CRITICAL: Giants DROP series to Padres | Chapman and Adames lefty STRUGGLES

CRITICAL: Giants DROP series to Padres | Chapman and Adames lefty STRUGGLES

Giants dropped their second series in a row. Is it time to make some personnel changes? Matt Chapman, are you worried about his contract? And I have the secret weapon to the Giants struggling against lefties. That’s all coming up on Locked on Giants. You are Locked on Giants, your daily San Francisco Giants podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Hello and welcome to Locked On Giants, part of the Locked On podcast network where it’s your team every single day. My name is Alan Styles. On the show, we provide daily episodes Monday through Friday talking about the San Francisco Giants in a way that combines passion analytics with the eye test and a little bit of fun. I’m from the Bay Area. I also host a show at Sacktown Sports 11:40 10 AM 2 PM. You can check that out as well as MCing at Sacramento Rivercats games. I’m lucky enough to cover a team that I’ve been a fan of all my life. Now, it’s time to break down whether or not coaching changes need to be made. Should we be worried about Matt Chapman? And I promise you, I might have the answer to the Giants lefty problem. This episode of Locked On Giants is brought to you by the Game Time app. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Game Time today. What time is it? Game time. So, the Giants, they do it again, as in they lose again. And this time, they lose to, I guess, a level of rival in the San Diego Padres’s. The San Diego Padres’s in the NL West. I mean, technically they’re both in the wildard race, even though at this point the Padres’s are looking to pass up the the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Smurfs. So, this was a big series. And if you’re listening right now, I’m recording this before the the day game. So, it’s possible that the Giants could salvage this thing and win a game. But either way, they’ve already lost a series. And the question now is where do they go from here? Elliot Ramos, they talked to him after the game. He says it’s just not happening. They’re not sure what to do. Okay, the Giants have lost another series in a very bizarre Giants way. They were able to get three hits with runners in scoring position, but somehow only scored one run. They had 10 hits uh last night as they, you know, at least woke the bats up a little bit. unable to get it done, unable to get the big hit when they needed it. This home stand, they’ve scored four runs. The run differential is currently minus 17. They’re three for 18 with runners in scoring position. And the pitchers, which is usually their strength, a 675 RA when you absolutely have to have these games. You know, they’re five and a half games out of the last wild card spot. Like I said, the Padres’s at this point, they’re not even thinking about the wild card. They’re trying to catch the Dodgers. Now, I tend to be in the camp of players have to make plays, right? Players are the ones playing. But I’m just not sure how this can continue. They gave Bob Melvin that option. Okay, we can wait till the end of the season. It’s fine. You don’t have to do the interim thing if you really, really don’t want to. And it’s unfortunate for this next person because we all love what he means to this franchise, but at this point I think it has to be Pat Burl. I know they had 10 hits last night, but I think it has to be the hitting coach that took over in 2024 and Pat Pearl. This is the nature of the beast, right? If you’re in sales and you’re not making sales, you get fired. If you’re a hitting coach and the team isn’t hitting, something has to be done. It might be collateral damage because like I said, he’s not the one swinging the bat. His nickname is Pat the bat. But that’s how these jobs work. They make a lot of money, but it’s very volatile. When things are going good, things are going really good. When things aren’t going so good, it’s probably time to find somebody else. Even if it’s technically not your fault. One thing I have noticed, if you watch the Giants hit, maybe it’s just me, but it feels like they’re way out in front on everything, right? They’re solid contact that they make is almost always well foul. Well foul. They are hooking stuff. They’re sending stuff. Sometimes they’ll send it into the water and that’s all fine and good, but that’s a long strike as we call it. So, I don’t know what’s going on there. There’s two types of kind of hitting philosophies, if you will. You can be a a hitter that reacts or a hitter that guesses. It feels like they’re all guessing, but they’re not guessing correctly very often. And that’s a problem. And to me, that’s why you’re seeing these ridiculously early swings that sure it looks good and it sounds good because you get excited because oh, you hear it in the crowd, but they’re not even close to being fair balls. So, their approach right now, it’s just not working. And we’re going to talk about how bad they’ve been against lefties as well. But in this situation, maybe you get a little bump at the end of the of the season. Maybe they almost feel bad that they essentially got Pat Burl fired. Maybe that’s part of it. But I just don’t know how you can continue on