San Francisco Giants: Notes from 6-4 Win Over Brewers

Here we’ll take a look at some key notes from the San Francisco Giants 6-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.

The Giants have now won three spring training games in a row after their latest victory over the Brewers on Wednesday. Not that it means anything, but they’re overall record this spring is 12-14.

You can tell the regulars are ready for the season to start, but there is still a lot to be decided for some of these guys.

Let’s take a look at a couple of key notes from Wednesday’s game:

• Matt Cain has Not Earned the Fifth Starter Spot: Look, I love Matt Cain as much as the next guy, but you can’t honestly tell me that he’s earned a spot in the rotation this spring. He gave up three first inning runs on Wednesday, and then settled down to allow just 1 run over the next four innings. He gave up 7 hits and a walk with 4 strikeouts over five innings, which is actually one of his better starts this spring. In 20 innings pitched this spring he’s given up 18 earned runs on 32 hits with 4 walks and 14 strikeouts. I hope Cain figures it out soon, because right now I don’t feel comfortable or confident with him in the Giants starting rotation.
• Bullpen Looks Sharp: The bullpen came on in relief of Cain and pitched four scoreless innings, while only allowing 2 hits and a walk. Steven Okert tossed a scoreless seventh inning allowing just a walk, and David Hernandez threw a scoreless eighth inning giving up a hit. The injury to Will Smith opens up a spot in the bullpen, and Okert and Hernandez are definitely candidates for that job. Okert has the advantage being on the 40-man roster, but Hernandez has the experience.
• Jae-gyun Hwang Continues to Impress: I’m not sure what the San Francisco Giants are going to do about Jae-gyun Hwang, but the guy has done all he can do to make this team during spring training. He’s hitting .324 in 34 at-bats with 4 home runs and 10 RBIs. The only criticism is that he hasn’t drawn a walk all spring. He is currently under the rare circumstance where his batting average is higher than his on-base-percentage. If he keeps hitting bombs like this though, it’s going to be hard to keep him off the big league roster.

Next: San Francisco Giants: 5 Players in Richmond to Watch in 2017

With just a week and a half of spring training left, make sure you check back with Around the Foghorn frequently for daily updates and opinions on roster movement.