D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
Mauricio Dubon has admitted frustration at the plate, the victim of more bad luck than perhaps any hitter on the Giants. Entering play, Statcast indicated his batting average (.167) was 78 points less than his expected batting average (.245). He continues to hit balls hard, and he continues to see them wind up in gloves.
It’s possible that frustration has created more ways for him to make frustrating outs.
The most embarrassing moment of the Giants’ young season arrived in Tuesday’s fourth inning, when Jason Vosler doubled with runners on the corners in what was a 2-1 game led by the Rockies. Brandon Crawford easily scored, and Dubon chugged around the bases. It was unclear whether he tried to run through Ron Wotus’ stop sign or whether he never saw the stop sign. What was clear was Dubon ran straight into Wotus for the last out of the inning.
Dubon ran through the stop sign and right into Wotus pic.twitter.com/XlxRV54w1T
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 28, 2021
“Dubon right now is a little caught in between on the bases and sometimes feels a little over-aggressive, sometimes feels a little tentative,” Gabe Kapler said after the Giants’ 7-5 loss in 10 innings, the potential run that became an out looming large. “I think it’s just something that we have to keep talking to him about — keeping your head up and running until the play stops you or your coach stops you. … It’s a really important play in the game and something that we have to keep working on with Dubi.”
The work continues, rather than begins, because this is not the first baserunning issue with Dubon. His 2020 campaign was filled with mental errors on the bases, and he had another as recently as Sunday, when he was the only Giant on the basepaths and took off for third on a ground ball to shortstop. He was easily thrown out.
That one would be a footnote, though, in a 4-3 Giants win. The Giants made plenty of mistakes in falling to the Rockies — Brandon Crawford’s wayward throw to first base on what should have been a double play cost one run, and in the span of four pitches, Gregory Santos allowed two blasts in the 10th. Their own closer, too, shares the blame after Jake McGee allowed a go-ahead blast in the ninth to Garrett Hampson.
But those happen. A baserunner not just running through a stop sign but running into the stop sign is something that nearly never happens.
“I think Dubon is generally frustrated right now,” Kapler said. “He’s an incredibly competitive young man. Things haven’t gone his way at the plate. He’s still adjusting to some of the challenges … we’re asking a lot of him on defense, the centerfield-shortstop thing. I certainly think that frustration doesn’t have boundaries, and sometimes it can spill over to various components of your game.”
For the second time in four days, Kapler going to Santos did not work out.
The 21-year-old righty, making his third major league appearance, was the call with righty Trevor Story, lefty Ryan McMahon and righty C.J. Cron due up for the 10th. Jose Alvarez, Camilo Doval, Tyler Rogers and McGee had been burned. Lefty Caleb Baragar, who hasn’t pitched since Wednesday, was not used, and neither was Matt Wisler, who has struggled this season.
Santos struck out Story but watched McMahon and Cron take him deep.
“Story is one of the best hitters in baseball period but especially dangerous against lefties, and he’s in a really good position if you match him up with the lefty there,” Kapler said, signaling why Baragar wasn’t the call. “Santos has some really, really good stuff, as we saw.
“This is a very difficult league. Good heaters get hit, and even good sliders get hit sometimes. In this particular case, you have to give the credit to McMahon. He hadn’t seen that slider, but he’s able to jump all over it.”
The Giants said Kerwin Danley, the home-plate umpire who was down for several minutes after a foul ball hit off his mask, is “doing well” and “has a slight headache.” The longtime umpire had to leave the game.