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<\/p>\nSAN FRANCISCO \u2014 When it comes to base running, Matt Chapman is an exemplar of effort and efficiency.<\/p>\n
It might not stand out to watch him play for a game or a series. But follow him for a season and you\u2019ll lose count of how many times he stretches a single into an opportunistic double, how many flawless reads off the bat result in a run scored from second base and how many times he turns a pitcher\u2019s briefest blip of distraction into a steal. Even better, Chapman is near perfect at calibrating those aggressive, green-light decisions within the context of the game.<\/p>\n
So the ninth inning Sunday qualified as a flat-out brain breaker. The Giants were down three runs to the New York Mets. Chapman hit a leadoff single. Then, with the heart of the order coming up, and Rafael Devers at the plate, Chapman inexplicably tried to steal second base. He was thrown out.<\/p>\n
It was the kind of bad base-running decision that gets a player benched in a Pony League game. For Chapman to make the mistake? It was like watching Ada Lovelace struggle with long division.<\/p>\n
Chapman\u2019s poor gamble wasn\u2019t the most pivotal play in the Giants\u2019 5-2 loss on the shores of McCovey Cove, which included Tony Vitello\u2019s first ejection as a major-league manager. Given the scoreboard, though, it was the least justifiable act of the afternoon. And it might have been the most emblematic moment for a group that continues to make fundamental flubs, give away outs and struggle to sustain scoring rallies.<\/p>\n
The Giants became the first National League team to seven losses, and although 10 games is not a representative sample, there\u2019s never a good time in a season for a team\u2019s most reliable veterans to play sloppily or make decisions on tilt.<\/p>\n
The Giants\u2019 principal issue, of course, is a lineup that has averaged a major-league-worst 2.6 runs per game. If only the offense were the lone concern \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any magic solution, but the one thing about getting good results, it covers up mistakes,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cAnd when you\u2019re not playing well, everybody notices everything \u2014 fans, media, players, families, coaches \u2014 you start to notice every little thing. So at least now it becomes a talking point. And the wise thing, in my opinion, is to pick out the things you know you can eliminate, because you can control them, and eliminate them, because they\u2019re clearly not working.\u201d<\/p>\n
What has disappointed Vitello most about the Giants\u2019 play through 10 games?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can pull them out case by case \u2026 but where there\u2019s smoke, there\u2019s fire,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s too much of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first fiery eruption of Mount Vitello hardly calmed the waters in the seventh inning when he argued an umpire\u2019s interpretation of an esoteric base-running rule. If you\u2019re assuming Vitello was using the umpiring crew as a proxy for his frustration, since 10 games is probably too soon for a rookie skipper to air out a room full of major-league veterans, then you\u2019d be missing one important bit of context. When third-base umpire David Rackley gave Vitello the heave, the Giants weren\u2019t careening toward a series loss. They were leading 2-1 behind Logan Webb at the time.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s hardly the ideal time for a manager to draw an ejection, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
After the game, Vitello didn\u2019t even contend that plate umpire Edwin Jim\u00e9nez made the wrong call when he ruled that Jerar Encarnacion, by running on the grass up the first-base line, impeded a throw from Mets pitcher Huascar Brazob\u00e1n. Vitello said the play merely triggered him because he lost two games in college \u2014 one at the University of Tennessee, and the Big 12 championship as an assistant coach at the University of Missouri \u2014 because of similar rulings.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Tony Vitello drew the first ejection of his major-league career, and he said the source of his frustration dates to two games he was involved in when he coached college baseball. (Thearon W. Henderson \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure he got it exactly technically right,\u201d said Vitello, who might have taken issue with the fact the throw, which didn\u2019t hit Encarnacion, glanced off the glove of Mets first baseman Mark Vientos. \u201cIt\u2019s just a play I\u2019ve got a lot of history for. \u2026 Lost a game to Lipscomb on that play, lost the game to (Oklahoma State coach) Frank Anderson and a Big 12 championship on that play. The difference between the two that I\u2019m talking about, and I can talk about others, is the runner. In Frank\u2019s instance \u2014 and I\u2019ve called his team cheaters \u2014 (the runner) completely interfered with the throwing lane for the pitcher. So again, umpires are held accountable by what the rules are, and they enforce those rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd again, I don\u2019t want to replay. I\u2019m sure they did it 100 percent to the tee, but you know, from my perspective, for plays between the mound and the third-base