San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Dropping Series to Arizona
3 DOWN
1 – Can’t RISP It
Getting the money hit remains an issue for the Giants. On Monday, the Giants went hitless in four at-bats with runners in scoring position, and their lone run came after a double, a flyball, and a groundout.
On Tuesday, they collected four hits with a runner on second and/or third base, but only one actually brought home a run. That one was McCutchen’s walkoff with the bases loaded. One of the non-scoring hits was an infield single that didn’t even move the runner at second to third. Another was a bloop single that moved a runner, and the last saw the runner get thrown out at home.
The Giants are hitting .152 (12-79) with runners in scoring position, dead last in the big leagues. They’ve scored 33 runs this year, and only five have come via a hit that wasn’t a home run. They haven’t had a multi-run scoring hit that wasn’t a homer yet.
2 – Other Parts of the Bullpen
Two pitchers who had very different Spring Trainings are now experiencing very similar regular seasons.
Josh Osich was utterly dominant in the Cactus League, earning his spot on the Opening Day roster. In the regular season, he’s falling back into old habits. His walks are down, but he is still falling behind hitters and getting burned when trying to get back in the strikezone. He allowed two doubles without retiring a batter on Tuesday to blow a one-run lead, then allowed an inherited runner to score on Wednesday.
Sam Dyson was the opposite in March, searching for consistency through the entirety of Spring Training, and is still searching now. He gave up four hits and three runs in an inning of work on Wednesday, including allowing an inherited runner to score what would be the game-winning run.
3 – How Low Can the Pitching Staff Go?
11 games into the season, the Giants have already had to reach pretty deep down their starting pitching depth chart. They pulled their sixth starter who was supposed to begin the year in the bullpen into the rotation, Ty Blach, when Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija both went down at the same time.
When they finally needed a fifth starter, they brought up Tyler Beede, the perceived seventh starter on the list. When Johnny Cueto needed to hit the disabled list because of an ankle sprain, the eighth starter, Andrew Suarez, came up.
Cueto’s injury doesn’t seem serious and the team is optimistic he can rejoin the rotation when eligible, and Samardzija Is set to begin his (hopefully) short rehab stint on Friday. The Giants could certainly use both of those guys back, because things continue to thin out on the starting staff.