Category: San Francisco Giants

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Are Atlanta and Minneapolis the Best Cities for Bumgarner?

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By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Madison Bumgarner has won three World Series and is arguably one (if not the best) postseason pitcher in history. The Giants made a $17.8 million qualifying offer to the free agent, which guaranteed a draft pick compensation for the Giants, a team seriously in need of younger players. It is very doubtful the Giants will win the World Series in 2020. There are two young teams looking for that extra puzzle piece to make it over the hump. Two teams that won their divisions but fell way-short of going deep into the postseason. Two teams that could use a guy like him.

Atlanta Braves
The Braves won the East in the National League with a 97-65 record, four games over the World Champion Washington Nationals, but lost the Divisional Series vs. St. Louis Cardinals in five games. They have a great young ball club with a terrific starting rotation of, Mike Soroka, whose just 22 years old and finished 13-4, 2.68 ERA. He is currently their best hurler. Max Fried, who finished 17-6, 4.02 ERA. Mike Foltynewicz and a very good bullpen. Not to mention one of the best lineups around in Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuña Jr.and Ozzie Albies. Bumgarner would be like gold for this young team, which he would bring experience. The location is excellent for Bumgarner, who lives nearby in his home state of North Carolina. Plus he would stay in the National League. I would say Atlanta is the best place for him.

Minnesota Twins
The Twins won the American League Central Division with 101-61 record but were swept by the Yankees 3-0 in the Divisional Series. Like Atlanta, they are another young team in need of an experienced starter like the Giants lefty, but unlike the Braves, they are not as deep in pitching. Therefore, the Twins could go hard after Bumgarner. But there is one disadvantage as Bumgarner has only pitched in the National League with the Giants. He is one of the best hitting pitchers in the game and was even used as a pinch-hitter by Bruce Bochy. He loves to hit. The youngest and most talented starter with the Twins is the 25-year-old José Berrios, who finished 14-8, 3.68 ERA this season. The Twins are probably in the conversation for the Giants pitcher.

There are other potential teams looking for pitching,the Los Angeles Angels are one of those. He would definitely fit very well in Joe Maddon’s new team. The Angels are going to go heavy on free agents, especially Gerrit Cole, who was born in Newport Beach, about 45 minutes from Angel Stadium. He seems a perfect fit for the Halos. The San Diego Padres is another young up-and-coming team who plays in the same division as the Giants. They should be looking at him, too, and do not forget the American League Champion Houston Astros. Their rotation — especially if Cole leaves — will be a solid one with this acquisition.

Either Atlanta or Minnesota could offer Bumgarner, who is 30 years old, a two-year deal worth in the $40 million range. I do not see a problem with that. More than two years is a risk because he is still a good pitcher but not as dominant as he once was. Let’s face it, nobody knows which Bumgarner they would get. Although there is a chance of scenery for him, leaving a team that is not close to returning to the Fall Classic, like Atlanta or Minnesota, who are much closer, is something that he likely is considering at this stage in his career. He is the type of competitor that with a winning team, he would perform much better and he would be motivated to take his team to the postseason, which is something he cannot do with today’s Giants.

Bumgarner is in a good situation. If he decided to stay put with the Giants, that would have been a surprise to many. Although 60 wins is tied in total wins at home when Matt Cain was with the Giants. Pitching at Oracle Park, which is not a hitting paradise, is an advantage if he decides to stay in San Francisco and fans will love it, and if he retired with the Orange and Black, that would be even better, but fans do not have much of a say on his future. In my opinion, the only San Francisco Giant that will never leave the team (of the original players that were part of the even year World Series era) is Buster Posey. He was the Rookie of the Year in the NL with the Giants in 2010 and he will retire as a Giant.

Where will Bumgarner be pitching next season? At the end of the day, it is about the money. What else is new?

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Bochy Says “One More Shot” as Manager

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By Amaury Pi-González

It should not be a surprise to anybody that Bruce Bochy might want to manage again. The future Hall of Fame manager who began his career as the San Diego Padres manager (1995-06) and continued as San Francisco Giants Manager (2007-19) seems to be leaning that way.

“I’d love to have one more shot,” Bochy said Thursday in an interview with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on SiriusXM.

Bochy can call his own shots when it comes to where he wants to manage. His reputation is impeccable — players love to play for him, they respect his knowledge and leadership. However, he might want to end his managerial career with a winning record. After those 25 years divided between the Padres and the Giants his record is 2,003 games won and 2,029 games lost for a .497 winning percentage.

