Game of the Week: March 25: SF @ LAD

[Commissioner Erick]

San Francisco Giants (0-0) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (0-0)

SF: Shane Baz (0-0)
LAD: Corey Kluber (0-0)


The 2024 San Francisco Giants made a leap from solid, up-and-coming team, to NL West contenders, with the additions of Nick Gordon and Blake Rutherford to bolster the offense, and the maturing of an exceptional staff. Despite that, they still lost in an NLDS Game 7 to the eventual NL Champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who shook off a two-year playoff drought to return to the top of the league for the fifth time in seven seasons.

The Dodgers will look to remind the Giants of where they fell in the pecking order last year, while the Giants will look to avenge last year’s Game 7 loss and capture the NL West for the first time since 2017. The two teams will have baseball’s spotlight when they start the 2025 season out as the year’s spotlight game.

San Francisco will roll into the game with a revamped infield. Josh Bell will be moved to the bench or designated hitter, while Shane Benes and Nick Gordon are elsewhere. Canadian Rookie Kelyn Klattenburger will be the likely Opening Day starter at First Base, with Jonathan Arauz getting the nod at Second Base. Arauz has a live bat and sure hands, but he hasn’t put together a stellar season yet, Klattenburger is just a rookie. There are a lot of unknowns.

One thing that is known is that Shane Baz is one of baseball’s top arms. After two middling season to start his career with the Braves, San Francisco gave up 2022’s second-best NL Reliever, as well as Jo Adell and Brandon Spagnuolo to pry Baz from Atlanta. The move has catapulted San Francisco’s place in the NL hierarchy. A 100-mile-an-hour flamethrower with movement and great secondaries, Baz led the league in 2024 with 18 wins and a 2.15 ERA. He struck out 295 hitters, a mark that would have led the league every season but last year. He allowed just 16 home runs, went 2-1 in the playoffs, and if not for Eric Pena’s magnificent, would have been last year’s Cy Young.

The Dodgers only faced Baz three times during the regular season, with mixed results. Baz went 2-0, with a 3.71 ERA, but only one of his starts was a quality start. Not once were the Dodgers overwhelmed by him as so many opponents were. Baz did work 6 innings of one-run ball in Game 4 of the NLDS, but the Dodgers tagged him for four runs and five walks in 3 innings of their Game 7 NLDS win.

The Dodgers will return nearly everyone from the club that eliminated the Giants, including Alex Bregman. An injury-plagued 2023 resulted in only 87 games played, and a missed postseason for the Dodgers. Free from the concussion and back spasms that plagued him, he hit .310, smashed 33 home runs and 38 doubles, stole 19 bases, played a solid Third Base, and allowed the Dodgers to reach the lofty heights they aspired to. Bregman is a revered player as Captain of the Dodgers and the rare right-hander with decent numbers against Baz. Though he’s only a modest 3-11, righties hit .120/.195/.206 against Baz last year, so 3-11 is far better than the average righty. If Bregman can get on base ahead of the team’s power-hitting lefties, it would greatly increase the Dodgers’ shot at beating Baz.


Questions for the GMs:


For Dave Twibell, you acquired Jeurys Familia in the offseason, and he wants to be the team’s closer. You have a bunch of options though. Will Familia close games for you?

Corey Kluber essentially never walks anybody. Will that effect your starting lineup decision at all?

Josh Bell has remained a nice slugger in San Francisco, but he used to be great at getting on base and that aspect of his game has waned the last few seasons. What will his role be this year with Klattenburger coming up and a deep outfield?

For Ben Vincent, Shane Baz is lethal against right-handed hitters. Will that effect your lineup at all?

You tried to trade five-time All Star Kenley Jansen despite him having a spectacular 2024. How concerned are you with the velocity drop that’s been reported in Spring Training?

Matt Trask was such an integral part of last season’s team that made the World Series, and he’s going to be in Triple-A to begin the season. What led you to make that decision?

[Ben_Dodgers]

Great preview, I’m excited to start the season! Our lineup won’t change much for Baz - it’s pretty lefty heavy already. Putting out best guys out there gives us our best chance to win. The Giants were a tough matchup all year and we’re not taking anything for granted.

I’m very concerned about Jansen’s velocity drop. He’ll have a very tight leash and I don’t expect to see him pitch today. Ismael Robles is taking over the mantle as closer.

Trask really stepped up last year and made a huge contribution. I’m expecting him to play another big role again this year. I think Bukauskas has slightly better stuff so he gets the nod for the starting slot. I debated putting Trask in the bullpen but I’d like him stretched out to fill in as a starter if any injuries plague the rotation.

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA: Which Dodgers pitcher won two games in last year's NLDS.

[sfdave]

You acquired Jeurys Familia in the offseason, and he wants to be the team’s closer. You have a bunch of options though. Will Familia close games for you?
  Familia may end up closing, but it won't be for the Giants.  He was just moved to Atlanta in exchange for a 3rd round pick in the upcoming draft.  He was intended to be a steady veteran presence in the pen, but as spring training wound down, I realized I had too many young arms that needed major league innings.  I've had several guys working in AAA for the past two years who need to be on my major league squad or traded, sitting in Sacramento for another season would simply stunt their development.  Hopefully he has a great year for Aaron in Atlanta!


