© Stan Szeto | 2021 Sep 4
The Giants will be playing their second straight bullpen game in Sunday’s series finale with the Dodgers, and they’re getting some pitching help from Triple-A Sacramento for it.
San Francisco optioned lefty Sammy Long down to Triple-A and called up righty Camilo Doval in a corresponding move.
Kapler said Long can use the time in the minors to hone in his command. On Saturday night, on five days’ rest, Long threw just 23 of his 39 pitches for strikes. He allowed two runs — one earned — while walking two in an inning of work. He had similar location issues in his previous outing, too, allowing six earned runs in 4.2 innings against Atlanta.
“I think Sam has some things he wants to work on, some things we’d like him to work on,” Kapler said. “Just coming out and being able to land all of his pitches for strikes, which is probably the most important factor in being successful at the major league level, is the ability to attack the strike zone with all of your pitches. Something that he has shown the ability to do in the past and I think at this point it’s more about getting to a consistent place with that task.”
Doval gives SF a right-handed reliever option against the Dodgers, a lineup with several dangerous right-handed batters, especially at the top of the order with Trea Turner, Mookie Betts, and Justin Turner. That variable is a big reason why San Francisco’s giving the ball to right-handed leverage reliever Dominic Leone to start Sunday’s finale.
In Triple-A Sacramento, Doval has also struggled with command, walking seven batters per nine innings. A top-25 prospect in SF’s system, Doval relies on his fastball and slider. He’s recorded a 4.99 ERA for the River Cats.
In 14 big league games in 2021, Doval has registered a 6.39 ERA. Doval last pitched for the Giants on Aug. 12, when he tossed two scoreless innings against Colorado. Before that, he spent all of June and July in Sacramento.
Any time a team has to play two consecutive days without a traditional starter can be tough, Kapler said. The bullpen can get taxed quickly, and heading into a three-game series at Coors Field — where fly balls carry out of the park in the altitude — could necessitate more arms rather than fewer.
For Sunday, Leone will start and SF will have most of its high-leverage relievers available. Jake McGee and Tyler Rogers didn’t pitch in Saturday’s 6-1 loss, and some who did pitch, including José Quintana, could go again Sunday.
- Scott Kazmir is “in the conversation” as a potential starter to join the team down the stretch, Kapler said. After pitching for Team Israel in the 2020 Olympics, Kazmir, 37, has returned to Sacramento and made four starts. The veteran didn’t make it to the fifth inning in any of them, though.
- While the Oracle Park concessions workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, they are, as expected, working Sunday’s finale. Negotiations will ramp up this week between their union, Bon Appetit and, they hope, the Giants.
- Tommy La Stella will return to the starting lineup and hit leadoff for the Giants against Walker Buehler. The second baseman had missed four games with left side tightness, and returned as a pinch hitter for one at-bat in each of the first two Dodgers matchups
- Dylan Hernanez of The Los Angeles Times wrote a fantastic story about Farhan Zaidi’s thoughts on San Francisco exceeding even their lofty internal expectations. With 25 games remaining, the Giants will be no more than one game behind the Dodgers for first place in the National League West.
Zaidi also opened up about the impact SF’s coaching staff could help in free agency, telling The Times: “One way that I think the success we’ve had this season is going to impact us in the positive way is, I think, players around the game are seeing what’s happening in your team, reading about [manager Gabe Kapler] and the coaching staff, and reading our players comments on how they feel like they’ve helped them become better players in some cases,” Zaidi said. “That’s really attractive to free agents. They don’t want to just sign some somewhere where they want to be geographically. They want to sign with a competitive team and they want to sign to the team that they think is going to help them be the best version of themselves. And that’s become a much bigger part of the recruiting process than it was even five, 10 years ago.”
