Game of the Week: June 21: SF @ LAD

[Commissioner Erick]

San Francisco Giants (43-27) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (44-28)


SF: Chris Davis: (11-1, 2.57)
LAD: Joey Wentz (3-3, 3.80)


Giants 5 Key Stats:

3: The number of consecutive road series the Giants have lost against teams .500 or better. San Francisco lost two of three to the Mets and Orioles early this month, and to the Rockies in the middle of May. San Francisco also lost a series to Arizona in late May, but swept Miami early in the month. San Francisco has been dominant at home, but has had some struggles against really good teams on the road. In a very competitive NL West, that could be the difference in winning the division.

6.45: Octavio Lopez’s ERA: Lopez has had an anomalously bad year. He’s had some good walk and strikeout numbers, and his home run rate is only slightly higher than his career norms. BABIP has played a factor with his elevated numbers. He’s expected to have better numbers going forward, and will be huge against the Dodgers’ righties.

.269: San Francisco’s batting average. The Giants are second in the league in average, continuing a history of having excellent averages. Dan Cabrera is somehow hitting .348, which would lead the league if he qualified, and a number of key regulars are hitting at least .280. The Giants have had a balanced approach, with only Cabrera hitting for a huge average.

325: San Francisco’s runs scored: The Giants, despite their average, are only 10th in the league in runs. The team is second in average, sixth in homers, third in doubles, and fourth in triples. However, the team is last in walk rate and last in stolen bases. Joey Wentz is good at preventing home runs, and the Dodgers are good defensively, making this a fun matchup.

12: Games for Zipper Willemsen. The star prospect from Curacao had a good season in the Pacific Coast League last year with 28 home runs and a .285 average, and was hitting .365 in San Jose this year. Willemsen took demoted Orioles closer Larry Price deep for his first major league home run and has a huge future ahead of him.


Dodgers 5 Key Stats:

9-5: The Dodgers record after both Amin Valdez and Manny Machado went down in early June with injuries. Despite losing both of their starting infielders on the left side, they’ve stayed strong, sweeping the Cubs in four games over the weekend. Maikel Franco has struggled in June as their Third Baseman, but Nick Allen has been a nice stopgap at Shortstop. His defense has been an issue and he has no extra base hits, but a .300 average helps the Dodgers offense move the chains.

.801: Wuilmer Beccera’s average against righties. Beccera has six home runs and a .267 average against same side hitters. With Alex Verdugo out, he’s been asked to take on a bigger offensive role, and he’s delivered, giving the Dodgers a huge lift with their injuries. Instead of the Dodgers succumbing to their injuries, they’ve gone 13-5 in June to tie San Francisco atop the NL West.

9-1: The record for Dodgers relievers in June: The Dodger bullpen has a 1.80 ERA and has been dominant in the month. The unit also has eight saves in the month. As a result of the dominant stretch, LA’s pen has a 2.35 ERA on the year, which is the best in the league.

.236: Jorge Ramos’ average this year. Ramos’ average and power is down this year, though he’s not striking out and playing good defense. Still, the Dodgers haven’t been great offensively, and Ramos hitting closer to the .288 mark he hit last year would go a long way in rectifying that.

-0.8: Willie Calhoun’s WAR this year. Calhoun has been mind-bogglingly bad this year. He’s hitting .237, with just nine walks, resulting in a .261 OBP. He has just seven home runs and six doubles after hitting 31 and 36 respectively a year ago. He’s on pace for 63 RBIs despite being seventh in RBIs from 2020 to 2026. If Calhoun can turn things around, the Dodgers will be in the hunt for a third straight title. If not, they may not have the offense to do much damage.


Questions for the GMs:


For Dave Twibell, Sergio Maldonado is eligible to come off the IL. Will you activate him or send him to the minors for rehab?

Nelle Willemsen is on the team, but has not been an every day player. Will he start today and how will you incorporate him into the team going forward?

Your club makes good contact and hits for good power, but is struggling to score. Will you look to steal more bases perhaps as a way of opening up the offense?

For Ben Vincent, you’ve had a number of key injuries this year. How do you think the replacements have fared?

Fidel Mejia is an excellent defender and is hitting for a reasonable average this year. How come he wasn’t first in line to be your club’s starting Shortstop after the Amin Valdez injury?

The Giants are excellent at putting pitches in play as they make contact and never walk. Will you adjust your defense for them today?


TRIVIA: Nelle Willemsen is the first Curacao national to make the PBA. However, one player with Curacao nationality has won a Cy Young in the PBA. Who was that player?

[Ben_Dodgers]

I think the replacement have done pretty well. Becerra was intended to be a platoon option but has played pretty well in an everyday role. Franco was also brought in to play predominantly against lefties. He's struggled a bit playing every day, but I expect him to heat up. Edgar Garcia has given us quality innings, and while he hasn't gone deep in games, we're 7-1 in the games he's started. All of these guys are also very affordable, which leaves us lots of flexibility heading into July.

Mejia was an option, but it would have left my bench very thin. He's been a big piece of the team the past two years, being able to play all over the infield. Bringing in Allen lets us maintain that flexibility with Mejia, spelling the guys at 2B, SS, and 3B to keep everyone fresh without further sacrificing offense.

We'll stick with what's working to start. With Mejia and Wilkerman Garcia on the bench, we can make some late game substitutions to improve the infield defense. Mostly though I'm worried about scoring runs. Our offense has been struggling, and San Francisco is always stingy, so I want to put forward my best chance of scoring.

[sfdave]

Sergio Maldonado is eligible to come off the IL. Will you activate him or send him to the minors for rehab? He's going the rehab route, but he should be back up in a week or so.

