San Francisco Giants Off-Day Offerings: May 4th in Cincinnati

The San Francisco Giants have an off-day, giving the fans a lot of time to sit on some thoughts before they begin a three-game set in Cincinnati with the Reds.

After playing 13 straight days, the Giants get their first day off in the month of May. It comes following their second series win of the season, and their first series win on the road. The current road trip continues with three games against the Cincinnati Reds before concluding the trip in New York with the Mets.
This is a big start for Matt Cain as he attempts to keep this resurgence going. He’s put together four really solid starts in a row, allowing just three runs in 23 innings with a WHIP of 1.000. The Giants are 3-1 in those games, but three of Cain’s starts came at AT&T Park and the other came against the lowly Kansas City Royals, who own the worst offense in baseball. Pitching in the Great American Ball Park (should be renamed Great American Bandbox) will be a huge test for Cain’s newly-discovered two-seam fastball, and newly rediscovered curveball.
How about rookie left-hander Steven Okert? He came up with 10 huge outs in the last series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, collecting five apiece in both wins. It’s really easy to think that the team doesn’t win either game without his contributions. With Ty Blach now part of the rotation, Okert’s role is just going to get bigger and bigger.

When Blach starts on Saturday, it will be only his second big league appearance against a team outside the National League West in 14 games (third if you count his relief appearance against the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS). Last season, he faced the Dodgers twice and the Rockies and Padres once each. His relief outing against the Royals earlier this season is his only regular season outing outside the division.
That weird little oddity about Blach’s brief career also matches the Giants’ odd start to the season. This will be only their second series against a non-divisional foe, but it starts a long string of non-divisional series. Their next three series, and 11 of the next 12 are outside the division.
Gorkys Hernandez still isn’t playing like an All-Star, but he’s definitely improved after an abysmal start to the season. He began the year with a .065/.121/.097 slash-line in his first 31 at-bats, but has brought that up to a much more respectable .286/.359/.343 slash in the past 12 games. Wednesday’s game was a big one for the backup outfielder who’s been pressed into a much larger role. He came up with the game-winning hit, a run-scoring double in the 11th inning, that he absolutely smoked. The ball came off his bat at 108.8 miles per hour, and according to baseballsavant, it was the hardest he’d ever hit a ball at the big league level. Also, his current five-game hitting streak matches the longest of his career.

And for your daily Mac Williamson update, he’s hitting .250/.270/.333 as he attempts to work his way back from a quad injury. He’s collected nine hits in his last 28 at-bats (.321 average) though, including a grand slam. The timing is slowly getting there, and hopefully Williamson gets a chance to take over in left field soon.