Immediate Dividends

 

You know, I think a lot of people, at the end of the dealings the Brewers made pre-season, probably thought the biggest immediate piece they gained was somebody like Jett Williams or Brandon Sproat. But uh...looking like it's Kyle Harrison. Meaning the Giants saw what they had, relegated him to 5th starter, and traded him for Rafael Devers, and then the Red Sox barely used him and traded him for Caleb Durbin before anybody really realized what they had with this guy. 

And considering that he's in a pitching staff that includes Chad Patrick, dealt for both Jace Peterson and Abraham Toro before landing in Milwaukee, Quinn Priester, who was an afterthought in two different deals before landing in Milwaukee, and Coleman Crow, dealt for Eduardo Escobar and Adrian Houser in two different deals both teams currently regret, not even factoring Sproat in...it's very clear the Milwaukee Brewers know something that a lot of other teams don't. 

Think about it. Woodruff, Misiorowski and Henderson were drafted by them, the other guys were scouted and picked up for nothing. And they've all found success there. The rest of the team's full of that mentality. When they were dealt, nobody was thinking anything about Andrew Vaughn, Joey Ortiz, Brandon Lockridge and David Hamilton, and they've become vital pieces of this team. Lockridge is very much a 'use when Chourio is hurt' guy but he's not bad in his own right. Also, William Contreras is only on this team because the Braves wanted a catching upgrade and the A's wanted Manny Pina as a backup. So, you know, if you've lost hope in him, we'll take a chance. The gambles that most other teams take don't pay off as much as the Brewers' do because the Brewers just seem to have the right information most of the time. They do their homework, bet on the right horses and reap the benefits. 

So Kyle Harrison's very impressive debut is a shock to everyone...except the Brewers. 3-1 record, 35 Ks, 2.12 ERA...yeah, they knew. It's not a starring role exactly, as that would be the Miz's distinction, but it's arguably a better statistical start than the balls-to-the-wall flame throwing the Miz is doing. And if it's sustainable, and the Brewers can keep him around, that's a foundational guy. Funny how all these foundational guys keep showing up at the right time for this team. 

So even as this team is still technically a last place team, nobody's really referring to them as one because they're within reach of the nearest two teams and they're about to regain momentum due to the return of Jackson Chourio, already on fire. The Yankees series may make that a little difficult, but this is still a great team looking to surprise a lot of people.

Coming Tomorrow- For years he'd been the outer satellite of one of the most consistent rotations in the bigs. Now, when his team needs him the most, he's finally stepped up.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2024: Giants

 

The Giants this year were the antithesis to the Dodgers, for those weary of the Dodgers' despotic rule over the league. The Giants paid a lot of money to make their team great this year, and they still manage to finish in fourth place. Not everyone's as perfect as the L.A. brass, it seems.

I think the biggest summation of their season was Jung Hoo Lee. Huge star in the Korean leagues, signed to a big contract and expected to be a big piece of the team going forward. The 25-year-old center fielder had a slow start, but by mid-May he was beginning to get the hang of the majors, hitting .267 with 38 hits, 8 RBIs and 2 homers. Then he gets his shoulder injured, is out for the rest of the season, and the Grandson of Wind is lost for the rest of his rookie season. As usual in San Francisco, 'so much for that'.

2025 Prediction: Well barring further catastrophe, he's gonna hit .300 and be everything he was supposed to be, just a year late. 

Because of the hit to the rotation early in the season, Kyle Harrison went from a lower-tier 'we'll give him a shot' type from 2023 to one of the most crucial rotation pieces of the season for the Giants. And ultimately, with how beat up the rotation would be all year, even while missing 9 games he still made the 2nd-most starts of anyone, behind Logan Webb. Harrison was, at the very least, durable, with 7 wins and 118 Ks, plus a 4.56 ERA, in 24 starts. His first half was better than his second half, because I think the strain started getting to him. 

2025 Prediction: Lower ERA, though I think being one or two pegs lower in the rotation will do him better at 24.

Though Tyler Fitzgerald would be the more noteworthy infield addition, Brett Wisely's presence in the infield schematic changed things dramatically, and provided an alternative to the now-waning Thairo Estrada experiment. Wisely's biggest perk is his defensive versatility, as he was an above-average infield threat at both 2B and SS, settling in at 2nd to round out the year. He's not THE BEST at the plate, only hitting .238 this year with 31 RBIs in 91 games, but he's a very handy guy to have around.