doing this. I was taking a look at their schedule. So, they do get a little bit of a break where it softens up, but then it gets difficult to get, right? You you you’ll mix in the Orioles, but you have you have the Cubs coming up. You have a lot of good teams coming up, and I think they have the Rays after this because the Rays are in Sacramento right now, but you’re going to get a little bit of softness. You have the Padres’s again. And I’m just not sure even if it’s not Pat Burl’s fault. Even if it’s not Pat Burl’s fault, I’m just not sure how you can continue to watch this over and over and over again. It’s just sad, right? And I’m watching the fans out there and I’m watching the postgame show, all of that. The fans, they don’t know what to do, right? A lot of the fans, if you look at the certain shots that they had, I know the numbers are always great, but I’m watching the game and I’m looking on that upper deck and it’s there’s nobody in there and it’s not a beginning of the game thing. So, Buster Posey, a lot of the reason he got this job is because we remember him as a winner. We remember him as a winner. Buster has to set the standard now. And I’m not saying that it’s Buster’s, you know, it’s Buster’s fault quite yet. We’ll see how that goes. I’m not necessarily saying that it’s Bob Melvin’s fault. I’m not necessarily saying that it’s Pat Burl’s fault. But this is the nature of the beast. when you do not compete, right, and when you fall off a cliff, the way the Giants have fallen off a cliff, changes have to be made because, and we’re going to get into the contracts a little bit later, they’re the prime of some of these contracts that they’ve signed is right now. It’s right now. So, you have to find a way to make the most of it. It’s just it’s just not going to fly, man. It’s just not going to fly. As far as where I would go if I did move on from Pat Burl, it’s the hidden coach. Find somebody internally, right? Uh you you can do interim here there. You can get somebody from the Sacramento Rivercats. You can just elevate somebody that’s already on the staff to the interim hitting coach and you can figure that out in the off season. I know it feels like once a year they bring in Barry Bonds for like a week and then he goes away. I don’t know what you have to do, but when everybody is saying I don’t know, I don’t know, uh Elliot Ramos is saying it’s not happening, it’s just not good enough. It’s just not good enough. So, if nobody knows normally, that’s when it falls on the coaches, right? If you have an answer, then that answer can be solved. The Giants don’t have an answer. So, nature of the beast, there are high highs and there are low lows. And I’m not trying to be a part of somebody losing their job. I just don’t know where else to go as far as the bats are concerned. So, it’s got to be Pat Burl to me. And I’m not saying it shouldn’t be Bob Melvin. I’m saying they’re probably not going to do Bob Melvin before the season ends because of that option. They’re going to see if something could be salvaged. And maybe it can be if you move forward with somebody else and just kind of put something uh put something on the table for the Giants and say, “Hey, this is how bad it is right now.” So, that’s where we’re at as far as the hitting is concerned. Coming up next, how worried should we be about the Matt Chapman contract. Don’t go anywhere. More locked on Giants coming up. If you’re running a business, you know that every missed call is money left on the table. Think about the last time you had a service emergency, like a burst pipe. If the plumber didn’t answer, did you wait? No, you called the next one. That’s why having a reliable business line is so important. And that’s why you need Open Phone. Open Phone is the number one business phone system that helps you streamline and scale customer communication all from an app on your phone or computer. Your whole team can share one number and respond to customers like a shared inbox. No more who’s handling this. Open Phone is offering locked show listeners 20% off your first six months at openphone.comlockedmlb. That’s op p ho ne.com/lockedonmlb. And if you have existing numbers with another service, open will port them over at no extra charge. Open phone. No missed calls, no missed customers. Let’s get into the Matt Chapman situation and the Matt Chapman contract because it’s kind of crazy. I’m just going to be honest with you. And I was looking at this thinking, man, oh man, I like Matt Chapman. I think he is the leader of the team outside of Logan Webb or I guess from the position player standpoint. Matt Chapman is your leader and that’s all fine and good, but I was double-checking and triple-checking the numbers yesterday and I’m a bit concerned. And the reality is some of these Buster Posey decisions, I know in the last segment I said I’m not putting it on Buster quite yet, but I will say some of these Buster Posey decisions don’t make a ton of sense. You sign Matt Chapman to that six-year deal, okay? Then trade for Rafie Des on a contract a lot of people think will age poorly also when Bryce Eldridge is probably ready for the big leagues right now. And I totally get it. you’re just going to get the talent in the building. And Rafie Devers, we