Corey Kluber essentially never walks anybody. Will that effect your starting lineup decision at all?
  Kluber is such a good pitcher with so few weaknesses it's hard to justify changing my lineup much.  He doesn't walk anybody, but he doesn't give up a lot of hits either.  I think I'm better off just putting my best batters out there and rolling the dice.  We have had some discussions in the front office about instructing everyone to bunt - Kluber's 38 and doesn't have much giddyup left - but outside that we'll just cross our fingers and swing away. 


Josh Bell has remained a nice slugger in San Francisco, but he used to be great at getting on base and that aspect of his game has waned the last few seasons. What will his role be this year with Klattenburger coming up and a deep outfield?  Bell's still a decent bat in a platoon (110 OPS+, 2.3 WAR last year vs. RHP), but he's not quite the same hitter we signed a few years ago.  This may be his final year in the City by the Bay and the plan is to allow him to mentor Klattenburger this year and then likely move on to greener pastures.  He provides good depth and will shift between DH and 1B as needed to keep everyone rested, but he's on the block and may end up changing scenery at some point before the trade deadline if Klattenburger continues to develop.    

[Commissioner Erick]

Giants 7 - Dodgers 3

WP: J. Dunn (1-0)
LP: I. Robles (0-1)


Dodger Stadium was the site of the home opener for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The contest featured a prime matchup between Jake Eder of the visiting San Francisco Giants and Corey Kluber of the Dodgers. The final score was 7-3, the Giants getting the win. Alex Bregman turned in the best performance. Justin Dunn, credited with the win, is now 1-0. He allowed no runs on 1 hit.

The outcome might have been different for San Francisco, had it not been for Calvin Mitchell, the 26-year old right fielder . Mitchell stroked a run-scoring single in the top of the ninth inning to put San Francisco up, 4-3. For the game, he was 3 for 5, including 1 double and 2 singles.

"We'll relax tonight and get back after it tomorrow," Mitchell said after the game.


Questions for the GMs:


For Dave Twibell, you mentioned that Justin Dunn would be used as a stopper this season. How did he look to you today?

You rolled with Rafael Jimenez as a defensive replacement at shortstop. It was just the second time over his professional career he played Shortstop. Will he see more time there this year?

You rolled with a left-handed specialist, Jake Eder, against the Dodgers' primarily left-handed lineup. Why go with such an unorthodox maneuver?

For Ben Vincent, Ismael Robles was disastrous in his first stint as closer. Will we see a return to Kenley Jansen, a look at someone else, or will Robles remain the closer?

Alex Verdugo went 4-4 with a triple and two steals. How impressive was his game?

Verdugo had a pair of steals, while Alex Bregman was caught trying to swipe a base. How important will speed be to your team this season?




TRIVIA: Jeison Rosario had 16 home runs last season. Who is the only other player to play the most games in Center Field for San Francisco and hit more than 10 home runs that year.

[Ben_Dodgers]

I think it’s premature to make any decisions about the closer role. We’ll stick Robles for now.

Last year Verdugo was putting up MVP numbers before going down with an injury. He signed a big contract over the offseason and came into camp wanting show to show he deserved it. I’m thrilled with his start.

I’m not particularly emphasizing speed, but I do like the guys to be aggressive on the base paths. Sometimes you give up an out, sometimes you force an error, sometimes you score from first. It worked for us last year and I don’t see any reason to change our plan this year.

[sfdave]

You mentioned that Justin Dunn would be used as a stopper this season. How did he look to you today?
  He looked pretty good.  He's about as dependable as you get and didn't disappoint during the opener.  I gave our bench coach John Asplund the helm for this game so I could sit up in the boxes and drink beer - that likely won't happen again - but he did okay in bringing in Dunn at the end to keep things close and eventually close it out.  


You rolled with Rafael Jimenez as a defensive replacement at shortstop. It was just the second time over his professional career he played Shortstop. Will he see more time there this year?
  So, I thought Asplund was ready for a test drive as acting manager, but maybe not.  245-lb Josh Bell who looks like a Zamboni when he runs batted lead-off, our LH bullpen specialist Jake Eder started Opening Day, and 6'6" RF Rafael Jimenez took a turn at SS.  Asplund passed multiple drug tests after the game, and swears up and down he just got caught up in the moment and wanted to let the guys shine, so it's hard for me to explain what happened.  It's left a sting, though.  Shane Baz now wants to take a go at catching, Daniel Cabrera thinks he can pitch, and Aaron Perry is lobbying to get a crack at being our hitting coach.  


You rolled with a left-handed specialist, Jake Eder, against the Dodgers' primarily left-handed lineup. Why go with such an unorthodox maneuver? Better ask John. We're starting to call this getting Asplund'ed around the clubhouse.  Whenever some dumb decision works out, hey pal, you just Asplund'ed.  The whole game was a bizarre series of Asplund's.  But in the end, it worked out.  So John's going to stay on as bench coach for now, and we'll keep a close eye on him going forward.  I wouldn't expect to see Jake back out there as a starter anytime soon.  

[Commissioner Erick]

Matt correctly guessed Mike Caldwell.

Daniel correctly guessed Austin Slater