Game of the Week: July 19: SF @ LAD

[Commissioner Erick]

San Francisco Giants (55-37) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (51-43)


SF: Rich Sparks (9-5,4.28)
LAD: Boyd Vander Kooi (9-2, 2.80)


The Los Angeles Dodgers have won the NL West every year since 2027, and haven’t finished worse than second since 2022. Heading into their game against the San Francisco Giants, there’s a real chance both those streaks end this year. Ben Vincent has been publicly disappointed in the season, and despite a nice week leading up to the All Star Break, they dropped their first series after the All Star Break, falling in Colorado.

It's hard to know what’s troubling Los Angeles. The pitching is strong as the club is fifth in runs prevention. The defense is elite. Los Angeles has put the second most runs on the board offensively. The Dodgers are 11th in OPS in innings 7-9, and despite having the most extra innings plate appearances, are 12th in extra inning OPS. That could be fluky, or there could be something about Los Angeles’ late inning execution holding them back.

San Francisco is not holding back at all, as they just signed Hall of Fame slugger Seth Beer to bolster their chances for the stretch run. The Giants lead the league in average, but are only ninth in homers, an area Beer will help. With three hitters batting over .300 atop the lineup, Beer could take the offense to the next level once he shakes off the rust.

San Francisco will need its pitching and defense to step up in the second half though. None of their starters has an ERA under 4, and their zone rating is the worst in the league. San Francisco is banking on its offensive prowess to push them to a championship—and it may be a strategy that works out.


Questions for the GMs:

For Vic Black, you pounced on Seth Beer recently. Why pull the trigger on signing him?

Mike McGinn has some back stiffness. Will he be in the lineup today?

Your club has the worst zone rating in the NL. Will you take any steps to address your defense down the stretch?

For Ben Vincent, your team has struggled to score late in games. Is there anything you can do to address that?

You have an older team with your only regulars under 30 being Loose Saunderson, Josh Weaver, Sal Blea, and Arturo Pedroza. Will there be a push to get younger next year, especially if you don’t make the NLDS?

Loose Saunderson has some gnarly platoon splits that are absurd for a switch hitter. It’s resulted in him having fewer at bats than a player of his caliber would normally warrant. Do you have any plans to bite the bullet and play him more against Lefties to ensure his bat is in the lineup?


TRIVIA: Which organization has had the most Rookie of the Year awards in the PBA?

[Ben_Dodgers]

your team has struggled to score late in games. Is there anything you can do to address that?

Replace the manager bot, perhaps? There have been some questionable substitutions at times. But otherwise no, I'm not sure what I can do to address it.  It's frustrating.  By both pythagorean and expected win projections, we should be leading the division.

You have an older team with your only regulars under 30 being Loose Saunderson, Josh Weaver, Sal Blea, and Arturo Pedroza. Will there be a push to get younger next year, especially if you don’t make the NLDS?

And Dale Messina. If the opportunity presents itself, sure, but it's not a particular focus. Leonard, Mazara, and Choo will all be free agents and likely to be replaced by younger players. But we have a bunch of people signed to long term deals who are quite productive. There's no need to try to get rid of them due to age.

Loose Saunderson has some gnarly platoon splits that are absurd for a switch hitter. It’s resulted in him having fewer at bats than a player of his caliber would normally warrant. Do you have any plans to bite the bullet and play him more against Lefties to ensure his bat is in the lineup?

No, I'm sure his hitting versus LHP will come around, but right now it'd make the lineup worse having him in there. We've been quite good against LHP all year, and he's on an 8.4 WAR pace playing in a platoon, so I'm not really seeing the downside. Of course I would love to have him be just as productive from both sides of the plate. We'll work on it during the offseason.  (Will be a good test for the Player Development Lab in 25)

[vicblack22]

For Vic Black, you pounced on Seth Beer recently. Why pull the trigger on signing him?
We need the bat honestly.  It was a tough decision between Beer and Klatt. Beer was a few grand cheaper than Klatt so we went with him.  Hopefully he can continue playing at a high level. 




Mike McGinn has some back stiffness. Will he be in the lineup today?
Yes, Mike will be in the lineup today.  His back stiffness isn't considered severe enough to miss any games at this point.




