Hall-of-Famer.
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After Monday’s loss, manager Bruce Bochy said he was going to rest some starters on Tuesday, and maybe that’s something the team needs. Maybe putting Mac Williamson, or Kelby Tomlinson, or Jarrett Parker, or Brown is what the lineup needs. They need these young kids with fresh legs to inject some energy into the lineup. Plus that will buy a little time off for the regulars, which at this point in the season, will be much-needed.
It’s easy to say “this is rock bottom” and “things can’t get any worse”. It’s also quite dangerous. Things can get worse, a lot worse, and quickly.
2 – One Bright Spot
As difficult as it is to believe, there was actually quite a big bright spot in Monday’s game. You can blame Ty Blach for this bit of positivity. His first game would be special either way, as big league debuts always are, but location made Blach’s a bit sweeter.
The left-hander was born in Denver, Colorado. He went to high school in Aurora. When the Rockies played their first home game as a franchise on April 9th, 1993, the 2.5-year-old kid was in the stands. When Coors Field opened on April 26th, 1995, he was there. When more than 100 of his family and friends packed the park on Monday, he was there as well. But this time, he was on the mound instead of in the stands.
The Colorado-native pitched his first game as a big league pitcher against the team he grew up watching. In three innings, he shut down the Rockies’ offense, allowing just a hit and a walk to the 11 batters he faced. He didn’t strike anyone out, but he did what exactly what drove him to success in Sacramento this season. He kept hitters off balance with a stellar fastball-changeup combination.
The 25-year-old worked a fast pace through his three innings, getting his outs with five groundballs and four in the air. He even did the almost impossible, retiring Nolan Arenado. On a bad day for the Giants’ team, Blach gave people a reason to smile.
Next: Giants Morning Minute: Giants Heads Up Way to Win
And that will do it for this edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants and Rockies continue their series with game two. Jeff Samardzija takes the mound for the Giants, countered by rookie left-hander Tyler Anderson.