Today, Bochy is #11 among the top managers with over 2,000 wins. However, of those 11, only two ended their careers with an under .500 winning percentage — Connie Mack and Bucky Harris. If Bochy doesn’t manage again, he will be the third among the top 11 managers win under .500 winning record.

The San Francisco Giants gave Bochy a great sendoff, where many of his players — past and present — spoke, where Bochy’s family was present, where he spoke in front of a sellout Oracle Park, and at that time, one would think that was it “no más” or “no more” for Bochy, but those people could be wrong.

Bochy wants to take a year off and then look at the possibilities available to him. Who is going to tell him otherwise? Last week, the Padres named Jayce Tingler, who was a Texas Rangers’ major league field coordinator, as their new field manager. The ex-Padres and ex-Giants manager lives in the San Diego area, and there were rumors that if he came back from “retirement,” it would be with his first team, the Padres. The only one that knows if Bochy is coming back to manage, is him, his wife, and his family; and I am sure he will make a good decision.

So, for those that have said “No,he is not coming back,” you better wait until the whole Bochy story is complete and his book is out.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Cardinals facing elimination in game at Washington; Yankees-Astros series tied at 1-1; plus more

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On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary’s podcast:

#1 The series all tied at 1-1, the Houston Astros won Game 2 and they had to come back from behind against the New York Yankees in 11 innings to win by a run, 3-2.

#2 After facing some tough pitching in St. Louis, the Cards play an elimination game tonight in Washington. Down 0-3, the Cards faced some tough Nationals pitching over the last two games.

#3 Is it a lack of patience by the Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred with the City of Oakland and that lack of patience translate to the city council retreat or double down on the Oakland A’s and MLB in their lawsuit against the A’s?

#4 The 49ers have won five straight and are undefeated after their many struggles over the last few years. The question is are the 49ers the real deal?

#5 Some of the candidates named for the open Giants manager position are Ron Wotus, Bam Bam Muelens, Bob Geren, Gabe Kapler, Mark Kotsay, Raul Ibanez and even current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts if the Dodgers let him go.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the Oakland A’s on KIQI 1010 San Francisco and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Will A’s be one and done again? Can they advance this time after wild card losses last two times?

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On Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Will it be a one and done performance or an advance to the ALDS second round for the Oakland A’s? You’ve seen it before when you went to New York last season the A’s were one and done.

#2 A’s pitcher Sean Manaea he’s 4-0, 1.21 ERA. He was out for most of the season and came back and pitched some shutout ball and was impressive. How does he match up against the Rays?

#3 What kind of sendoff was it last Sunday for the San Francisco Giants’ Bruce Bochy, Pablo Sandoval and Madison Bumgarner. People we won’t see in a Giants uniform again. Maybe Bum.

#4 The Oakland Raiders just got by the Indianapolis Colts, but the win was crucial. The Raiders already have had a couple of tough games, one at home against the Kansas City Chiefs and another on the road to start this six-game out of town schedule with a loss to Minnesota, but they got a big win against the Colts Sunday.

#5 The San Jose Sharks open up their regular season against the Vegas Golden Knights Wednesday night. The Sharks will have their top featured player Erik Karlsson, who signed on for over $90 million for eight years.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the Oakland A’s on KIQI 1010 San Francisco and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Why Omar Vizquel would be a great pick for Giants managerial job

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By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

SAN FRANCISCO — Omar Vizquel was one of the best ever defensive shortstops in major league baseball history,winning 11 Gold Gloves(second most in history to Ozzie Smith’s 13) during a 24-year career with Seattle, Cleveland, San Francisco 2005-2008,Texas, Chicago White Sox and Toronto.

Vizquel ended with a solid .272 batting average in 2,968 games with 2,877 hits. From 2014 to 2017, he was the Detroit Tigers first-base infield and base-running coach. Vizquel was the Captain of the Venezuelan World Baseball Classic Team in 2016 and a member of the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame. He is 52 years old and bilingual in English and Spanish. He is a very smart baseball man who told me in the past his post-retirement goal was to manage in the major leagues.

The Giants will pick somebody to succeed Bruce Bochy, a future Hall of Fame manager that brought three World Series to San Francisco, a franchise that won their first World Series in 2010, the first for the club in 52 years since moving from New York. One of only 10 managers that have won three World Series, a sure thing for Cooperstown.

Vizquel received 182 votes in the 2019 ballot for the Hall of Fame, falling short of the 75% required for election, as he got 42.8 percent. His chances are good for membership in the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown in the next few years.

