San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Giants Have Big Decision To Make Regarding Their Future Outfield
The San Francisco Giants made plenty of moves to improve the roster as a whole in the offseason by bringing in a Cy Young Award winner, a slugging DH, and All-Star third baseman.
While the Giants signed international phenom Jung Hoo Lee to a long-term deal, they seemed committed to transitioning from their veterans to the youngsters in the minors.
One of those young prospects, Heliot Ramos, has turned into one of their best hitters.
An All-Star in his first full season, the 24-year-old leads with team with a 129 OPS+. Aside from him, none of the San Francisco outfielders have made the leap to grab that third spot. It’s important to find the player who will fill that role for 2025, whether it is from within the organization or not.
Michael Conforto, who has been with the team after signing in free agency before the 2023 season, will be a free agent once again. Mike Yastrzemski will be heading into his last year of arbitration, but is 33 years old and started showing signs of declining this season.
As for the youngsters who were given a shot to grab a role, that is what September has been for.
Luis Matos was up early in the year, and after winning an NL Player of the Week in May, has bounced between Triple-A and the Majors. On the season he is slashing just .211/.235/.340 with five home runs and 25 RBI.
He was called back up in September for an end-of-season showcase, but has only played in three games this month. It would appear the Giants have more or so moved on from Matos being a legitimate option as a starter.
However, another top prospect has made a late surge of his own and put his name in the argument: Grant McCray.
He was called up in the middle of August and has played 21 games in his rookie campaign. He has impressed the team with his power surge, slugging .507 with three doubles, a triple and five home runs.
There are concerns about his strikeout rate, which currently sits at 42.1% in the Majors, along with the fact that he only has three walks.
The 23-year-old plays great center field defense, which could give them options if they want to move Lee out of that position.
McCray has a head start on the third outfield spot within the organization, though other prospects like Wade Meckler and James Tibbs will be able to showcase themselves in Spring Training.
Of course, the elephant in the room is free agency.
Plenty of rumors will swirl about Teoscar Hernandez, Lourides Gurriel Jr. and Cody Bellinger if they opt-out, as well as the gem of the class Juan Soto.
Predicted by many to be one of the biggest spenders this offseason, San Francisco has been on the hunt for star names over the last few years.
Bringing in one of these outfielders will kill two birds with one stone.
After a disappointing season, it will be expected that the Giants make a big splash, and aside from possible upgrades to the middle infield, the outfield is the team’s biggest need.
San Francisco, CA
Sea lion pup found in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset malnourished but ‘feisty’
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
San Francisco, CA
Giants Head Home to San Francisco After Shutout Loss
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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San Francisco, CA
Why do gray whales keep dying in San Francisco’s waters?
The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
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