2024 Prediction: The Giants have answers at 1st, Short and 3rd, and I reckon they're gonna plug in a free agent at 2nd. Wisely will be better off as a utility guy, but he'll have some cool moments next year.

Three years after a massive come-up, Camilo Doval found himself demoted after fumbling the closing job.  The 26 year old came off of a season where he led the NL in saves, and now was struggling not to blow any, despite finishing the year with 23. The earned runs just grew this year, he had a 4.88 ERA after never finishing a season under 3. He's young enough to turn it around, but in a year where Emmanuel Clase, his closest contemporary, got even stronger, Doval took a huge step back.

2025 Prediction: Narrowly secures the ninth again, and has a better year of it. I expect a few more human moments but not as many as 2024. 

The relief duo of Taylor and Tyler Rogers continues to be one of the most fun aspects of these teams, because once again both of them were excellent, consistent and equally powerful. Taylor had the more traditionally dominant season, with a 2.40 ERA and 64 Ks in as many games. Tyler, meanwhile, led the team in appearances with 77, had a 2.82 ERA with 51 Ks, and a much lower 1.038 WHIP. It's really cool that these are two fundamentally different pitchers in terms of approach, yet they're still brothers who have some similar tendencies. 

2025 Prediction: Tyler's gonna have the better season again, but I think Taylor might be dealt at the deadline if things don't go SF's way again.

So, to recap, the Mariners dealt Robbie Ray to the Giants in exchange for Mitch Haniger and Anthony DeSclafani, Disco didn't pitch a game with either team he was traded to, Haniger was subpar all year, and Robbie Ray only made 7 starts. But...to me, the Giants still win the trade because the 7 starts of Robbie Ray that they did get were honestly pretty damn good. Barring two light-ups, Ray only gave up 1 or 2 runs during most of his starts, and went 5 hitless innings upon being activated in July. He finished the year with a 4.70 ERA, a 3-2 record and 43 Ks. We are slowly getting back to peak Robbie Ray.

2025 Prediction: For the first time since 2022, this guy really feels untouchable.

In all the shuffling of injured starters, a promising rookie that got a taste late in the year was Hayden Birdsong, a 22-year-old prospect drafted late in the 2022 draft. Birdsong got 16 starts in the majors, and held a 4.75 ERA with 88 Ks. Clearly this is a young kid getting his feet wet, but there were some tremendous starts this year, like his 5th one, where he went 6 inning against the Rockies, and struck out 12 while only giving up 2 runs. That, hopefully, will be closer to the norm for Birdsong going forward.

2025 Prediction: The Giants have several immovables near the top of the rotation next year, people like Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Kyle Harrison, then Jordan Hicks. So theoretically there is room for Birdsong in the 2025 rotation, and I think he makes it thanks to a strong spring. I also think he's gonna make a name for self with this season in a way people aren't expecting.

The sole real splash the Giants made at the trade deadline was bringing Mark Canha over from Detroit, which would, in itself, make more room for Parker Meadows over there. Kind of a win-win. Canha was solid in 32 games as a 1st base fill-in for LaMonte Wade, hitting .288 with 21 hits and 4 RBIs. More importantly, Canha's big contribution was sampling some of the dirt at the Coliseum after playing in the last Bay Area series there. He's played for both teams now, and it's very important to him.

2025 Prediction: I honestly think the A's should sign him, that'd be a draw for the Sacramento crowd. 

Coming Tomorrow- Several key members of a Guardians team very close to going the distance. 

Uncustomed Heroes of 2023: Giants

 

2021 proved that Kaplerball could work in San Francisco. 2022 proved that it had its limits. And 2023 proved that maybe Kaplerball didn't lead to long-term success if it led to a largely-unknown Giants team that had to rely on secondhand guys to do the heavy lifting rather than many of their homegrown guys. 

The Giants actually had a strong run midyear, and were making a definite run at a playoff spot, but were hindered by a lot of injuries to big pieces, as well as being completely outmatched by Arizona and LA. Hell, by the end, the Padres got more September momentum than the Giants, and relegated them to 4th place. And with that, Kaplerball was over, Bob Melvin headed back to Northern California, and the team will be starting over next year.

