[Mick]

Luciano's a strong hitter, no question -- and as a general rule, I prefer homegrown players over free agents. Ahmed has no bat. He's very dependable in the field. My guess is that Ahmed has never had four errors in any eight game stretch in his career. To be fair, Luciano only had one error last year in 13 games, and his range factor (small sample size) is superb, considerably better than the league average.

Other fun facts:

- Giants' team OPS+ is 108, 8th in all of MLB.
- Giants team ERA is 25th in MLB, but their FIP is 13th.
- Chapman has #1 WAR among all MLB third basemen, Wade is #4, Yaz is #5, Bailey and Conforto are #7 at their positions. That's the good news.
- Not so good news...Jung Hoo Lee, #17, Estrada #20, Soler #23, Starting pitching #26, relief pitching #27, Nick Ahmed/Luciano #28, and pitching overall #29.
- Team fielding, Giants have 7th most double plays. That's the good news.
- Team fielding, Giants have -26 Rtot, worst in all of MLB, 24th in fielding percentage.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagu...2024.shtml

It all adds up to 26-26...Padres have the 6th playoff spot at 27-27. My take is that the Giants are starting to gel, and I'm really glad the youngsters are here and doing well.

https://www.mlb.com/standings/wild-card/league

Not incidentally, I'm very happy that Joey Bart is a success as the new starting catcher for the Pirates. His hitting line is 267/.362/.517/.879, third best BA on the Pirates, best OPS, best slugging average. He's an okay fielder--he'll never be Patrick Bailey, much less Johnny Bench -- and he's only caught 1 base stealer in 20 attempts, but he has just one error and one passed ball in 18 games, so...good for him. Change of scenery is doing him well. And while I'm on that topic, former Giants on the Pirates roster hold the best OPS (Bart), third best (Connor Joe), 4th best (Bryan Reynolds) and 6th best (Andrew McCutchen). Nice to be the Pirates' farm team...

https://www.baseball-reference.com/playe...jo01.shtml

---

- Not so good news...Jung Hoo Lee, #17, Estrada #20, Soler #23, Starting pitching #26, relief pitching #27, Nick Ahmed/Luciano #28, and pitching overall #29.

The natural result of unproductive pitching is signing a pitcher who hasn't been in the majors in three years...

Drew Pomeranz back in major leagues with Giants after 3-year absence caused by injuries

[Mick]

Luciano's a strong hitter, no question -- and as a general rule, I prefer homegrown players over free agents. Ahmed has no bat. He's very dependable in the field. My guess is that Ahmed has never had four errors in any eight game stretch in his career. To be fair, Luciano only had one error last year in 13 games, and his range factor (small sample size) is superb, considerably better than the league average.

Other fun facts:

- Giants' team OPS+ is 108, 8th in all of MLB.
- Giants team ERA is 25th in MLB, but their FIP is 13th.
- Chapman has #1 WAR among all MLB third basemen, Wade is #4, Yaz is #5, Bailey and Conforto are #7 at their positions. That's the good news.
- Not so good news...Jung Hoo Lee, #17, Estrada #20, Soler #23, Starting pitching #26, relief pitching #27, Nick Ahmed/Luciano #28, and pitching overall #29.
- Team fielding, Giants have 7th most double plays. That's the good news.
- Team fielding, Giants have -26 Rtot, worst in all of MLB, 24th in fielding percentage.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagu...2024.shtml

It all adds up to 26-26...Padres have the 6th playoff spot at 27-27. My take is that the Giants are starting to gel, and I'm really glad the youngsters are here and doing well.

https://www.mlb.com/standings/wild-card/league

Not incidentally, I'm very happy that Joey Bart is a success as the new starting catcher for the Pirates. His hitting line is 267/.362/.517/.879, third best BA on the Pirates, best OPS, best slugging average. He's an okay fielder--he'll never be Patrick Bailey, much less Johnny Bench -- and he's only caught 1 base stealer in 20 attempts, but he has just one error and one passed ball in 18 games, so...good for him. Change of scenery is doing him well. And while I'm on that topic, former Giants on the Pirates roster hold the best OPS (Bart), third best (Connor Joe), 4th best (Bryan Reynolds) and 6th best (Andrew McCutchen). Nice to be the Pirates' farm team...

https://www.baseball-reference.com/playe...jo01.shtml

---

- Not so good news...Jung Hoo Lee, #17, Estrada #20, Soler #23, Starting pitching #26, relief pitching #27, Nick Ahmed/Luciano #28, and pitching overall #29.

The natural result of unproductive pitching is signing a pitcher who hasn't been in the majors in three years...

Drew Pomeranz back in major leagues with Giants after 3-year absence caused by injuries