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This has been a difficult road trip, and it gets no easier in Tampa Bay.
Getting swept by the Phillies, after winning two series at home against the Dodgers and the Marlins, was difficult to watch. The next series (tomorrow and over the weekend) is against the Tampa Bay Rays, who are 18 and 12 and fighting it out with the Yankees for the lead in the AL East. In contrast, the G-Men are 13 and 18 and in last place in the NL West.
There are bright spots, Casey Schmitt for one. His bat has been solid, and he can play any position. Another potential bright spot is Bryce Eldridge, still down in Triple A but tearing the cover off the ball (two HR’s and 6 RBI’s yesterday). Is it enough to consider calling him up? If Devers continues to underperform, Bryce may force his way back to the big club.
Sure, we have excuses, such as Harrison Bader and Jared Oliva being on the DL, but while that has shown us what Drew Gilbert is capable of (including multiple hit games layered in with little league mistakes) it is still not enough to establish offensive consistency. There is no excuse for bad playcalling (such as not changing up the pitches against the Phillies best batters in the 9th inning of both losses of a tied game). That’s on Tony Vitalli and may show his rookie manager side (although he has a lot of help in the dugout – use it Tony). One excuse we shouldn’t have is the terrible start for Rafael Devers. Buster paid a fortune for the best hitter in baseball, and he has been anything but so far this season. How long will that experiment play out (but maybe a break and bringing up Eldrige would help?)
The Tampa Bay series this weekend will be a serious test.
We know what the problems are: Can they be fixed?
One of the main problems is offensive stagnation. In the April 28th 7-0 loss, the G-Men got 0 runs, 2 hits, and 0 walks. Can that be fixed? Yes, but it will take willpower, focus, and concentration. The rotation isn’t faring much better. Webb and Ray have been nails, Hauser has been decent, but Mahle has struggled, along with the bullpen. To be fair to the pen, there are bright spots, like Gage and Caleb Killian, but coming from behind every night wears out even the best bullpen quickly. This problem can be solved simply by scoring more runs (do you hear us, Devers?).
The upcoming series against the Padres and the Pirates will be a test of whether the Orange and Black can compete and not lose any ground in the tough NL West.
One piece of advice from the fan base: see the ball, hit the ball, and it should all fall into place.
The Padres and the Pirates – Forces to be reckoned with
The Padres are 19 and 11 and a game behind their nemesis from LA. They have the best closer in baseball (Mason Miller) already being talked about for the Cy Young (a little bit early, methinks) and the usual collection of big boppers, including Tatis, Boegarts, and Machado, and decent pitching behind King and Buehler. This is as close to a must-win series as any set of games this early in the season can be if the G-Men expect to not completely fall out of contention in the NL West.
The 16 and 16 Pirates, while last in the competitive NL Central, are anything but out of it. Brandon Lowe, Oneil Cruz, and Nick Gonzales are hitting for high average and RBI’s, and we should see Paul Skenes on the mound. In Pittsburgh, he’s the second coming of Dock Ellis.
Here are the games available:
Tuesday 5/5: Padres [6:45 – 3] The Czar is going and has dinner reservations at the Gotham Club beforehand– It’s Drown Your Sorrows in Chablis Night.
Wednesday 5/6: Padres [12:45 – 4]
Sunday 5/10: Pirates [1:05 -3] - Mother’s Day Tote Bag and the Czar is going.
Let the torture commence.
Ciao, and GO GIANTS!
We use Mailchimp, so give permission for the blog to arrive in your mailbox if you want to receive the blog and participate in the fun. Past blogs can be found at www.beveragelaw.com at the Czar’s blog archive.
THE PROTOCOL: The firm has four seats in Section 118 (Premium Lower Boxes), Rows 25 and 26. These are awesome seats directly below the press box and 25 rows behind the home plate on the left side behind the screen. It is foul ball territory for left-handed batters, so bring your glove – I have collected 22 foul balls myself over 23 years and am looking for more. If we don’t use all the tickets ourselves (or clients and friends of the firm don't claim them by calling me and reserving a game), then my next step is to give the tickets TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO GETS BACK TO ME PROVIDED THAT THEY ARE SERIOUS. If you ask for the tickets and don't use them, you will be taken off the list unless there is a seriously good reason. There will be a waitlist.
When there are four seats available (we split up a lot of games) we will allocate the tickets two and two if the first people back just want two tickets. You can also go for four and might get them. I'm the Czar, my call.
Oh, and BTW, The Czar found the original Hinman & Carmichael brick from 2000 (after looking for it every year since 2000) and found H&C’s Gotham Club Founders Bat! If you are on the patio or in the Club, look for the symbols of baseball!