line, you know, the runner\u2019s not going to have much to do with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said one last thing, just out of frustration or being all fired up. It was complete nonsense. I think it was misinterpreted a little bit, but (if) you\u2019re on the field that long and you\u2019re not a player, you\u2019re probably out of place a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vitello said when Encarnacion was called out, he was already upset about something he did not disclose that happened earlier in the game. (It could have been the extended argument from Mets manager Carlos Mendoza on a checked-swing call in the top of the seventh, which forced Webb to cool his heels on the mound. It also might have been Encarnacion\u2019s base-running mistake in the fifth inning, when he hit a drive off the base of the left-field wall but wasn\u2019t watching first-base coach Shane Robinson, then slowed around the bag before he was thrown out at second base.)<\/p>\n
Vitello also said the batter interference call bothered him because it deprived him of an opportunity to deploy his lightly used bench and send in pinch runner Jared Oliva.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my mind, we lost a double there,\u201d Vitello said.<\/p>\n
While Vitello was banished to his office, the Giants lost a lot more than that.<\/p>\n
Vitello was changing into workout clothes in his office in the eighth inning and acknowledged he wasn\u2019t paying attention to every pitch when the Mets combined enough flared contact with at least two critical mistakes.<\/p>\n
Shortstop Willy Adames wasn\u2019t in good position to receive a throw from right fielder Jung Hoo Lee that beat Jorge Polanco to second base. Adames missed his lunging attempt to tag Polanco, giving the Mets a one-out double instead of a momentum-turning second out with the bases empty. Luis Robert Jr. singled, and after Giants bench coach Jayce Tingler replaced Keaton Winn with left-hander Erik Miller, the Mets countered with right-handed-hitting backup catcher Luis Torrens, who flared a two-run double down the right-field line.<\/p>\n
The Mets led 3-2, but another mistake helped them add two more runs. Vientos hit a hard grounder down the third-base line and Chapman made a diving stop, but yet another first baseman struggled to complete the connection. This time it was Devers, making his first start of the season at first base, who failed to pick Chapman\u2019s short-hopped throw as a run scored. Vientos took second base and scored when Marcus Semien followed with a double.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most troubling part of the Giants\u2019 poor fundamental play is that the mistakes aren\u2019t coming from rookies or fringe players. Chapman, Adames and Devers form the core of this team and the heart of the lineup. And it\u2019s not as if they\u2019re coming close to outhitting their mistakes, either. Patrick Bailey got dinged for a catcher\u2019s interference call, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re definitely not playing our best baseball right now. We know that,\u201d said Webb, who rebounded from his first two laboring efforts while recording 14 groundball outs in seven innings. \u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019ve got to be better at. \u2026 We\u2019re 10 games in. Obviously I\u2019m not making any excuses or saying that it\u2019s OK that we\u2019re playing this way. But it starts with me. I have not pitched well at all, and there\u2019s 152 games left in the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think before anyone hits the panic button, you\u2019ve just got to take a deep breath. We\u2019ve played some good teams. Just go out there tomorrow and try to compete. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Webb said his focus leading up to Sunday\u2019s start was to \u201cfind a rhythm, get back to what I do well. Not trying to overcomplicate things and let the infielders do the work.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the assumption, of course, that the work will get done.<\/p>\n
As for Chapman\u2019s thought process in the ninth? Both he and Adames had left the clubhouse within 25 minutes of the final out, when reporters were allowed to enter. That\u2019s a hasty exit even when you consider it was Easter Sunday. Vitello said he didn\u2019t know what Chapman was thinking, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even ask,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re in the moment of competing, maybe things are seen differently than if you\u2019re in the dugout. But yeah, it\u2019d be nice to get a second base runner on in that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 When it comes to base running, Matt Chapman is an exemplar of effort and efficiency.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2408],"tags":[5,162,4,378,66,4343,4340,4344,4341,4342],"class_list":{"0":"post-666081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-giants","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-giants","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-san-francisco","12":"tag-san-francisco-giants","13":"tag-sanfrancisco","14":"tag-sanfranciscogiants","15":"tag-sf","16":"tag-sf-giants","17":"tag-sfgiants"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116356729320867676","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}