I thought heading into this series that it was almost a necessity that Javier somehow find his early season form. Glad that he’s been able to do that so far.
I ran the numbers on that ball to Castro and pitches of that type and in that location to LHB are called a strike <30% of the time. Good take by Castro on a pitch that was very unlikely to be called a strike.
I expected Garcia to get cooked but it was sad seeing Urquidy get blown out like that. Still, besides Altuve's fuckup I think the way Maldy was pitching him was a huge mistake and ensured he would be shelled in that game. Urquidy's release points vary significantly so his breaking/offspeed pitches are pretty easy to pick up. Maldy going back to those over and over and over again when he can't throw them for strikes was a death sentence. You have to try to get ahead in the count and force them to expand against those breaking/offspeed pitches. That's been Urquidy's formula for success since he arrived.
Also, I don't know why some on here thought our starters weren't going to get shelled this series.
I just can't believe they didn't have any kind of plan in place should Garcia get shelled which was almost certainly going to happen. Instead we trot Odo out there mid-inning when he's not yet ready to pitch so that we can both burn him and put the game firmly out of reach. Stunning ineptitude.
They really fucked themselves by adding Taylor over someone capable of pitching 3/4 innings. They also fucked themselves by starting Garcia in that game when he’s been terrible for over a month.
Simply start Odo or Urquidy and we we have a good chance of winning that game. Garcia can’t be trusted to pitch more than one inning and probably should be taken off the roster entirely in favor of one of Solomon and Bielak.
imo, the “starters” moving forward should be Framber, Urquidy, Odo, and Javier.
I think Garcia is gassed and hasn’t performed well since the summer. Urquidy and Odo throw strikes at a clip sufficient to work deep into a game but at least one of them is going to get lit up. The only thing I can say is that Odo pitched surprisingly well in September so hopefully that carries over.
This is why I really think they should have added another multi-inning reliever. Who is realistically going to pitch 4+ innings in a start? Framber? Maybe Urquidy?
I just don't see them sinking that much money into SS when Pena and Leon are both about ready to come up. I think Taylor is about as high-end as they'll go and that might even be a pipe dream. Hopefully though they use that money to get some high end pitching which is what this team truly lacks.
I wonder if the Giants regret not going all -in and starting Gausman in the ninth. Doval is good but he’s not really a match for what the Dodgers we’re going to bring to the table.
I think that would be pretty risky. Greinke has just been garbage against RHB this season, and Odorizzi has actually pitched well since the beginning of September.
I would probably add Bielak with Odorizzi. Bielak has pitched better than Solomon this season. Wouldn't it be exciting to see Bielak on the mound for 3+ innings this series?
Luhnow is hard to grade. He was a brilliant GM in a lot of ways and was creative and relentless in his pursuit of maximizing the talent in the organization.
However, he had a blindspot when it came to how he and the org were perceived by the other orgs/owners and the media. He didn’t seem to understand how dangerous it was to be seen as a pariah by them all and how at the first opportunity they would make sure he got the axe.
Had he dialed it down a notch and didn’t do things like trade for Osuna or try to draft that child molester from Oregon then he might still be here.