On March 28, Gabe Kapler said that Jake McGee would be the Giants’ closer on Opening Day.
It was a curious admission, given the Giants manager typically keeps strategic nods close to the vest. But McGee, after all, did lead the Giants in saves in 2021 with 31.
But when Opening Day actually rolled around, when Brandon Belt entered the ballpark wearing a C on his chest and a captain’s hat, when Take Me Out To The Ballgame finally returned after a long lockout-stricken winter, Kapler reneged on his statement.
Camilo Doval, not McGee, is in fact the Giants’ closer.
Kapler went to McGee in the eighth inning, when the heart of Miami’s order was due up. The lefty tossed a 1-2-3 inning, using his patented elevated fastball to induce soft contact.
With McGee’s solid eighth and Belt’s solo home run in the bottom half, the Giants entered the ninth with a 4-2 lead. And in came Doval.
The flame-throwing righty allowed two singles and a go-ahead home run from Jazz Chisholm Jr. Doval’s ninth-inning implosion ruined what should have been a momentous day for the organization — another homegrown Opening Day battery of Logan Webb and Joey Bart that projects to thrive in the present and future.
Or, did it?
Staring a devastating Opening Day loss in the face, Thairo Estrada led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a towering home run into left field to tie the game 5-5. It was the third blast of the game for last year’s National League-leading home run hitters.
And then, Mauricio Dubon failed to tag up in the bottom of the 10th. It looked like the Giants were doing everything possible to lose. But Darin Ruf drew a two-out walk, then scored all the way from first on Austin Slater’s walk-off double — his first career walk-off. New third base coach Mark Hallberg waved Ruf home with authority and 40,853 fans erupted as the Giants took the opener, 6-5.
Before all the drama, Bart slugged his first career home run to give the Giants a 3-0 lead. He’d scored the team’s first run of the season, going from first to home on a throwing error.
All the while, he used the new PitchCom technology to help guide Logan Webb into six one-run innings. Webb was dominant, attacking hitters just like he did in the second half of 2021 to induce weak ground balls.
In 2020, Bart was thrust into big league action prematurely by Posey’s opt-out. He looked overwhelmed, both in the batter’s box and as a game-caller. Friday’s game made it clear how much he’s grown since.
“He’s ready for this moment,” Kapler said of Bart earlier this week.
Ready was an understatement. But he wasn’t the only catcher ready, as Miami backstop Jacob Stallings cut into SF’s lead with a two-run shot in the seventh inning.
Stallings’ home run came off Dominic Leone, who posted a 1.51 ERA last year. He allowed just two homers in 53.1 innings.
But reliever performance can waver year-to-year. A major regression from multiple arms would be a massive blow to the Giants, who brought back most of the bullpen that led MLB in reliever ERA.
Doval, too, is a regression candidate. His fastball that touched 104 mph last year topped out at 99 Friday. A small downtick in velocity can make a big difference. The 24-year-old blew past hitters and kept them off-balance with his wipeout slider last September and October, pitching 16.1 world-beating, scoreless innings before the NLDS.
One game won’t answer it, but the big question surrounding the Giants entering the season: how will they follow up their franchise record 107-wins? Nobody in the clubhouse thinks last year was a complete anomaly, but the projection models think SF will take a major step back.
The algorithms were wrong last year. Manager Gabe Kapler thinks they don’t measure hard work and intangibles like selflessness. President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said models struggle with capturing breakout performances and internal improvements.
“That’s just extra fire for us,” Bart said Thursday.
If nothing else, fans looking for reassurance can walk away from Opening Day knowing one thing: the magic from 2021 isn’t totally gone.