know how it goes with uh with uh Giants prospects and how that can always sway in the right or wrong way and a lot of times in the wrong way. So, I’m not saying you don’t sign Rafie Des because of Bryce Eldridge. But, and I don’t even really have a problem with De’s contract to be honest with you because I do think he’s that good of a ball player. But some of these things just aren’t adding up when you’re essentially saying, “Yeah, Des is almost never going to play their base, right?” I have a bigger issue with the Matt Chapman contract. He hasn’t been awful at the plate this season, but I’m just not sure why we need five more years of this. Entering the second game against the Padres’s, Matt Chapman uh was 64 his last 42 at the plate with no homers and two RBI’s in his previous 12 games. And I do understand that most of these contracts aren’t going to age well, right? He’s getting paid in the same range as Xander Bogarts, Danby Swanson, Bryce Harper, Fernando Tatis Jr., even though that’s a a 13-year deal. So those and Bryce Harper. So those deals, it’s a little bit different. I get it. And he he might be about 2 three years away from being a part of the DH first base conversation when he doesn’t hit well enough to be a DH. And you already have a log jam at first base. He is in his prime right now. You know, Chapman, this is the time. He’s what, 32? He’s in his prime right now. So, it’s not that he’s playing poorly, but his numbers, as far as I’m concerned, are probably not going to improve. Maybe next year they do, but that’s 33 and then 34 and then 3. It’s all the way until 37. And I know this isn’t a a a specific thing to Matt Chapman. A lot of these baseball contracts aren’t going to look great, right? and his numbers, they really aren’t terribly different besides some very, very important stats, right? The home runs are down by a good bit. The and the season’s not over, but I don’t think he’ll catch some of these. The home runs are down by a good bit. The doubles are down by a good bit, and the RBI’s are down. And like I said, those those are very important stats, but I’m just not sure how we’re supposed to think he’s going to improve. He’s not going to get better throughout the rest of this contract. And the the Giants have five more years of this, right? I don’t know what this looks like in in two years. And like I said, you’re essentially telling Rafie Devers, you’re never going to play third base again, right? Unless, you know, based on his age. I I don’t necessarily see it happening. So, I’m not really too gung-ho on the Matt Chapman contract. I’m not. And at the time, I get it. You know, he had a good season. He had 27 home runs. He almost broke that Barry Bond streak of a Giants player not having 30. So, you want to make sure he stays in the building. I do wonder how much of this was a connection to Bob Melvin and everything that he did for Bob Melvin when he was really in his heyday with the A’s and how much of this was hey not not I’m not saying it’s a package deal but you’re with your guy maybe there will be some level of Matt Chapman and there was elevating his game because he’s playing with somebody that he has a relationship with he’s playing with somebody that he enjoys playing with. Maybe that’s the situation. I I’m not sure. But I’m looking here and he’s literally been missing throughout this whole series. Like I said, the last 12 games I’ve been looking I’ve been looking in my couch. I’ve been looking outside. I’ve been looking in my garage trying to find Matt Chapman. Trying to find Matt Chapman. And the reason I’m specifically bringing up Matt Chapman is because he is supposed to be the leader of this team. Maybe by default, but he’s supposed to be the leader of this team. So, we can bring up all the other guys that aren’t playing well, but I see more people, and this is this is something that doesn’t make sense to me. I see more people bagging on, and I get it, this guy’s had a worse season, but if we’re talking expectations, and relatively speaking, I see more people bagging on Patrick Bailey, who has been bad, and random right fielders than I’ve seen talking about Matt Chab. the fact that this is when your team needs you. These last 12 games, your team needs you. It’s all fine and good to to want to be the captain, to want to be the leader, and and uh you know, be that guy that, hey, you know, this is on us. We got to figure it out. But as the old saying goes, you got to lead by example. And you and and this is not part of the old saying, but I’m going to add it in. And you got to get hits when it matters. You have to at some point somebody on this team is going to have to just stick up for themsel and the team and say it ends now. We’re stopping this because I saw something. It was from fan graphs yesterday. The Giants right now 5% chance to make the playoffs. 