After blowing an MLB worst 30 saves last season, the San Francisco Giants picked up right where they left off in Sunday’s opener, blowing two saves in the 8th and 9th innings in a 6-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The first blown save came via the club’s new setup man Derek Law, who has seen himself thrust into an important bullpen role following the departure of Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez and Santiago Casilla this offseason.
Law, 26, was one of the Giants’ most consistent arms out of the pen in his debut season last year, but got off to a forgettable start Sunday, allowing three hits and an earned run while not recording a single out on nine pitches.
Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow joined Murph and Mac on Monday to discuss the Giants’ rough first outing, and said that he thought Law’s hesitancy to challenge hitters with his fastball made it seem like he was pitching scared.
“I would like to see him get a little bit more confident in the fastball, I’d like to see him challenge with it,” Krukow said. “You have to have the mentality of ‘screw it, I’m going after a guy. If I get dinged, I get dinged, but I’m not going to live in fear.’ I think right now he’s pitching a little bit afraid.
“(His pitches were) up. I don’t think he was relaxed. I think he was pretty tight going into that environment. You always hope for pitchers early in the season, especially young guys, if they’re assuming a role of responsibility — and certainly the setup man in the eighth inning is that guy — you hope they have early success because it has a tendency to relax them the next time they go through, and the more success, the tougher they get.”
Krukow believes that Law has the talent to capably be the Giants’ primary setup man this season, but that he needs to trust his ability if he’s going to be successful. Specifically, Law needs to focus on getting strike one, instead of trying to locate every pitch perfectly. Law was unable to throw strikes on the first pitch against the first two batters he faced Sunday, leading to back-to-back singles to open the inning.
“He’s got the stuff,” Krukow said. “He’s got four pitches that are all swing and miss pitches. The thing that I want to see improve in regards to him is his confidence in the fastball, because right now I don’t think he has it. When he throws a fastball — and it’s 94-96 MPH — that’s a healthy fastball. He doesn’t have to nibble with it.
“The other thing too, with all of his pitches early in the count, I think he tries to be too perfect. You don’t have to do that. The most important pitch for anybody coming out of the bullpen is strike one, and you’ve got to get after it. For him, mix it up a bit, but you don’t have to be perfect with that first pitch. It’s imperative you get that first pitch advantage and then you can start pitching around the corners. But it seems like every time he gets back into a ‘must get it in’ pitch, he shies away from the fastball and he throws that curveball or slider.”
Listen to the full interview below.