I think one of the big discrepancies in the Giants' 2023 story was the GM's want to get contracts while Kapler's whole approach was playing moneyball. Remember, before the injury scared people away, Carlos Correa had signed a huge, multi-year deal in San Francisco, and even if that was voided, the Giants were linked to Aaron Judge [or his long lost cousin Arson]. Eventually they settled for Michael Conforto, who had mostly recovered from injuries sustained following the 2021 season. Conforto still missed about a month of play, and only hit .239 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs, which isn't the best showing from someone the Giants figured would be a marquee star, especially in the wake of Correa and Judge not happening. I will add that Concerto's 58 RBIs was the third highest amount on the Giants. Funnily enough, the 2nd and 1st in RBI, Wilmer Flores and J.D. Davis, are also ex-Mets. 

2024 Prediction: A much better year that will lead to A.) a midyear trade to a competition, B.) a team giving him a nice amount of money on a contract post-2024, or C.) both.

The other guy the Giants signed during the offseason to amount for not getting Judge was Mitch Haniger, a hard-hitting ex-Mariners outfielder who always gets injured. Take a wild guess what happened. Limited to 61 games, Haniger only hit 6 home runs with a .209 average. 

2024 Prediction: He will hit more than 6 home runs. But he will not play 150 games.

One of the coolest things the Giants did this year was reunite the Rogers brothers in the same bullpen. Tyler Rogers had been a mainstay for the Giants, his brother Taylor had a rough year in 2022 between the Padres and Brewers. Bringing them together was a plan that worked for both brothers, and for the bullpen as a whole. Taylor, out of the ninth for the first time in several years thanks to Camilo Doval, was a lot better-implemented in middle relief, with a 3.83 ERA, 64 Ks and a 1.239 WHIP. I think roles like these can be good for him before somebody slots him back into a closing role.

2024 Prediction: Will save a few games but has a complete return-to-form year as a relief piece.

Meanwhile, Taylor's side-armer brother Tyler continued his impressive run in SF, leading the team in IP, and notching a 3.04 ERA with 60 Ks and a 1.149 WHIP. Rogers is the most statistically impressive of the brothers, even if he's the most anonymous, but he's really become a big piece of these Giants bullpens, and given a new approach he'll probably continue to impress.

2024 Prediction: Will come down a bit from this year but still make all his marks.

Sean Manaea had some great seasons for the A's back before he wore out his arm too much. The past two seasons have been the result of hard-throwing habits in his 20s, and I really don't think there's much else for Manaea to do. The Giants had Manaea start for 10 games, realized he wasn't as good anymore, and eventually allowed him to work long relief. Though the relief appearances did patch his ERA, he ended with a 4.44, and a 1.241 WHIP. 

2024 Prediction: A lower-key team brings him on and he does what he can, though his days of primetime moments might be behind him.

This was a good year for rookies in the Giants' system finally helping the MLB cause. Their smartest call-up might have been Ryan Walker, a 27-year-old who, fun fact, has the exact same birthdate as I do [down to the year], who'd been a minor league mainstay for a while. Walker became the Giants' flex piece, starting some games, being in for long relief and staying til the end. Alongside his versatility, Walker finished the year with a 3.23 ERA and 68 strikeouts. 

2024 Prediction: An expanded role, possibly as a relief piece but perhaps even starting more games. Either way, the Giants are gonna pick a role for Walker and stick with it.

The theme of several Giants' call-ups from this year was that their defensive abilities were awesome but they hadn't figured out how to hit in the majors yet. Luis Matos didn't even have much defensive ability to speak for. The 21-year-old was speedy, and did what he could in center, but he only hit .250 and struggled even as a contact bat.

2024 Prediction: Of all the Giants' rookies that struggled offensively this year, Matos has the best chance of finally coming into his own. 

Meanwhile, Kyle Harrison was a late pitching call-up that got off to some excellent work almost immediately, with 6 shutout innings and 11 strikeouts in his second-ever career start against the similarly struggling Reds. Harrison eventually evened out to a 4.15 ERA with 35 Ks, and it was a beginning to a career that instilled the fans with confidence going forward, especially considering the number of older starting options still hanging around.

2024 Prediction: 10 wins, Rookie of the Year votes, talks of a larger contract.

And with all the new blood entering this team, it's hard to face the fact that Brandon Crawford, the last remaining survivor of the Bochy-ball runs of the early-2010s, might have played his last game as a Giant. Crawford, at 36, didn't have much left to prove, and hit below .200 in 93 games, but it was important for him to ride out his last season under the contract, and he got to leave on a heroic note. 

2024 Prediction: I kinda think he'll retire, mostly because I can't really imagine him wanting to suit up for anyone else.

Coming Tomorrow- A few remainders of a very strange season in Cleveland.