We have a getaway day on our hands. Sunday and Wednesday are the days that are almost always jam-packed with teams playing baseball. They are the most common days that series end. Teams are looking for sweeps, some are looking to avoid being swept, and others are looking to win the rubber match. We have a bit of a rarity here as this is Game 2 of a three-game set between the Giants and Phillies.
The Giants came into the season with a decent enough outlook for the year. They hired a new manager, and through 29 games, there hasn’t been much of a story about Tony Vitello. That’s probably a good thing because it means that the new manager in San Francisco isn’t a distraction. Considering he had no Major League experience whatsoever, there was a major risk entering the year. I really like the Giants lineup, and they’ve been decent in terms of hitting — batting .245 for the year with 238 hits. The problem is they can’t find a way to get guys across the plate. They have just 97 runs scored for the season. That comes out to just 3.34 runs per game.
The Giants are the only team in baseball that hasn’t scored 100 runs yet. They’ve been shut out in six games already, or 20% of the time. Looking for run support tonight will be Logan Webb, their ace. For the season, Webb is 2-3 with a 4.86 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Those are not ace numbers, but he should be fine. As usual, he is eating innings — 26 this month in four starts, and he has six or more innings in five of his six starts. The Phillies are hitting just .188 against him in 64 at-bats.
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The Phillies already made some news with their manager. They ended up firing Rob Thompson, a manager who has had a lot of success with the team, but did seem like he was losing the clubhouse last year. There were issues with Nick Castellanos, but the vibe also felt off this season for Philadelphia. They are just 10-19 to start the season, and now Don Mattingly will take over as manager. The Phillies players said the right things in the media, but they also turned in a 7-0 win last night.
Philadelphia has a ton of potential, and I am actually happy that they moved quickly to make a change. If they waited another month, it could be too late. Mattingly has shown success, but usually not sustained for many seasons, as a manager. He gets a good chance to grab a series win with Christopher Sanchez taking the hill. Sanchez is 2-2 for the season with a 2.94 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. In four home starts, he has been fantastic, going 23.1 innings and allowing just three earned runs. He did face the Giants earlier this season and allowed two earned runs on 11 hits over five innings.
I think I like player props best in this game. There are two guys who stand out to me on the Giants. Matt Chapman is 7-for-11 against Sanchez with three extra-base hits. Rafael Devers is 5-for-11 with just one extra-base hit. I’ll take Chapman to get 2+ bases at +155 and I’ll even back Devers here as well. Devers I will take 2+ hits, runs and RBIs at +116.
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