Nelle Willemsen is on the team, but has not been an every day player. Will he start today and how will you incorporate him into the team going forward? Given how Cabrera is hitting right now, I have the luxury of easing Nelle into a starting role. He's been good so far, and if my scout isn't drunk he'll be an impact player for a long time in SF. But he probably won't be a full-time OF this year unless I end up moving Cabrera or Mitchell.

Your club makes good contact and hits for good power, but is struggling to score. Will you look to steal more bases perhaps as a way of opening up the offense? I don't think I'm going to change our strategy much, if at all. We're hitting pretty well and eventually (hopefully) that will result in more runs scored. RNG is a monster in this game and I've learned the hard way tinkering with strategy based on small samples sizes usually just ends up making things worse (at least for me). Plus, we're not overly blessed with speed on the Giants, so I tend to focus more on keeping a high SB % and positive BsR rather than stealing a lot of bases.

[Commissioner Erick]

Giants 5 - Dodgers 4


WP: C. Davis (12-1)
LP: O. Ramirez (4-2)
SV: R. Gomez (21)


The San Francisco Giants faced a tough opponent in Los Angeles pitcher Joey Wentz, but did just enough to pull out the victory at Dodger Stadium by a final score of 5-4. Wentz went 6 innings and allowed 2 runs. San Francisco pitcher Chris Davis got the win, upping his record to 12-1. Osiris Ramirez got the loss. Rafael A. Gomez, credited with the save, is now 21 for 23 in save opportunities.

Kelyn Klattenburger, the top prospect , had a direct impact on the outcome. Klattenburger contributed a run-scoring walk in the top of the eighth inning to put San Francisco up, 5-4.

"I was a little disappointed," said Los Angeles manager Ben Vincent. "We could've and should've scored more runs."

With the win, San Francisco raised its record to 44-27.


Questions for the GMs:


For Dave Twibell, the Dodgers have an outstanding pen that had been sensational in June. How gratifying is it to steal a win off them?

Chris Davis gave up some soft grounders and bloopers in allowing a pair of runs in the fifth, but though they were mostly grounders, he gave up hard-hit balls in the sixth that led to two runs. Did you agree with him coming out for the seventh?

Enrique Valdez had been struggling this year, but had two hits and two RBIs. How big was it for your confidence in playing him regularly to see him come through with the bat?

For Ben Vincent, Hyo-sang Choo went 0-4, dropping his average to .250 with six homers. Choo plays good defense and doesn't strikeout though, making contact four times despite four outs. Are you happy with what he's provided thus far?

Jorge Ramos went 0-3 in the game and is now hitting .232. How imperative is it for you that he provide more of an offensive impact?

In the seventh inning with your club up two and looking for more runs, two of your guys hit the ball 105 miles an hour and had nothing to show for it. Was this just a tough luck loss, or do you feel your club made too many mistakes out there?


TRIVIA: Who is the only player in the top 10 all-time in both Triples and Home Runs

[sfdave]

The Dodgers have an outstanding pen that had been sensational in June. How gratifying is it to steal a win off them? It's always nice to beat the Dodgers. Wish we would do it more often.

Chris Davis gave up some soft grounders and bloopers in allowing a pair of runs in the fifth, but though they were mostly grounders, he gave up hard-hit balls in the sixth that led to two runs. Did you agree with him coming out for the seventh? I'm a big Chris Davis fan, so I'm glad our skipper sent him back out there in the 7th. As long as he isn't too tired (and he rarely ever gets tired), I want him on the mound. He's been phenomenal since his call up late last year. He's 20-3 since then, so phenomenal is probably an understatement. How many pitchers ever put together a run like that, let alone in their rookie campaign? If Chris says he can pitch, let him pitch.

Enrique Valdez had been struggling this year, but had two hits and two RBIs. How big was it for your confidence in playing him regularly to see him come through with the bat? Valdez has a bat? He could swat .100 and I'd still send him out there for his glove and leadership. In my book, he's the best defensive SS in the league hands down, so I really don't care if he hits. Having said that, yea, it was nice to see him come through at the plate against the Dodgers.

[Ben_Dodgers]

Hyo-sang Choo went 0-4, dropping his average to .250 with six homers. Choo plays good defense and doesn't strikeout though, making contact four times despite four outs. Are you happy with what he's provided thus far?

Jorge Ramos went 0-3 in the game and is now hitting .232. How imperative is it for you that he provide more of an offensive impact?

In the seventh inning with your club up two and looking for more runs, two of your guys hit the ball 105 miles an hour and had nothing to show for it. Was this just a tough luck loss, or do you feel your club made too many mistakes out there?

I'm happy with Choo. Keibert Ruiz was one of the key members of our team over the last few years, and I knew he'd be hard to replace. It's always tough predicting how a guy will do when he comes from another league, particularly the KBO with it's extreme offensive environment. Choo has been better through the first half of this year than Keibert Ruiz was in any of the last 3 years, and is on a 3 WAR pace, which would beat any year from Ruiz. We got him for significantly less than Ruiz wanted to stay in LA, so I'd call that a win.

Ramos has been a little disappointing after an excellent rookie season last year. He's being dragged down by an abysmal .140 average against lefties. He's only been playing against lefties because of injuries, and he'll be back in a platoon once either Verdugo or Machado return to the lineup. His 108 OPS+ against righties is better, but I still expect more from him.

In both the 3rd and the 5th we had runners in scoring position with 1 out and failed to bring them home. Some of that is bad luck, some is good pitching, and some is poor hitting. The whole team has struggled a lot more at the plate this year than last year. I expect some positive regression in the second half, but I'm also not surprised they're making some bad swings trying to break out of their funk.

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 2: Ben successfully guessed Nomar Mazara

[Commissioner Erick]

Trivia 1: Daniel correctly guessed Esteban Valdez