Krukow on Ramos, Gilbert Spark, and Catcher Depth

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That's why Murph and Marcus catch up with crew right now, right now.

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All right, we were signing up Friday morning with Mike and say,

Mike, we got three games to talk about on a Monday morning.

So Mike, we got three games to talk about on a Monday morning.

Big win Friday with 10 runs across the board.

Big win Saturday in a really emotional game.

Had Tony V really feeling his oats.

And then Sunday, they go quiet and get shut out.

It's the nationals first shut out of the year, actually,

with a weird opener and Miles Nicholas.

And then hit from Cal Poly named Andrew Alvarez.

There's four and a third to close it out.

Really quite a story for that kid.

He got called up from AAA.

Giant's had never seen him in a kind of show.

So good morning to you, Mike, on the UMA guest line.

And how you doing?

Morning, Mike.

Yeah, good.

It was a good weekend.

I thought that the momentum that they took out

of Cincinnati with the square off and the hitman, bad boy.

The whole thing was just a great vibe.

And you can never ever tell me that when you exercise a little

macho as a team, and you start sticking up for each other.

And then there's a bench clearing at the end of the game.

You can't tell me that it doesn't work miracles for a team

that's kind of been self-internalizing.

They haven't really become a team.

I thought that was essential going into the weekend

series with the nationals.

So I thought that was a great way to go into Washington.

They were right in high.

Yeah, for sure.

Let's talk about the good stuff before we get to the Sunday

shut out.

And the guy we kind of focused on last

second was Elliot Ramos.

Listen, when we came into this season,

we were talking about how much we liked the lineup.

The first two weeks unfolded and nobody was hitting.

And he was, he was one of the ice cold of the cold.

He was the, what am I trying to say?

He was one of the coldest of the cold.

So much so that Tony Vitello sat him for a couple of games in Cincinnati.

He comes out, has those homers Friday and Saturday.

You could see his reaction, his emotion.

I don't know.

Your thoughts on watching him break out Friday's Saturday,

his reaction and emotion and what you've seen from him at the plate.

Well, I think with him, I mean,

he can really internalize.

He can really kind of just hide mentally,

because he's so embarrassed when he goes bad.

And the one thing that he always does when he goes bad,

is he goes out of the strikes on any chases.

He wants to perform and deliver so badly.

I mean, he's really one of the nicest people ever met in this game.

And he wears it extremely hard when he doesn't do his share.

I mean, it really gnaws on him.

And because of that, you know, I mean,

he kind of disappears.

I learned something a long time ago in Chicago,

when we had a really rough team in 1981.

And I learned from Joey Molotano, who taught me

a lot of great lessons of life in baseball.

And the one is when you're going bad,

get out of your house and hit the streets,

go into the restaurant, go into the malls,

let the people pick you up, and they do.

You're so embarrassed because you're not playing well,

or pitching well, or hitting well.

But when you get out, you know, people, they'll approach you.

They'll encourage you.

And it's just the exact opposite of what you want to do

because you're so embarrassed.

And it's really what is so great about a fan base.

They help you heal.

Now, they're hard on you, and they boo you, but they love you.

And they'll do their best to encourage you.

And that's, I think, the best thing

that happened to Elliott Ramos is, you know,

he let us teammates, and there was a great group of

giants vacation people that were there in Cincinnati

that he came across.

And they really uplifted him.

And I think he took that into the weekend,

and he broke out of his funk.

And you saw, like you said, the emotion

when he was running around the paces on the home runs,

that was great.

It's great to see him do that.

And, you know, I think he's, he's okay now.

He's hitting over 250 now.

And he's, and now he expects himself to do good.

And the shame has been lifted.

Mike, we talked a lot about the lack of giants.

Offensive production from the outfield leading

into that series in Cincinnati.

And last Friday, we talked about Jung Hoolie

hitting up at the plate.

You just mentioned Elliott Ramos.

But the guy I wanted to ask you about

is Drew Gilbert out in center field

who had a home run on Friday and had hits

in all three games this weekend.