5% chance. And I don’t know that Buster regrets signing for Devers and he probably shouldn’t, but it’s been a nightmare. And they specifically been bad after that Patrick Bailey in the park home run. Maybe that was they used up all their luck, juice, whatever it is in that one play. But Matt Chapman, with great power comes great responsibility. You are maybe by default, you are the leader of this team. And if you’re going to lead by example, you have to do just that. Speaking of leading by example and speaking of the issues that the Giants have had, we have one more segment for you. We’re talking about the lefties. And I promise you, you are not going to believe who could be the secret weapon for the Giants to start hitting lefties better. You are not going to believe who this player is. And they are available. We’ll take a little blast from the past to close out the show. Alan Styles, you’re listening to Locked On Giants. We’ve all been there. Logging on early and waiting forever for concert tickets to go on sale, only to lose your spot for a show you’ve been dying to see. Live music should be about making memories, not dealing with the stress of ticket shopping. That’s where Game Time comes in. Game time makes concert tickets faster and easier than ever. Prices actually drop as it gets closer to showtime, and you can save up to 60% with their killer last minute deals. Ever wonder what your view will actually look like? I know I do, and I love seeing just how close or far I’m going to be from my favorite artist. The app shows you a panoramic seat, so there are no surprises. You get that view from your seat. Take the guesswork out of buying concert and show tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use Locked On MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L K D O N M LB for $20 off. Download the Game Time app. Last minute tickets, lowest price. Get one more segment with you to close out the show. And before we get to the secret weapon that I’m going to uh reveal to everyone listening, let’s talk about just how bad the Giants have been hitting left-handed pitchers. They’ve essentially, spoiler alert, they basically been the worst team in baseball. Okay, like I mentioned, they actually had 10 10 hits last night. They had six against Nester Cortez, but they just aren’t getting the big hit when it matters. And that’s just tough sledding, man. In general, they’re hitting 211 as far as their average, 276 as far as their on base percentage, 335 with slugging 611 OPS. That’s very bad. That’s that that’s the worst in the league pretty much. The worst in the league in all of those categories. And two of their big money players, I know I already gave Chapman that business in the last segment, so we’ll leave him be now. Matt Chapman and Willie Adam. Okay, they’re just not cutting it as your big money right-handed players. Adamus is slugging 339 against lefties and Chapman is even worse. He’s at 329. That is terrible from both of them. Then you have Elliot Ramos who has been hitting well this season. He talked about how the pitchers and he kept saying it, pitchers have just been making adjustments. He said he’s been walking more against lefties. Last season he hit lefties better, but in these situations he’s been walking more. And basically, he’s admitting he hasn’t adjusted to the adjustment yet. And we know that’s what hitting pretty much is, right? And it it started, we knew the game was probably not going to go in the right direction with Elliot Ramos breaking the bat over his leg. It took him two tries, but he did get it. He broke the bat over his leg, which he has done before, and I appreciate that, right? I appreciate it. Like I said, I’m I’m a fiery guy, too. I like when players show emotion, but he did that and then had multiple chances to write the ship uh throughout the throughout the game, and he just wasn’t able to do that. So, it’s it’s cool that you’re showing us that you care and we know you had an outstanding season last season and he’s hit pretty well this season, but still not able to get it done. There’s just nobody that’s just taking the bull by the horns to say this is going to end. There’s nobody that’s just able to do that right now. And that’s the problem. Willie Adamus, I said, I’ve been looking for Matt Chapman. I don’t know where Willie Adamus has been, right? All I know is that he wears those cool purple cleats when they don’t even have the purple jerseys on. And then he doesn’t wear the purple cleats when they have the purple jerseys on. That’s the only thing I know about William as of late. He’s had a couple hot stretches. He’s been extremely streaky. His He’s got a really pretty swing, but there is nobody on this lineup that is just willing to say it’s going to end. it’s going to end. And and and as far as the lefty on lefty approach, to be honest with you, what’s the point? What’s the point of playing matchups when your righties aren’t hitting the lefties anyway? You might as well just put whoever’s in there. You know, the Dominic Smiths of the world, guys that have just been hot in general, you might as well just keep them in there. Why not? Why not keep them in there when the actual righties aren’t doing anything? And I know, you know, you’re not platooning Adamus and Chapman, guys like that. But there’s really been no difference. The Giants have been terrible. And I know the lefties, you know, aren’t essentially helping that either. And you’re supposed to make up ground with the righties in your lineup. But that’s just not been the case. The Giants have been the worst team in the league. And again, going back to the Pat Burrow thing, what else are you supposed to