Your club has the worst zone rating in the NL. Will you take any steps to address your defense down the stretch?
We will do what we can to improve the defense.  If that doesn't happen, we will continue to try to out pitch and out hit teams.

[Commissioner Erick]

Giants 4 - Dodgers 2


WP: W. Trahan (5-3)
LP: A. Pedroza (5-4)
SV: T. Gonzalez (3)


The Los Angeles Dodgers got a sterling performance from pitcher Boyd Vander Kooi, but the San Francisco Giants still prevailed, 4-2. Vander Kooi threw 6.1 innings of shutout ball. With the victory, the Giants upped their record to 56-37.

San Francisco relied on the bat of Mario Vazquez to get the win. The first baseman ripped a grand slam home run in the top of the eighth inning to put the Giants ahead, 4-2. For the game, Vazquez had 1 double and 1 home run in 4 at-bats.

"This kind of win will certainly make our fans happy," Vazquez told the San Francisco Today.


Questions for the GMs:


For Vic Black, Seth Beer went 0-4, looking noticeably rusty. Are you comfortable with the fact that it may take him a week or two's worth of games to get up to speed?

It was also Francisco Mejia's first game, and he went 0-4. Why did you acquire the long time Ranger?

Mario Vasquez had the huge hit. His OBP is less than .300, but obviously has huge power. With Aaron Allen healthy and your new additions, will he remain your starting First Baseman and cleanup hitter moving forward?

For Ben Vincent, Arturo Pedroza was brought on to face a switch hitter and two righties to start the eighth. Were you comfortable with him getting the ball, or would you have liked to see a different arm in that spot?

Keider Montero was very strong last year, but has been poor this year, including yielding the Vasquez homer. Is his poor performance just something you need to hope he pitches through and hopefully he finds better performance?

Jeren Kendall hit ninth today. Obviously he's struggling to hit for average, but he has solid pop. Why did you move him to ninth?


TRIVIA: The Dodgers have finished worse than second in the NL West only once in the PBA. What was their starting infield and Catcher that year?

[Ben_Dodgers]

Arturo Pedroza was brought on to face a switch hitter and two righties to start the eighth. Were you comfortable with him getting the ball, or would you have liked to see a different arm in that spot?

Pedroza has been one of the best setup guys in the league for 5.5 years. Prior to the game he was sitting on a 2.31 ERA. He is absolutely the guy who should have played in that situation. It just wasn't his night, I guess.

Since this seems to be a year of outliers, his BABIP against is .355. I have idea why.

Keider Montero was very strong last year, but has been poor this year, including yielding the Vasquez homer. Is his poor performance just something you need to hope he pitches through and hopefully he finds better performance?

I've already replaced a couple other bullpen arms over the last few weeks. If I had a better option, Montero would be sent down too. But I don't, so he's got to figure it out.

Jeren Kendall hit ninth today. Obviously he's struggling to hit for average, but he has solid pop. Why did you move him to ninth?

I didn't. Choo got the day off, and the bench coach made adjustments. Considering he went 0-4 while Hendrickson had 2 hits and an RBI in the 7 slot, I think he made the right choice.

[vicblack22]

Seth Beer went 0-4, looking noticeably rusty. Are you comfortable with the fact that it may take him a week or two's worth of games to get up to speed?

Yes.  We are comfortable with Seth being a little rusty.  He hasn't played baseball since the World Cup.  We have confidence that he will put it all together soon.


It was also Francisco Mejia's first game, and he went 0-4. Why did you acquire the long time Ranger?
Two things.  We needed the help at the catcher position with Cruz out.  The young guys aren't ready to handle major league pitching.  Second thing is Gilberto Flores is in the kind of slump that gets players traded or released to be honest.




Mario Vasquez had the huge hit. His OBP is less than .300, but obviously has huge power. With Aaron Allen healthy and your new additions, will he remain your starting First Baseman and cleanup hitter moving forward?
It all depends on his production.  If he can keep hitting the ball the way he is, it's going to be very difficult to keep him out of the lineup.  With Camp expected to be back in a few weeks, it's going to be fun putting together a lineup.