© Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants wanted to take pride in their defense this season. It would be an area they could rely on, and if the offense struggled or the pitching was inconsistent, at least the simple outs would be there. They ranked 10th in fielding percentage last season, surely they’d be, at worst, middle of the pack?
That pipe dream has come screeching to a painfully ironic halt.
Before their 6-4 loss to the Houston Astros, the Giants had a league-worst .970 fielding percentage. Then they committed another three errors; two from Donovan Solano, and another catcher’s interference, this time from Chadwick Tromp. It gives the team four catcher’s interferences on the year. The rest of MLB has five.
Manager Gabe Kapler came to Solano’s defense after the game, breaking down the two errors, the first of which cost the Giants a run and an out.
I’m expecting Donovan Solano to receive at least a two-year ban after hitting Bregman on the basepaths. pic.twitter.com/E5s4LouV5F
— Matt H. (@mph_824_) August 11, 2020
“First one is I think, he has a chance to make a throw to the inside part of the plate, and the ball just kind of sailed on him to the arm side,” Kapler said. “So obviously, do it all over again, he’d attempt to make that throw, a little closer to Tromp’s throwing arm, so to the first base out of that plate. And I think at that point, we have a chance to get around the plate. I thought it was a good decision, just wasn’t executed.”
As for the second, where Jose Altuve hit a bouncing ball to Solano’s left, bench coach Kai Correa viewed Solano’s approach as proper, though Kapler said he though he could potentially have been more aggressive. Just “human error,” Kapler said.
“On the ball Altuve hit to his left, I think he has a chance to attack that ball, maybe pick a hop there,” Kapler said. “I think he chose to kind of back up and play it to his left and Kai [Correa] and I talked about it. He thinks it was the right way to play it. The ball just kind of blew him up, human error at this point.”
So what about that bizarre trend of catcher’s interferences? On Monday, Kapler said it was a result of a long swing from Josh Reddick and Chadwick Tromp trying to throw out a runner, rather than from being too close to the plate and trying to frame the ball. He was “too anxious” to make the play, Kapler said.
Tromp echoed a similar sentiment, attributing it to a focused effort to make throws quicker and also on Reddick’s supposedly long swing.
“In the corner of my eye, I saw the runner go, and ever since I came out of shoulder surgery, I worked really hard trying to get guys out and my throw has been better,” Tromp said. “My caught stealing numbers have been shooting through the roof. So, my momentum took me to the ball. And I think that combined with Reddick, I think he has a long swing. So I think those two played a factor and I just happened to have a catcher’s interference and bad timing. I felt horrible, but that’s just kind of what happened, my momentum took me into the throw. Just unfortunate.”