Good news! The Giants didn’t play themselves out of the NL West race in the first week.
It was just one win Sunday, 5-3 over the Padres, but a win that can be like the memory eraser from “Men In Black.” After blowing eight leads in the first week, the Giants didn’t do so on Sunday. So there’s that.
It was like roller skating on an ice rink, but they got it done. A win featuring a strong start by Johnny Cueto, homers by Buster Posey and Hunter Pence, and a Mark Melancon save is good way to roll into Monday afternoon’s home opener against the streaking Arizona Diamondbacks.
It all could’ve been a lot worse–just ask the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners, a team many think will contend for the AL West title, and could still, blew a 9-3 lead to lose to the Angels in a walkoff, 10-9. The
Mariners are 1-6 and their bullpen just imploded. Way to get the fan base fired up for your home opener Tuesday night.
See, Giants fans, it’s not just you. 2-5 sounds much better now, doesn’t it?
I was chatting with Marty Lurie on the postgame show Sunday about how fans were ready for a mass defenestration following losses on Friday and Saturday night. It’s Ok, folks. They play these things every day. Blood pressures were down in the normal range by Sunday night.
That’s not to say the flaws going into the season have been erased. Middle-inning relief is still a problem, and outfield depth is a big concern. Left field has been tumbleweeds. But these problems are fixable.
Most encouraging to Bruce Bochy is that Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto look very good. If you’re aces aren’t right, you aren’t right. Also, the Giants averaged nearly five runs a game, despite games in which they rested the likes of Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, and Joe Panik and had no production from left field until Chris Marrero’s RBI single Sunday.
Bochy let Madison Bumgarner go eight innings despite trailing on Saturday (maybe a little commentary on what he thinks about Bumgarner’s bat as well as what he thinks about middle relief), and let Johnny Cueto pitch the 7th despite throwing 29 pitches in the 6th to run his pitch count to 95.
Middle relief hasn’t earned Bochy’s trust, the Giants lacked Hunter Strickland (on paternity leave), and Bochy probably figures he has a better shot keeping Bumgarner and Cueto on the mound, even if their pitch count vaults over 100. At least with those two, the starting pitcher is also a setup guy right now.
Bochy can’t extend those guys every start, though, or they’ll be rag-armed by September. He needs someone else to get the ball to Melancon. Cueto had to exit after seven innings and 109 pitches Sunday, and Derek Law didn’t buoy Bochy’s trust by giving up a homer to Yangervis Solarte, then walking Ryan (Babe) Schimpf, who was given a free pass six times in two games this weekend.
Law pulled it out of the fire, though, with what amounts to an 8th inning save. That may have been just as important as Melancon escaping in the 9th with a double play grounder by Wil Myers with the tying runs on the bases.
Will Smith needing Tommy John surgery blew a hole in the middle of the Giants’ bullpen and they’re still figuring out who will fill that void. Neal Ramirez may see a bigger role, but George Kontos is reeling after a disastrous outing Friday. Ty Blach is a reliever for now but may be needed as a starter. Does Strickland take a step up this year? Will Steven Okert and Josh Osich be useful lefties? Will the Giants need to deal for another arm?
Important questions. The answer to the last one is “not yet.” In fact it’s the answer to many questions after just one week. You guys have done this before.
It’s early. We haven’t even made it to Easter yet.