Vizquel is a good teacher and excellent communicator in two languages (Spanish, the second language in baseball), and there is little doubt in my mind that he will get a chance to manager in the major leagues. Maybe the Giants would give him the opportunity, among the many candidates that they will interview, if not, he will manage someplace, sooner than later. He was at the Bruce Bochy reunion this Sunday at Oracle Park. He loves the Bay Area and would be thrilled to be back here. He could be competing with another ex-player and also bilingual baseball man in Raúl Ibañez.

Amaury Pi-González is a pioneer in establishing baseball radio broadcast in Spanish in the Bay Area with the Oakland A’s since the the 1970’s and a longtime contributor to Sports Radio Service.

Dodgers spoil Bochy’s going away party with a 9-0 shutout win

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — On what was the last game of Bruce Bochys 25-year managerial career, it was not much of a game.

The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped a five spot in the first inning on their way to a 9-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a sellout of 41,909 at Oracle Park.

Dereck Rodriguez got the first out of the inning, but then the wheels fell off the wagon and Rodriguez, who gave up those five runs.

Max Muncy got the rally started, as he walked then A.J. Pollock and Cody Bellinger each singled and then Corey Seager cleared the bases with a double down the right field line. Will Smith then unloaded his 15th home run of the season and the game was pretty much over by then.

Rodriguez lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing five runs on five hits, walking two and striking out two before giving way to Sam Selman.

The Giants as an offense could only three hits during the entire game, as Buster Posey singled in the bottom of the first inning and the Giants did not get a hit until Jaylin Davis singled in the bottom of the eighth inning. Mike Yastrzemski got the Giants last hit in the bottom of the ninth inning with one out.

On this day, the longtime rivalry between the Giants and the Dodgers was put aside, as Madison Bumgarner came out to pinch hit for Brandon Crawford in the bottom of the fifth inning and longtime rival Clayton Kershaw was on the mound in relief for the Dodgers.

In what could be his last at-bat as a Giant, Bumgarner was given a standing ovation by the sellout crowd.

Crawford told Bumgarner to hit a homer for him, but unfortunately there was no joy in San Francisco, as Bumgarner lined out to Jedd Gyorko for the final out.

After the line out to Gyorko, Bumgarner stood at the plate and admired the crowd one last time during the 2019 season.

In an act of total sportsmanship and respect, Kershaw then tipped his cap towards Bochy, who reciprocated in doing the same towards Kershaw.

He is a class act, said Posey about Kershaw.

Gavin Lux drove in the Dodgers sixth run of the game in the top of the seventh, as he walked with the bases loaded to score Matt Beaty.

The Dodgers added three runs in the top of the eighth inning to put the final touches on their team record 106th victory of the season.

UP NEXT: There will be a new manager in 2020 for the Giants when the team begins Spring Training in February.

Ryu helps out own cause in Dodgers’ 2-0 win

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Hyun-Jin Ryu helped out his own cause with just one swing of the bat when it was needed the most.

Ryu hit a single by Evan Longoria to score Gavin Lux form third base in the top of the fifth inning, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the San Francisco Giants 2-0 before a crowd of 37,518 at Oracle Park.

Max Muncy extended the Dodgers lead up to 2-0, as he deposited a Logan Webb pitch onto the arcade over the right-center field wall in the top of the sixth inning.

It was the 35th home run of the season for Muncy, tying his career-high that was set just last season.

This was the 16th time this season that the Giants have been shutout and the seventh time at home. It is the most that the Giants have been shutout in a season snice they were also shutout 16 times during their first World Championship season of 2010.

On the other hand, the Dodgers picked up their 17th shutout of the season and fourth versus the Giants.

The 105 win by the Dodgers tied the 1953 Dodgers for the most wins in team history. That season, the Dodgers made it to the World Series, but lost to the New York Yankees in ix games, as the Yankees won their fifth straight World Series.

Ryu, who is getting ready for the playoffs, went seven innings, allowing zero runs on five hits, walking no one and striking out seven on his way to his 14th win of the season for the National League Western Division Champion Dodgers.

Webb was the unfortunate hard luck losing pitcher in his last start of the season, as he went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out six and his finished the season with a 2-3 record.

The rookie got his first major league hit in the bottom of the fifth inning, but was nearly thrown out at first base by Joc Pederson for what would have been the third out of the inning.

Over his last two starts to end the season, Webb posted an earned run average of 2.25, as he allowed just three earned runs in 12 innings of work. Webb also struck out 12 times in those two starts.

Tyler Rogers struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning, as his earned run average since he made his debut on August 27 is the fifth lowest amongst National League relievers.