We know he's a high energy guy from chewing

on guy's shoulders in the, in the, in the, in the,

in the, in the, in the, the dugout to him in Tony Vitello

shadow boxing before the game on Saturday.

Also, just what type of spark have you seen him

bring this team and bring this giant's lineup?

Big spark. And in my opinion, he has to play.

I mean, that spark right there is essential.

First of all, he's an outstanding defensive player.

And, and then he comes into a lineup.

And every at bat is good.

And it's not long after he gets into the lineup

that I look forward to is at badge.

I mean, that's the one thing is fans.

We all, we all know that lineup.

And there are certain guys that you want to see hit.

And there's other guys you don't want to see it.

Well, Gilbert's definitely one of those guys that,

that you want to see hit.

And guess what?

The manager, the coaching staff, the front office.

They see that too.

So I think he's earning the right to go out there

and play even when Bader comes back.

Well, that'll be very, very interesting.

And, and it's his chance.

Maybe you've told us you tell us every year, every day.

It's the big leagues, man.

You're competing for your job every day,

which brings us back to this topic.

That's almost getting kind of worn out at this point in time.

But it still remains a front burner issue for all the giants fans.

And that's the catcher job.

Pat Bailey continues to struggle at the play.

And unfortunately, he had a play at the play yesterday

where you'd like to make, see him make a tag.

He didn't make the tag and does that change the game?

I don't know, maybe.

So, you know, defensively, that happened to him.

And then the offense stayed cold.

Now, Tony Vitelos started him

Friday Saturday and Sunday,

which I think caught some giants fans off guard.

So as this continues to evolve,

I think Susak had two hits Friday night, right?

Two hits.

As this continues to evolve,

how do you see it coming into this homestand this week,

the catching depth chart?

I think you're going to see both catchers.

And no longer is it an automatic.

I mean, the last card that Logan Webb had,

Bailey wasn't behind the play.

That raised my eyebrow.

It's like, well, wow.

And the message is simple.

You need to hit more.

You want to play, you have to hit.

And it's the same thing for better.

You want to play, you have to hit.

It's the healthiest thing in the game.

And you know, and you watch that player.

How do they react?

I mean, and it's because it's such a great motivator.

Usually, you know, guys start getting more hits.

They don't want to get moved out of the line up,

but it's the big leagues.

And you're not owed anything.

You have to earn everything you get.

So with Susak, he's been incredibly hot.

And every at bat that he's had been,

has been a great at bat.

I mean, he has a plan.

He sticks to it.

He's disciplined to use the whole field.

You know, good little ball hitter.

I mean, the league doesn't know him.

I mean, he's taking advantage of that,

that nobody really is comfortable pitching to him.

And it really is going to put more pressure on Bailey.

And that's the game.

Mike, take a look at how Tony Vitello used the bullpen this weekend.

I want to ask you about Saturday's game.

His decision to go with Eric Miller before the ninth inning,

then go on Ryan Walker in the ninth.

Nationals tied the game.

Curtis me doesn't slide at third base for whatever reason.

Ghost of extras.

But then Tony Vitello brings out Ryan Walker again for the tenth.

They obviously ended up winning the game with Caleb Killing close it out.

But what were your thoughts on the way that Tony used his bullpen on

Saturday?

Well, it's still a work in progress.

And I think, you know, when you have a guy like Walker,

who you told was the closer,

right out of spring training.

And that lasted all of about two games.

Then it was pretty much up for grabs.

Now, you want to get, you want to win the game.

Number one, you have guys down there that are young and like,

Killian who haven't really earned the confidence that they need to

pitch in those high leverage spots.

But those guys have done well.

So they've earned the right to move up the ladder,

whereas Walker's been inconsistent.

But in the meantime, when you're putting other guys in that role as closer,

essentially moving them ahead of Walker, you cannot bury Walker.

He's too essential to your overall plan.

He's a guy that when he's right,

I mean, he makes a close and out of game look easy,

but that hasn't been the case.

So other guys are going to take that spot.

Well, the other thing too is, you never know when the, when the beginning,

the beginning is going to be the difference in the game.

