Ryan Walker lauds Giants' even-keeled mentality, happy winning streak continued
Ryan Walker lauds Giants' even-keeled mentality, happy winning streak continued originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Phillies' Kyle Schwarber Has 5-Word Response to Chasing Ryan Howard's Record
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. All in all, Monday was a pretty magical night for Kyle Schwarber and the Philadelphia Phillies. It was easy to forget by the end that the Phillies ever trailed in their 11-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. But that was the case early on, as Baltimore jumped out to a 3-1 advantage. Then, Schwarber showed up. First, Schwarber tied the game in the third inning with a two-run blast. But the moment of the night was his grand slam in the sixth inning, part of a six-run outburst that put the game on ice. PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - AUGUST 4: Kyle Schwarber #12 of the Philadelphia Phillies rounds the bases on his grand slam in the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Citizens Bank Park on August 4, 2025... PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - AUGUST 4: Kyle Schwarber #12 of the Philadelphia Phillies rounds the bases on his grand slam in the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Citizens Bank Park on August 4, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by)Schwarber's two blasts give him 40 on the season, the third time he's reached that mark in his four years with the Phillies. He was hearing "MVP" chants all night, and he also is putting himself in the conversation for a franchise record. Ryan Howard's single-season Phillies record of 58 home runs is within reach, but Schwarber insists he's keeping his eye on the prize. "I'm not trying to go out there and think about records or anything like that," Schwarber said, per Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic. "I'm just trying to go out on a daily basis and try to help these guys. If (breaking Howard's record) happens, it's great. If it doesn't, it's great." What Schwarber was particularly dialed in on was the crowd. Citizens Bank Park came unhinged when he went deep for the second time on the night, generating one of the more viral "baseball nirvana" moments of the entire season across the big leagues. "Those are the moments you take in as a player," Schwarber said, per Varnes. "Those are special things that happen. Those are things that just go in the back of the memory and you hold onto for a while." The Phillies are lucky they have Schwarber on their side for at least a few more months. Home run record or not, they also hope there are many more years of "Schwarbombs" to come. More MLB: Insider's Joe Ryan Report Is Ultimate Red Sox Tease: 'Came Close'
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
What are the best outcomes possible for Giants in their first Buster Posey season?
For the San Francisco Giants, the rest of this season and the near future comes down to the old question posed in 1965 by the Lovin' Spoonful: Do you believe in magic? The Giants can't look for hope from the cold numbers. The computers don't like this team's chances the rest of this year. Baseball-Reference's analytics show the Giants with an 8.6% chance to make the playoffs. In the last 30 days, their odds have taken a 35.5% dive, biggest in the National League, second-largest swoon in MLB beyond the plummeting Rays. Teams that are sellers at the trading deadline are supposed to surrender their playoff hopes, and the Giants cooperated, at least analytically. So you have to look beyond the numbers to find hope, and as any Giants follower knows, if you're looking for rays of sunshine, chat with Mike Krukow. 'To me, this feels like '86,' Krukow said in a brief conversation Monday. 'We knew we were putting stuff together. After losing 196 (combined losses the previous two seasons), we won 83, and carried it right into '87, we just knew it was working, and we went into the World Series in '89. That's what it feels like now.' What happened in '86 was that the Giants got a spiritual infusion in their first full season with Roger 'Humm Baby' Craig after he took over as manager at the tail end of the previous campaign. That was the hope in the current Giants organization, and in the clubhouse and in the grandstands, when Buster Posey took over as president of baseball ops after last season — that he would bring some magic, the kind of cosmic stuff that resulted in World Series titles in 2010, '12 and '14. Buster's magic factor as an executive is still an unknown. On paper, this is not a great Giants team, and that's likely to be the case next season, too. To succeed, the Giants will have to do what Olympic rowers call 'catch your swing,' which is when everyone pulls together so perfectly and the boat seems to leap out of the water. It's probably not fair to expect that to happen before next season, but you never know. Krukow pointed out that a trade deadline selloff can be a kick in the pants to the guys who survive the mini purge. 