[Mick]

Gabe Kapler isn't perfect, but he hasn't made too many decisions that made not a lot of sense when he made them and then blew up in his face.

Pitching Doval in the second game of the Atlanta series, was a mistake. He had just thrown 19 pitches in the previous night's walk-off loss. The Giants entered the 9th with a 12-8 lead and I get wanting to get him back out there to redeem himself and all that, but Doval gave up two runs and threw 21 pitches in Game 2. This wasn't what Kapler expected, but it was a possibility it could happen and it did. This meant Doval would be out of Game 3, a game the Giants led 3-1 when the Braves batted in B9. Without Doval available, they had to put in Jake McGee who is having a terrible season, and he promptly gave up three runs in 2/3 of an inning to earn the loss. These are the types of games you can't lose in tight playoff races.

Had Kapler put someone else in to finish the 9th with a 4-run lead in Game 2, Doval would have been able to pitch in the 9th of Game 3, with better odds of earning the save than McGee. 

This isn't revisionist history. The Giants' announcers questioned the merits of bringing Doval into Game 2 as soon as they saw he was on the mound in the 9th, thinking it could cost the Giants later in the series. It did, the very next game.

Have to agree.  Doval reminds me a bit of another hard-throwing, underperforming reliever, Hunter Strickland. I took my family to see the June 2018 game against Miami when the Giants had a 4-2 lead going into the 9th. Suarez had given up two runs, Dyson held for an inning and a third.  9th inning, here comes Strickland.  Ugh.  I told my family, "Get up, we're leaving."  Oldest says "Strickland, right?"  We were walking out to the parking lot and had just got in our car and turned on the radio to hear the third run score that inning, leading to a 5-4 defeat.  Strickland retired one (1) batter. It was his fourth blown save and it was only mid-June. Later that night, he would fracture his pitching hand punching a wall.  He played for eight teams, all of them for just one season except the five seasons he spent with SF. And, he ruined Mike Morse's career when he purposely hit Bryce Harper for the crime of hitting too many home runs off of Strickland.  Morse suffered a severe concussion in the ensuing melee (see 4:10 on below video. Narrator says at end "My personal opinion? Strickland looks awful").  He should have waited it out like Buster and MadBum did. MadBum is the all-time red-A and he just turned to go back into the clubhouse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u58JLJb_q5A

Anyway...Doval gives off the same kind of vibe to me.

[Mick]

Gabe Kapler isn't perfect, but he hasn't made too many decisions that made not a lot of sense when he made them and then blew up in his face.

Pitching Doval in the second game of the Atlanta series, was a mistake. He had just thrown 19 pitches in the previous night's walk-off loss. The Giants entered the 9th with a 12-8 lead and I get wanting to get him back out there to redeem himself and all that, but Doval gave up two runs and threw 21 pitches in Game 2. This wasn't what Kapler expected, but it was a possibility it could happen and it did. This meant Doval would be out of Game 3, a game the Giants led 3-1 when the Braves batted in B9. Without Doval available, they had to put in Jake McGee who is having a terrible season, and he promptly gave up three runs in 2/3 of an inning to earn the loss. These are the types of games you can't lose in tight playoff races.

Had Kapler put someone else in to finish the 9th with a 4-run lead in Game 2, Doval would have been able to pitch in the 9th of Game 3, with better odds of earning the save than McGee. 

This isn't revisionist history. The Giants' announcers questioned the merits of bringing Doval into Game 2 as soon as they saw he was on the mound in the 9th, thinking it could cost the Giants later in the series. It did, the very next game.

Have to agree.  Doval reminds me a bit of another hard-throwing, underperforming reliever, Hunter Strickland. I took my family to see the June 2018 game against Miami when the Giants had a 4-2 lead going into the 9th. Suarez had given up two runs, Dyson held for an inning and a third.  9th inning, here comes Strickland.  Ugh.  I told my family, "Get up, we're leaving."  Oldest says "Strickland, right?"  We were walking out to the parking lot and had just got in our car and turned on the radio to hear the third run score that inning, leading to a 5-4 defeat.  Strickland retired one (1) batter. It was his fourth blown save and it was only mid-June. Later that night, he would fracture his pitching hand punching a wall.  He played for eight teams, all of them for just one season except the five seasons he spent with SF. And, he ruined Mike Morse's career when he purposely hit Bryce Harper for the crime of hitting too many home runs off of Strickland.  Morse suffered a severe concussion in the ensuing melee (see 4:10 on below video. Narrator says at end "My personal opinion? Strickland looks awful").  He should have waited it out like Buster and MadBum did. MadBum is the all-time red-A and he just turned to go back into the clubhouse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u58JLJb_q5A

Anyway...Doval gives off the same kind of vibe to me.