NOTES: Mike Yastrzemski saw his 18-game on-base streak end, as he went 0-for-1 after he flew out in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Bruce Bochy managed his 4,031st game of his career, passing Sparky Anderson for seventh-most in major league history.

UP NEXT: Dereck Rodriguez takes the mound in the season finale on Sunday afternoon for the Giants, while Rich Hill will close out the regular season for the Dodgers, who will open up defense of their back-to-back National League Championships on Thursday at Dodger Stadium versus the winner of the Wild Card game.

Giants fall victim to Dodgers in 9-2 loss

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By Lewis Rubman

Los Angeles: 9 | 9 | 2

San Francisco: 2 | 8 | 0

SAN FRANCISCO — The first order of business for the Giants this evening was the presentation of the Willie Mac Award to Kevin Pillar as the Giants player who best exemplifies the inspiration, character, and leadership that characterized Willie McCovey. It was the first time since his death that the award that honors his legacy had been bestowed. It’s not a stretch to say that his absence added a large dose of poignancy to the ceremony.

This was the third time that the Dodgers sent Walker Buehler (13-4, 3.25 ERA) to the mound against the Giants this season. He was the winner of a 10-3 thrashing of San Francisco at Oracle Park on April 30, giving up all of the Giants’ runs in his five and a third innings of work. He returned to McCovey Cove on June 9 to shut the Giants down without a run over seven innings on the way to a 1-0 white wash of the home team.

Johnny Cueto, the Giants’ starter, was facing the Dodgers for the first time this season, but it was the 21st time he pitched against them over his 13-year major league career. In his three starts since coming off the injured list on September 10, he had gone 1-1, 2.57 ERA. He looked good but hadn’t gone over four innings in any of those starts. He didn’t make it past two tonight.

If Cueto sparkled in his 1-2-3 first, he lost all of his luster in the second. Cody Bellinger and Corey Seger hit back to back homers to right center to open the frame. The Dodger bats paused for a moment while Will Smith walked, but he broke into a full-fledged run scoring on Gavin Lux’s triple off the right field fence. Cueto fanned Kike Hernández and Buehler, but Joc Pederson socked another dinger into the upper rows of the right center field seats for Los Angeles’s fourth and fifth tallies of the inning. You needn’t bother to look for Cueto’s line for the night; this paragraph tells you all you need to know about his performance.

The Giants got one run back in the bottom of the second. Pillar walked and advanced to third on Alex Dickerson’s single to center. Crawford’s sac fly to left drove him in, and when Dubón singled to right, it looked like the Giants might make a serious comeback. But Chris Shaw, batting for Cueto, and then Mike Yaztremski struck out.

Wandy Peralta took over for Cueto to start the third. With a little help from a pitcher’s best friend he held the visitors to one infield hit in that frame. He would pitch a 1-2-3 fourth before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of that inning.

Meanwhile, the Giants had drawn closer in the bottom of the third. Another sacrifice fly, Pillar’s shot to right, enabled Brandon Belt, who had walked and reached third on Vogt’s double to right, to score the Giants’ second run, getting home before catcher Will Smith could tag him out. Pederson’s throw was right on the money, but a mite too slow in arriving.

Peralta held Los Angeles through fourth, giving way to a pinch-hitter in the bottom half of that inning and being followed on the rubber by Sam Selman, another southpaw.

Buehler pitcched in and out of trouble until the Giants’ sixth, when he was relieved by Dylan Floro, who got Dubón out on a fly to right before yielding to Caleb Ferguson. Ferguson struck out the pinch hitting Cristhian Adames before surrendering a two out double to left to Yaztremski. He went to three and two on Belt before walking him. That was it for Ferguson, and it was up to Yimi García to face Evan Longoria, who represented the tying run. He got the Giants’ third baseman to ground to Muncy at first but then dropped the throw that would have ended the inning. Now Garcia had to face Stephen Vogt with the bases loaded. Vogt flew out to right.

Buehler’s line was two runs, both earned, on five hits and four walks. He struck out eight in his five innings of work, in which he threw 104 pitches, 67 of them strikes.

Kyle Barraclough, San Francisco’s newest entry in tonight’s mound sweepstakes, struck out Hernández and walked Edwin Ríos, batting for García. In came Andrew Suárez to pitcher for San Francisco. In came David Freese to bat for Pederson. He hit into a 6-4-3 double play, but the Giants still trailed 5-2.

Casey Sadler was the next in the long line of Dodger relievers. He, too, dodged a bullet when Lux made a leaping catch of a liner hit into the shift by Jaylin Davis, pinch hitting (naturally) with two outs and two on in the seventh.