'You are vulnerable when you go through a deadline and watch some of your main players walk out the door,' Krukow said. 'How you respond to that as a team determines if you have any chemistry at all for the rest of the season.' Friday, the day after the deadline, was a rousing win for the Giants. That showed, to Krukow anyway, that the players heard Posey's unspoken message. 'There's no greater motivation for a professional athlete than to know you need to produce to stay, and you need a kick in the ass to remind you.' Beyond that, maybe the players are getting a vibe from Posey that he believes in them, and he is willing to proceed boldly, as he expects them to do. Looking for rays of hope? Here are a few: • Jung Hoo Lee has been underwhelming this season, but he went 8-for-12 in the series win over the Mets. It's possible that Lee is heeding the coaches' urging to do less pulling and make more contact. Coincidence that the mini surge happened just after the deadline? Maybe Lee is motivated — let's say inspired — by the arrival of call-up Grant McCray in right field. McCray is a legit center fielder, and he's got a bit of swagger. In Sacramento this season, McCray stole 26 bases in 29 attempts. The Giants have been encouraging Lee to run more — hey, he is the Grandson of the Wind — and he stole a bag Saturday. The Giants need to run more, and maybe Lee and McCray will bring that. Lee has played less than half a season in the big leagues. In Korea, he faced mostly slow stuff and is still adjusting to nightly 98 mph gas. The Rays' shortstop, Ha-Seong Kim, hit .202 as an MLB rookie after he came over from Korea in 2021, adjusted to the power pitching, and hit .251 his second season. Lee has a much higher ceiling. Kim was a .300 hitter in Korea; Lee hit .349 his last full season in the KBL and was a career .340 hitter there (and a career .491 slugger). • Also intriguing is Jesus Rodriguez, the catcher obtained from the Yankees. He's 23 and is hitting .315 in his first season at Triple-A. Giants catchers are hitting a collective .202/.262/.295 this season (through Sunday). Could Rodriguez wind up in an offense/defense platoon of sorts with Patrick Bailey, maybe even later this season? What's clear is that Posey and manager Bob Melvin can't sit back now. They have to decide whether to go kid-heavy the rest of the season, taking a good look at youngsters, or, if the Giants surge in the next couple weeks, making the most of a renewed, if long shot, run at a wild-card berth. Whatever the Giants do, this season and next, will demonstrate whether Posey is merely another baseball-savvy, hard-working player personnel boss, or if he has something special. When he was a player, Posey made the team better. It was hard work and talent, but it was also magic. Should the Giants believe in magic?
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Somehow Cy-Less Phillie Zack Wheeler Yet Again Is NL Frontrunner
We're over two-thirds of the way through the regular season, so it's time to take my first looks at the Cy Young and MVP races in both leagues. The AL Cy Young race was examined yesterday - today it's the NL's turn. If you're new to my work, I take a slightly different approach to evaluation of current season performance. It's a purely analytical approach, and relies on batted ball data. I simply take every batted ball allowed by each ERA-qualifying pitcher, and calculate the damage they 'should have' allowed based on their exit speed/launch angle mix. That's expressed by their Adjusted Contact Score - 100 equals league average, the lower the number the better. I then add back the Ks and BBs to determine each pitcher's 'Tru' ERA-, and then spread it across their innings bulk to determine their 'Tru' Pitching Runs Above Average (TPRAA). While using replacement level as a baseline typically makes sense when doing most kinds of player evaluation, I find league average to be quite useful in evaluating elite performance, i.e., for award voting, Hall of Fame-worthiness, etc.. The Giants' Logan Webb is considered a viable contender by many this season. He stands just outside the Top Ten according to my method through July 31, with 9.1 'Tru' Pitching Runs Above Average (TPRAA). He has traditionally been valued less by my method - though he is a huge grounder generator, he has typically rated as a below average contact manager due to relatively authoritative contact