do? Just wear it? just just just wear it until the season ends and just hope that it was just a what half season long slump in general then specifically against the lefties. You have to take advantage of these leverage moments and the Giants have not done that. They’re not done. They still have an opportunity but they continue to kind of mess up and and not take advantage of these situations. So, how can they fix all that? I’m telling you this right now. You’re not going to believe who has been balling out for the Sacramento Rivercats. Okay, shout out to the Riverkitties. You are not going to believe who’s been balling against lefthanded pitching. It is time to take a trip in the way way back machine. All right. And as we continue to talk about these right field tryyous, let my man eat. Okay. Marco Luciano. He was supposed to be our savior. It didn’t exactly work out. He was supposed to play shortstop. They didn’t even try him anywhere else. They just threw him in right field. Lately, he’s been playing left field, but he does have experience in right. Marco Luciano has been the best hitter against lefties on the Rivercats this season. He’s hitting .271, and this is about 80 at bats, okay? So, it’s a pretty good sample size. He’s hitting 271 with a 396 on base percentage, 553 slugging, a 949 OPS with six doubles and six home runs. It was always going to come back to Marco Luciano. He should be the next guy to make his way up in these right field tryyous. I know they got Tyler Fitzgerald out there right now and he got worn out early. You had Tyler Fitzgerald, Casey Schmidt, and Rafie Des trying to catch a fly ball. It sounds like a joke, right? Three guys walking to a bar. Three guys out of position trying to catch a fly ball to kick off the game. And then you have Robbie Ray blocking that first run in. But it is time for Marco Luciano. It is time to give him an opportunity. We’ve seen essentially everyone else, right? And and I don’t know where Moss is in this rotation, but Marco Luciano has been absolutely balling against left-handed pitching, and it was always going to come back to him. You have been so bad against lefties. There is literally no reason not to bring Marco Luciano back up or bring him up in general. We haven’t seen him in it feels like two years. And see what he can do. It is time. Buster Posey. I know he is not technically your guy, but he’s still young. His confidence is growing and against lefties, he has been a menace at the AAA level. What do you have to lose? You are the worst left-handed hitting team in baseball, in major league baseball. Bring up Marco Luciano, see what he can do against lefties, and maybe, just maybe, he could be the spark that the Giants need. Now, you can still keep up, you know, whoever your your right-handed guy is, but as far as lefties, it’s time to give Marco Luciano a shot. It’s time. It’s time. Six home runs, six doubles. OPS. I didn’t even know OPS’s could go that high. To be completely honest with you, I haven’t seen it. 949 OPS. And I know the the the PCL. I know that league is a very offensive league, but it is time to see what he can do at this level. You let him get his mind right now. Right now, you’re letting Luis Moss get his mind right. Luis Moss is in the middle of his rotation where he balls out at the AAA level, comes back up, kind of forgets how to play baseball, doesn’t really get an opportunity to play baseball, and then goes back down. That’s that’s the situation with uh with Luis Moss. So, we’ve essentially seen everyone, right? Wade Meckler, he’s a you know, uh I like Wade Meckler, but he’s from the left-handed side, different guys that we’ve already seen come up. It is time to bring up Marco Luciano. He is the secret weapon. And it might be sad that we’re having this conversation, but not really. The dude is still young. He just feels like he’s been with this team forever. So, it’s time to see what he can do against lefties because there’s really no reason not to try it. There’s no reason not to try it at this point in time. That’s how bad you’ve been against left-handed hitters. So, we will see if the Giants do pull up Marco Luciano and try something new in this uh in this struggle bus or on the struggle bus that the Giants have been on. Thank you for listening to Locked on Giants. My name is Alan Styles. You can follow me at the_stylesfiles. Styles with an I is right there in that corner. We will be back tomorrow as we are on Monday through Friday every single day. Thank you for making Locked On your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the allnew Locked On MLB Game Night. Every game, every night, all season long. Get your local analysis on a national scale. Find MLB Game Night on Locked on MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. We’ll talk to you again tomorrow. Peace.

The Giants’ playoff hopes take another hit after another frustrating series loss. We break down whether coaching changes should happen now, why Matt Chapman’s contract could be a looming problem, and how Marco Luciano might be the unlikely answer to San Francisco’s lefty struggles.

0:00 Allen’s intro
1:00 Recap and Pat Burrell
10:25 Matt Chapman Contract
19:11 Left Secret Weapon

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