The Giants’ bullpen had held Los Angeles scoreless for five innings when, with Shaun Anderson on the mound, a double by Chris Taylor, a conceded walk to Bellinger, and a fielder’s choice on a grounder by Seager into the shift to Crawford, whose behind the back flip to Dubón went astray loaded the bases with one out. Will Smith’s single to left center then drove in Taylor and Bellinger, to up the Angelinos’ advantage to 7-2. Hernández drove in Seager and Smith. It was now 9-2 and all over but the shouting.

The Giants made a quixotic attempt to make a game of it in the eighth, loading the bases with two out, but Tony Gonsolin got Dickerson to fly out to center.

The Giants used seven pitchers in their vain attempt to stifle the Dodgers’ offense. Los Angeles also used seven but to much better effect.

Buehler got the win; Cueto, the loss. There was no save. The Giants left 17 men on base.

It will be Hyun-Jin Ryu against Logan Webb tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. and Rich Hill facing Madison Bumgarner at 12:05 p.m. to finish the season on Sunday. After that game, there will be a major celebration to honor Bruce Bochy on his retirement.

New Gen Giants load up on the Rockies, win 8-3 in series finale

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Anyway you dissect it, this is a week of permanent transition for the Giants with the retirement of manager Bruce Bochy looming on Sunday.

But that’s not all the change. The Giants offered an interesting lineup on Thursday for the finale of the series with the Rockies without Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Buster Posey or Pablo Sandoval and Joe Panik for that matter.⁹⁷

With the exception of Evan Longoria, Bochy went with the new and the young to tangle with Colorado’s Kyle Freeland and the five relievers that followed him. And that group acquitted themselves quite well, racking up 12 hits (at least one hit against each of the six pitchers they saw) and eight runs in a 8-3 win that was a close game into the eighth inning.

Mike Yasztremski homered in the fourth–his 21st–and Mauricio Dubon in the seventh to support Tyler Beede and a host of relievers. Beede was dominant into the fourth inning where he left abruptly with an oblique injury while facing Ryan McMahon, the first batter of the inning.

At that point, Beede had struck out seven, while allowing no hits or walks. Afterwards, Bochy tried to make light of what was shaping up to be the best start of the rookie righthander’s season.

“I was kidding him, it probably wasn’t good timing, ‘But you know you’ve got a no-hitter going here, you want me to take you out?'” Bochy recounted.

Butch Smith followed Beede out of the bullpen and got through the fourth, but allowed the Rockies a game-tying run in the fifth.

Davis Goes Deep, Extras Go Away: Giants get it done in nine this time, beat Rockies 2-1

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants haven’t been winners at home. The Rockies have struggled on the road. And rookie Jaylin Davis hasn’t exactly tore it up since he received his well-deserved major league promotion.

Something had to give.

It turned out that something was the centerfield fence where Davis’ shot flew past on its way to deciding Wednesday’s Rockies-Giants game for the home team, 2-1. The Giants got an important 34th win at home, making it much less likely that they will finish the season with the worst home mark in franchise history.

And Davis became the third major leaguer this season to homer for the first time in a career in a walk-off situation. To say Davis was warmly greeted by his teammates at home plate would be an overstatement. The greeting too heavily leaned on ice cold Gatorade for that. But it was warm in the sense that no one wanted to go extra innings after Tuesday’s 16-inning marathon. Davis took care of that with one swing.

“It couldn’t come at a better time his first home run,” manager Bruce Bochy said of Davis. “I’m sure the team was gassed after last night, and here we’re looking at extra innings and going through the pitching again. So great timing.”

The Giants and Rockies have spent the last two nights reminding themselves and the fans of their struggles one last time before the season concludes. On Tuesday, they played 16 innings with just one hit with runners in scoring position between the two clubs. Wednesday wasn’t much better as the two clubs went 1 for 19 with runners in scoring position.

Both starting pitchers impressed, but both would admit they’ve done things in a smoother fashion. Colorado starter Tim Melville allowed four hits and a walk, but he couldn’t locate the strike zone, elevating his pitch count with 29 balls among his 75 pitches.

Jeff Samardzija had a bounce back season, but Wednesday he had issues locating the strike zone as well. And after six innings and 111 pitches, the veteran right-hander was lifted, one inning prior to the Rockies wiping out Samardzija’s razor thin, 1-0 lead.

Two errors on the same play–Brandon Crawford’s throwing error, then Brandon Belt’s inability to corral the ball–allowed Josh Fuentes to race home from third base, tying the game in the seventh. That play also prevented Samardzija from going for a career-best tying 12th win.