allowed. His durability is a huge asset, and he has made some positive strides, but still (barely) rates as an outsider here. Now let's get to the top contenders. Padres' righty Dylan Cease (9.2 TPRAA) doesn't appear to be having a very good year on the surface, but he looks better once you peel back a couple layers. He's been exceedingly unlucky across all batted ball types (134 Unadjusted vs. 104 Adjusted Contact Score). He still walks more batters than you'd like, and at times struggles from the stretch, but the ability is certainly there. Braves' righty Spencer Schwellenbach (9.6 TPRAA) is currently injured and won't qualify for the ERA title at season's end, but deserves his flowers for how he pitched when healthy. His K/BB profile is immaculate, he was among MLB leaders in innings pitched before his injury, and he induces plenty of easy ground ball outs. Giants' lefty Robbie Ray (10.1 TPRAA) has been a poor contact manager throughout his career, but has made great strides this season. His 90.6 mph average exit speed allowed is deceptively high, but he has yielded a large number of can-of-corn 90-100 mph fly balls, keying a solid 83 Adjusted Fly Ball Contact Score. Cubs' lefty Matthew Boyd (10.2 TPRAA) has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career, but has been a constant this season as his club is making a push for the NL Central crown. He's the most extreme fly ball/pop up pitcher we'll discuss today, with an 18.0 degree average launch angle allowed. Brewers' righty Freddy Peralta (11.0 TPRAA) has watched the identity of his rotation-mates change all season, remaining a constant stabilizing presence. He's actually been eerily similar to Boyd, with a fractionally lower average exit speed (by 87.8 to 87.9 mph) and average launch angle allowed (17.7 degrees). #5 - LHP Nick Lodolo (Reds) - 15.3 TPRAA, 74 'Tru'-, 71 ERA-, 87 FIP- And now for a pretty significant jump upward in class. Lodolo's command is among the very best in the NL, and his contact management performance (87 Adjusted Contact Score) has also been well above average. He's struggled to remain healthy in the past, but (crosses fingers) has taken the ball every fifth day without incident this season. He's totally diffused the run-inflating effects of his stomping grounds at Great American Ball Park. #4 - LHP Cristopher Sanchez (Phillies) - 15.6 TPRAA, 74 'Tru'-, 61 ERA-, 69 FIP- Sanchez and the #1 guy below form the most potent #1-2 starting pitcher punch in the game today. He's an elite sinkerballer, with a 2.7 degree average launch angle allowed this season. His contact management hasn't been quite up to his 2024 NL Contact Manager of the Year standard, but is still well above average (89 Adjusted Contact Score). His 'Tru''- is slightly higher than his ERA- and FIP-, but is still quite impressive. #3 - RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers) - 17.6 TPRAA, 67 'Tru'-, 64 ERA-, 72 FIP- While his fellow highly-compensated rotation-mates have gone down all aroud him, Yamamoto has gone to the post every fifth day and excelled. The top three guys on this list currently stand #1-2-3 in the NL Contact Manager of the Year race - Yamamoto has an 80 Adjusted Contact Score through July 31. He's gotten it done by inducing plenty of ground balls and throttling fly ball authority - his 88.7 mph average fly ball exit speed allowed ranks 2nd lowest among NL ERA qualifiers. #2 - RHP Paul Skenes (Pirates) - 22.6 TPRAA, 63 'Tru'-, 43 ERA-, 58 FIP- He gets no run support, but Skenes' greatness shines through. His K/BB profile is exceptional, and his contact management skill is also top shelf. He's currently 2nd in the NL Contact Manager of the Year race with a 78 Adjusted Contact Score. His 88.3 mph average fly ball exit speed allowed is also 2nd in the NL. His 'Tru'- is a bit higher than his ERA- and FIP-, but is still top notch, and he's quietly among NL innings pitched leaders. He seems to be the mainstream favorite for the NL Cy at present, but….. #1 - RHP Zack Wheeler (Phillies) - 29.4 TPRAA, 52 'Tru'-, 61 ERA-, 65 FIP- He's never won a Cy, but has been 'my' winner multiple times. Here we go again. His 'Tru'- is easily better than his ERA- and FIP-. What gives? Well, he's been exceedingly unlucky on fly balls this season, with his 121 Unadjusted Fly Ball Contact Score far exceeding his adjusted 61 mark. He's the current leader in the NL Contact Manager of the Year race - another honor he's earned multiple times in the past - with a 76 Adjusted Contact Score. His 87.2 mph average exit speed allowed is the lowest in the NL, and his 29.4 TPRAA is the highest of any pitcher in baseball, including AL Cy leader Tarik Skubal. The Fangraphs WAR race has Skenes (4.5 WAR) ahead of Wheeler (4.0) through July 31.
