© Darren Yamashita | 2020 Aug 1
Even when they win, the Giant can’t avoid ninth inning controversy.
This time it was young pitcher Shaun Anderson, who while he managed not to blow an 8-1 lead in the final frame in Tuesday’s win vs. the Angels, almost took off Mike Trout’s head on two bizarre fastballs above the shoulders.
Shaun Anderson all up near Trout's head pic.twitter.com/G6IxGEofbf
— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) August 18, 2020
Gabe Kapler said after the game that the throws were unintentional, that it’s not something his Giants do and that it was not in retaliation for Evan Longoria getting hit in the ribs earlier in the game.
Mike Krukow, a former big league pitcher, isn’t buying that. He says though he can’t be sure, he thinks Anderson’s throws were intentional.
“I didn’t like ’em, they were head high,” Kruk said on KNBR Wednesday. “I don’t think a guy who has better-than-average control, you can’t be expected to pitch in the late innings of a big-league baseball game if you don’t have the ability to throw strikes. He threw two fastballs, one that was up around his head and then he backed it up with one behind his head, and I didn’t appreciate that at all.
“I don’t think anyone told him to do it because first of all, going into the game Gabe Kapler told us he didn’t want to throw (Trevor) Gott, (Tyler) Rodgers, (Tony) Watson. So, okay, they used everybody else in the ‘pen up to that point, and the last man without using those three guys was Anderson, so he’s going to throw the ninth inning. So there’s no way that was ordered from the bench.
“I am not going to say 100 percent, but I’m pretty sure those two pitches had purpose on them. The fact that they were head high I didn’t like it at all. I think at that point in time they were in a game ahead 8-1, they need to win this game. This is the biggest win of the year. They’re coming off five losses in a row, three were games they should have won and they lost them in horrific ways. Now they need this game. I think for him to atone for Evan Longoria getting drilled earlier in the game — and it was a bad one, he got hit in the ribs with 97 — I think there was purpose behind the pitch, and the fact he threw it up there at his head, I don’t think it was the time, the place, and the fact he threw it behind his head I didn’t appreciate.
“If he says he slipped, he slipped, but I’m just looking at it how I read it. And I didn’t think it was done correctly, and I think it was something you could’ve done at a later time. They’re playing them tonight and tomorrow. If the Longoria thing bothers you, do it tonight or tomorrow. But you don’t do it in a game where the bullpen is banged up and you don’t do it up around the head. End of story.”
For what it’s worth, Angels manager Joe Maddon didn’t believe there was intent, but that didn’t stop him from offering up a parting shot.
“That’s just a young man that’s not ready to be here, that’s all that is,” Maddon said of Anderson. “There was no intent. This kid has had command issues. Like a lot of young pitchers, they don’t know where their fastball is going.”
Listen to the full interview below.