It's going to be in the ninth or it's going to be in the seventh.

When you have a good arm that you have confidence in,

like, like Miller, who's going into a tough part of the lineup,

maybe that seventh inning is, is your inning.

Maybe you feel as a manager.

That's the toughest inning and the biggest inning of the game.

And that's kind of how he's going with it right now.

He's not turning this back on anybody.

Right now he started to develop confidence in five guys who are taking the ball,

going out there and have the ability to close out of game.

But I don't think you're going to see anybody walk on automatically to the

closer role anytime soon.

I think he's going to continue to do this until somebody absolutely grabs the ball

by the horns.

Is that my job?

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The city is seeking passionate individuals to serve

on various advisory boards, commissions, and committees.

Multiple positions are available on the arts commission,

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Many positions are open to residents as young as 16.

All voices are welcome because diversity strengthens our community.

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That's pretty wild that they continue.

And we just had a very spirited debate here on the show right before the break.

First of all, the bullpen's numbers aren't that bad?

10th in ERA, 10th in Whip.

Yo, Caleb Killian 2 shut out has 10 innings now in the books

and has really good numbers in his baseball savante page is deep red.

Keaton win and that splity is looking pretty good too.

A buddy of mine runs a nationally only fantasy league

and he asked me which guy has a brighter future.

Killian or win.

We won't discuss how the argument went down on the air.

But my my discussion, my point is that I think these guys are rising through the ranks

and I thought my buddy was kind of on it thinking about look at

I guess the long way of saying do you see Killian and win

having a chance to pitch high-leverd situations in the near future?

Oh, absolutely.

And you say well where's their growth going to be?

Well right now it's a fastball command.

And you're going to see it with Killian

and you don't see it with win.

And that tells me one thing.

They don't believe in it.

They're nibbling with their fastball.

Right now Killian really likes his breaking ball stuff

and right now win likes his split.

And you know that's great because they're swinging mispitches

but they don't use all of their weapons.

If you're going to be a guy who's in the hangout a second, I'm getting a call.

All right, here we go.

So Tony Vitello, yes.

Yeah, exactly. Thank you, Tony.

But if you're going to be a guy that's going to close out games,

you have to be able to have all of your weapons that you can rely upon.

And for win, it's three pitches.

The one he relies upon and the one that he totally believes in

and he knows that he's special with is that split.

He has to get that same confidence in his slider and his fastball

and the same thing for Killian.

Until that fastball becomes a weapon of his,

you know, he's not going to reach his whole potential.

And that's where the growth is going to be.

Because once you learn the fastball,

then you learn two grips on the fastball.

And that's like two different pitches.

Now a three pitch pitch is a four pitch pitcher.

And if you got that attitude like, you know, screw you here,

you can't hit any of my pitches.

You know what they call that guy?

They call him a closer.

Good stuff, Mike Cooke on the Uma Guest Line.

So I mean, when you say this bullpen sort of like,

you know, we don't have a closer per se.

I mean, you said five guys you were talking about,

let Walker Miller, who are the other guys you were thinking of?

Well, Walker Miller, Killian, Win, and,

Gage is a Gage.

Maybe I like Gage.

I mean, Gage.

I mean, you know, Gage, you're going.

J.C. Brubeck.

And you know, and Brubeck is a guy you've got to have on your staff too.

There's the swing guy you can throw three or four innings on a rough start.

Or somebody goes down sick.

And then you could also start for you.

So I mean, I like everybody's,

their contribution right now.

And I just think it can get better.

I think there's growth with everybody.

You know, we get back to Walker, who's a two-pitch guy,

two-seam fastball slider guy.

And I've talked to the pitching coaches.

And they're all suggesting a different grip on the fastball for Seamer.

And they're all suggesting a change up,

which he's going around with right now.

So I mean, they're not going to let him sit comfortably with just the two pitches.

So I do think that there's a big margin with this bullpen that is effective now.

As you mentioned, the rankings are 10.

They can get better.

It's definitely something we came in with gigantic question marks about.

