Two weeks ago, I penned a sweaty-palmed Jock Blog that wondered: “Are the Giants about to give us a 2017 sequel?”
Two weeks later, I come to you, palms dry — and ready to applaud a spate of good baseball by the lads in black-and-orange.
Giants Baseball: Getting Better?
Who knew!
Since my slightly-panicked Jock Blog expressing concern over the 6-10 start, the Giants have ripped off a 9-4 run. That includes a series win over the Mike Trout Angels, the Bryce Harper (and admittedly-injured) Washington Nationals, the No Hustlin’ Cody Bellinger Dodgers and, hopefully, the annoying-as-heck San Diego Padres, pending the Tuesday/Wednesday results at the yard.
Dare we say — a plan is coming together?
No parades yet, sports fans. But there are encouraging signs.
Two weeks ago, the Jock Blog worried about things like:
— Evan Longoria: In the last 10 games, Longoria is 10-for-33 with three HRs and nine RBIs. Things like his two-out single in the three-run rally on Monday night speak to his growing influence on the lineup. He leads the team in RBIs, a stat I still like, sabermetricians be damned. Longoria, save for a couple of unfortunate errors, is turning into the reliable presence the Giants hoped he’d be.
— Brandon Belt: In this 9-4 stretch of ball, Belt is 15-for-53 (.283) with two doubles, a triple and five home runs. Yep. Five bombs. He’s hitting a robust .302, is tied with Longoria for the team lead with six taters, and leads the team in OPS. He’s having a nice start, sports fans.
— The bullpen: Hunter Strickland, mixing pitches better than ever, is 5-for-5 in his last five save opportunities, and has only allowed two hits and one walk in his last 5 and 2/3 innings. Meanwhile, Tony Watson is 5-for-5 in his last five “hold” opportunities, all wins. And Sam Dyson found something in his arsenal — he hasn’t allowed a run since April 13 and is 4-for-4 in his last four “hold” opportunities, with a win mixed into that streak, too. Add in the return of Will Smith, and the bullpen — while not perfect as Reyes Moronta fights through a couple of bad outings — has options. And yes, that may even include Pablo Sandoval. Hey, now!
— Starting pitching health: Johnny Cueto is past his early season ankle deal and was going to make this list, before Tuesday’s news that he’d be heading back to the DL with an elbow injury. When he’s been on the hill, however, Cueto only leads all of MLB with a 0.84 ERA. Chris Stratton, setting aside a post-paternity leave outing against the Dodgers, had three consecutive starts of 7 innings, 7 innings and 6 and 2/3 innings. Madison Bumgarner may begin playing catch in two weeks. Yep. I said it.
Put it all together, and you have things like Monday night’s three-run rally in the 9th inning; things like the Friday night Kelby-Gorkys-Balk rally over the Dodgers; things like Saturday night’s Houdini job by Sam Dyson with the bases loaded, nobody out.
Stats aside, wins are made of competitive efforts like that.
The Giants are 15-14 as I write this. I wanted to be at .500 on Flag Day. Things are pretty good right now, Jock Blog denizens. Most important, it looks like the sequel to 2017 may turn out to be a new feature film — a summer blockbuster, maybe?