Game of the Week: September 5: SF @ LAD

[Commissioner Erick]

San Francisco Giants (72-58) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (72-57)


SF: Brandon Waddell (12-5, 3.19)
LAD: Logan Allen (6-2, 3.34)


Entering September, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants are neck and neck for the division crown. The Dodgers offense, after underperforming all season, has put up at least seven runs in eight of its last nine games, and at least eight runs in seven of its last nine. In fact, the offense has produced eight or more runs in 11 of their previous 17 games. It's a locked-in bunch of hitters that will be facing a pitcher who is fourth in the league in ERA. Brandon Waddell has 12 wins, a 3.19 ERA, and has been the anchor of the Giants staff. A good game from Waddell and the Giants will be back on top of the NL West. If the Dodgers get to him though, they'll have the momentum needed to start pulling away for the division.


Players to Watch:


Giants:


LF—Yoenis Cespedes:

Cespedes signed for $8 million last offseason, plus a cheap team option, in one of the more inspired moves of the offseason. Cespedes' WAR is only 2.1 right now, mainly due to his playing DH and in a brutal offensive ballpark. However, Cespedes has hit 32 home runs and driven home 90 runs, placing him seventh in the league in each category. It's added a power element San Francisco has needed to fuel their ascent. He's hit only .174 against the Dodgers this year though, so a big game would be huge in San Francisco's ability to pick up a win and gain some distance in the division.


3B—Christian Arroyo:

It's hard to believe that Arroyo was once an MVP candidate as a 23-year-old with a wide open future ahead of him. Now he's a guy who hits .270 with seven steals and between seven and 12 home runs every season. This year has been Arroyo's worst season yet, as his slugging percentage is down to .342. There's no other player who can take Arroyo's place, so the Giants have to hope Arroyo simply hits better.


SP—Christian Mize:

Thanks to some creative and perhaps illegal injured list shenanigans, Casey Mize has only appeared in 14 games this year as a Rule V pickup from the Yankees. While his ERA is a serviceable 4.50, he hasn't pitched well at all. His WHIP is 1.77 and he's walked 13 hitters in 22 innings. The less Mize appears, the better the shot at winning for the Giants.


Dodgers:


RP—Enny Romero:

The Giants don't have a lot of left handed hitters, but the Dodgers may need to neutralize Calvin Mitchell, Dan Vogelbach, and Rafael Jimenez. Romero will be called upon for that task. He's actually fallen from grace after a spectacular 12-0, 2.96 ERA out of the bullpen last year. This year, his ERA is 7.66 as he's allowed 10 home runs in 44.2 innings. Lefties have actually hit seven of the 10 home runs off Romero in fewer plate appearances than righties, so maybe Romero needs to be in a more general role.


RP—Will Harris:

Harris just turned 38-years-old, but he's also just turned in his best year of his career. He's saved nine games, has a 2.96 ERA, 2.4 WAR, and has easily turned in the best walk and home run rates of his career. In fact, he's 11th in walk rate among all pitchers with 50 innings pitched this year. Granted, that low of a walk rate encourages hitters to hit the ball, and the Dodgers have the worst zone rating in the league, leading to Harris having a BABIP of .356. However, Harris compensates by striking out 31% of all batters, limiting the damage the Dodgers' defense can do. San Francisco is pretty decent at not striking out, making Harris' ability to get strike three on the Giants, an interesting subplot. If San Francisco makes contact, anything can happen.


C—Rafael Marchan:

Marchan was the Dodgers' prize for trading Andrew Toles to the Phillies in 2020, and he's been an excellent rookie. In about a half-season's worth of games, he's hitting .296 with 19 doubles, 36 walks, and just 53 strikeouts. He doesn't have big home run power, but the 19 doubles combined with the four triples make him a dangerous hitter with the bat. He's also been active behind the dish, both in making plays and committing errors—his 10 errors is most among all catchers. Just 23-year-old, Marchan appears to be a bright player, and his All-Star nod this year may be the first of many.


TRIVIA: Besides Yoenis Cespedes, who is the only other Giant to ever hit 30 or more home runs in a season?

[Commissioner Erick]

Giants 1 - Dodgers 0

WP: B. Waddell (13-5)
LP: L. Allen (6-3)


Brandon Waddell came up with a dominating performance to give the Giants a huge win over their division rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Waddell worked 8 shutout innings, allowing just six hits, inducing four double plays, and never allowing a big hit to a Dodgers offense that was pulverizing opponents. For the Dodgers, while Tetsuo Yamada went 2-4, Nomar Mazara went 0-4 with a GIDP. While Alex Verdugo went 0-4, Luke Raley went 1-4 behind him, and Keibert Ruiz went 0-3 behind Raley, with two double plays grounded into. With so much offensive impotence, Waddell was able to shut them down on the way to a rare 1-0 win.


