The San Francisco Giants played the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, in the hot, hot Arizona heat, and it didn\u2019t go particularly well. It was a game with minimal moments of note for the Giants, who played the evil villains of the baseball universe for the final time before their first regular season matchup in late April.<\/p>\n
All the Spring Training caveats apply. It was just one game. It was just one meaningless preseason game. It was just one meaningless preseason game where the stats have been proven time and time again to not really mean anything. It was just one meaningless preseason game where the stats have been proven time and time again to not really mean anything that didn\u2019t even go nine innings anyway, as the teams decided together to limit exposure to the triple-digit heat, and cut off the game after eight innings, after which the Dodgers led 5-1.<\/p>\n
So while I\u2019d stop well short of calling it a concerning game with concerning performances, it was certainly a game devoid of reasons for optimism in the places where we\u2019re looking for some optimism.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the pitching. Landen Roupp made his final Cactus League start, though I would assume that he\u2019ll pitch one of the team\u2019s exhibitions at Oracle Park on Monday and Tuesday. Facing a potent Dodgers offense playing a handful of regulars, Roupp was not at his sharpest.<\/p>\n
He got into trouble immediately, ceding singles to the first three batters of the game, Miguel Rojas, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts. After performing his civic duty by striking out Max Muncy, Roupp then gave up a fourth single to Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez. A double play ball followed, mercifully ending the inning before it became ugly, but still, LA had scored two runs, a total that the Giants wouldn\u2019t match all day.<\/p>\n
In Roupp\u2019s defense, two of those singles were fairly soft contact: Rojas\u2019 inning-opener was a mild-mannered 63.7-mph ground ball, while Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s RBI was a looping 73.1-mph line drive. So it\u2019s not like he was getting battered out there.<\/p>\n
The second inning went much better, a featured a pair of strikeouts. The third inning did not go better, as the second pitch he threw blistered into the bleachers grass by Freeman. In all, Roupp went four innings and gave up five hits, three walks, and three runs. He did strike out five batters, but just 46 of his 81 pitches were strikes. He wasn\u2019t sharp, but he wasn\u2019t awful, either.<\/p>\n
Later in the game, someone attempting to follow Roupp\u2019s career path entered the game: Trevor McDonald. It\u2019s been a great spring for McDonald, who looks to have pole position on earning a spot in what is suddenly a fairly crowded bullpen and, whether or not he accomplishes that particular goal, does seem to be first in line for a starting assignment when someone in the rotation invariably gets injured.<\/p>\n
The Giants do seem to be prepping him for a bullpen role though, as he entered in the seventh inning of this game. Facing the replacement hitters, McDonald was done in by a pair of non-roster invitees: Ryan Fitzgerald, who drilled a one-out double (which put him on second base, where he got to mingle with Tyler Fitzgerald [no relation]), and Nick Senzel, who smoked a 108.4-mph dinger.<\/p>\n
Despite that, McDonald needed just 16 pitches to get through the inning. Sometimes you just get got, and on this day, he \u2014 and Roupp \u2014 got got.<\/p>\n
Offensively, it was mostly a mediocre day all around, but it was particularly mediocre for the players who are on the periphery of the roster, trying to earn Opening Day assignments. Jerar Encarnaci\u00f3n started at first base, and hit 0-2; Bryce Eldridge replaced him, and went 0-1. Will Brennan started in center field and had an 0-2 game with a strikeout; Grant McCray replaced him and drew a walk, then promptly got caught in a rundown. Luis Matos went 0-1 as the designated hitter, though he was hit by a pitch and his out was a 105-mph liner. Tyler Fitzgerald meekly flew out in his lone at-bat as the backup second baseman.<\/p>\n
Not really a good day for anyone in need of a good day to have a good day.<\/p>\n
There were two hitters who shined, though. Heliot Ramos made his return following a run with Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, and in his first at-bat, facing off against Shohei Ohtani, Ramos smoked a double into the corner, one-hopping the wall. Ramos would end the day 1-3, and he\u2019s now 8-14 in Spring Training, with five extra-base hits \u2026 and all five home come against right-handed pitchers (and some extremely good right-handed pitchers, at that). He certainly doesn\u2019t need a good spring to make the team \u2014 all he needs is to be halfway healthy on March 25 \u2014 but his performance is certainly inspiring optimism that another All-Star level performance could be around the corner. T<\/p>\n
As for the other great day in the box? Well, it belonged to the breakout star of camp, Victor Bericoto.<\/p>\n