How They Played:


Giants:


LF—Yoenis Cespedes: 0-4, 2 K

Cespedes had a brutal day, which was the main reason the Giants only scored one run. Against the left-handed Logan Allen, he hit into a double play in the first inning, contributing two outs with one swing. With one away in the fourth, he struck out on three pitches. Against Will Harris leading off the seventh, he hit a hard ground ball right to Tetsuto Yamada for a ground out. Finally in the ninth, against Osiris Ramirez, he struck out with a man on. Two strikeouts and a double play is one of the rougher games you can have at the plate.

Cespedes carried that bad day and made it an awful week. He went 0-4 the next day with a strikeout, before a nice Wednesday say him collect two hits, including a home run. He still struck out twice. The next four days, he did something almost inconceivable. He went 0-15 at Coors Field with seven strikeouts. He's striking out in 36% of plate appearances in September and his swing appears to be way off. With so many teams around them in the playoff picture, he can't afford too many impotent weeks.


3B—Christian Arroyo: 0-3, E

Arroyo was an offensive non-factor, something we've heard a lot about him this year. He fouled out to end the second inning, and grounded out weakly with a man on and no outs in the fifth. He grounded out again to begin the eighth. Three plate appearances with nothing happening. Defensively, he couldn't make a play on an Alex Verdugo slice down the third base line, leading to a hit, though he did start a 5-4-3 double play later in the frame to erase Verdugo. He didn't throw a very catchable ball on a grounder in the fourth, leading to an error charged to first baseman Gavin Cecchini. Finally, he committed an error on a Keibert Ruiz smash in the fifth. The Giants were able to win the game, but it felt like they had to carry Arroyo.

Thankfully, Arroyo turned around had a much better week. He had a trio of multi-hit games, plus two doubles, a triple, and a home run. He had a .444 average and only struck out twice, a nostalgic performance reminiscent of 2018. San Francisco has been waiting for this version of Arroyo, and can really use it down the stretch to hold off the Dodgers, Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Nationals.


SP—Christian Mize: DNP

With Brandon Waddell working a gem, Mize's long relief services were not needed at all. He only worked on Wednesday, finishing the last three innings of a blowout to record a save. He allowed only one hit that day, but no strikeouts. Importantly for Mize though, no walks and no home runs. With just one walk issued in 6.2 innings in September, the hope is that maybe he's turned a corner. Either way, it's not imperative as he'll almost certainly be in Triple-A next year and has time to hone his control.


Dodgers:


RP—Enny Romero: DNP

With the Dodgers getting decent length from Logan Allen and good middle-innings work from Will Harris, Romero had the day off.

The Dodgers had excellent pitching during the week, holding opponents to four runs or less in six of their seven games. They didn't need to go to non-premium relievers, resulting in Romero not getting any work in at all.


RP—Will Harris: 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 K

Harris had a dominant game working the seventh and eighth innings. He got Yoenis Cespedes to ground out to begin the seventh, struck out Oscar Hernandez, and after Dan Cabrera singled, teamed with Keibert Ruiz to catch him stealing. In the eighth, he got Christian Arroyo to ground out, struck out Calvin Mitchell, and struck out Wencel Perez. Harris was able to blow away righties and lefties, and looked like a premier reliever.

He had a tough day on Wednesday, coming on in the sixth inning. He allowed a walk and two hits that came on to score after he left. Even then, the two hits were a bloop single and a ground double, plus the walk was intentional. Harris' next game was on Friday, where he struck out two Padres in a perfect inning. Despite the rough Wednesday, Harris still looked the part of a terrific late-game reliever.


C—Rafael Marchan: DNP

Marchan had the day off as Keibert Ruiz started, went 0-3, and grounded into a pair of double plays.

He struggled the rest of the week, hitting just 2-18. Marchan faced really good pitching and defense against the Giants pitching and then in San Diego, so it's not the end of the word that he struggled. He's also showed that he's better on the road than at home, so it may be better for him to play in hitters parks. He'll play in Arizona later this week.


TRIVIA: What team is the only team to have had a pitcher throw a complete game shutout against them three times this season?

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 1: Hunter Pence

TRIVIA 2: Colorado Rockies =(