It hasn't been perfect, but there've been a lot of interesting and intriguing guys,

who we'll continue to watch.

I mean, heck, it's only April 20th, my God.

We got a long way to go.

Finally, Mike, we're not going to talk to you before the first game of the Dodger series.

And here they come.

And no, by the way, they just lost two in a row to the Rockies.

With the Rockies, I mean, the Dodgers,

Dalton, rushing the catcher, accusing the Rockies are perhaps having information.

He said it was fishy the way they were jumping certain pitches.

But anyway, the point is that they are the Dodgers.

They are the World Series champs.

And it so happens that the three guys slated to pitch are Yamamoto, Otani, and Glazno.

I mean, Glazno seems like the easiest of the three there.

So Mike, you know, you're scuffling at nine and 13.

You're trying to get back to 500.

Here comes the blue.

Unfortunately, their fans have been making

Oracle their playground.

So it's going to be very Dodger fan heavy.

We got to be ready for that.

It's a daunting task.

What's your attitude going into the clubhouse Tuesday?

If you're a player or coach or manager?

Well, I love the rivalry for this reason.

When you're kind of floundering and you know, you're at sea as a team,

you haven't really consistently been a good team.

At times, you've shown that you can be a good team.

But other times, you haven't.

The thing that slowed this giant team down, I think more than anything.

We all go back and we point our finger at the offense.

I disagree.

I think the biggest

place that they can improve is in their defense.

Because I think their defense sucks right now.

And I think it puts a lot of pressure on

a pitching staff and inevitably puts a lot of pressure on the offense as well.

I think when you match up against your rival,

there's way more on the game just because of what it means to your fan base.

You are acutely aware of that as a giant player as a Dodger player.

You are.

Those are just bigger than the regular game games.

And the giants have to play better.

If they catch the ball, they can play with anybody.

And that's going to be the key.

And I don't care who's pitching for the Dodgers.

Giants have the ability to win every one of those games against the Dodgers.

They just have to play.

And the key is that defense.

If they can catch the ball, if they can play in a much more consistent way with the gloves,

they can hang with the Dodgers.

And I love the fact that the rivalry gets a team that's floundering in is at C

and can get them back on a straight line.

It can get them and they have a focus that resonates all the way through that clubhouse

with every player.

That's what it does to you.

Even when the Giants back in the early 80s were not good at all,

those games against the Dodgers, that's when we played our best.

No question.

That's when we played our best.

And I think that's going to be the case in this three game series with the Dodgers.

They're going to see a Giants team that none of us have seen already this year early.

Consistency with every part of their game.

And that's going to be the key.

Yeah, it's good stuff, man.

We had to set the table beautifully as you always do.

So have a great Monday.

Enjoy the game Tuesday.

And we'll talk to you Wednesday morning.

Mike Kruco on the Uma Guest line.

And let's get into it on the other side.

The big hit.

We've kind of blown off the Giants for the first hour and 45 minutes.

How you feeling about this road trip?

Four and five could have been five and four.

Maybe would have been.

How you feeling about the Dodgers coming to town?

Did Tony V begin to feel his oats on this last week?

Are you feeling it?

808 can be ours for number four and five.

808 five six two seven.

Is it going to stay lumber and show them text line on these ports later?

Listen up, Redwood City residents.

Your city council is calling on you to make your voice heard.

The city is seeking passionate individuals to serve on various advisory boards,

commissions and committees.

Multiple positions are available on the arts commission library board,

planning commission and other important advisory bodies.

Many positions are open to residents as young as 16.

All voices are welcome because diversity strengthens our community.

Ready to make a difference?

Find out more and apply today at redwoodcity.org forward slash VCC.

That's redwoodcity.org forward slash VCC.

Somewhere out there is a Chevy truck.

And the person who drives it?

Well, that's a Chevy person.

You probably know one.

Your buddy, your sister.

One's who always show up.

They're the first to rise.

The last to leave.

They always have that little extra... something.

And maybe you got it too.

Chevrolet.

Together, let's drive.

Visit chevy.com slash trucks to explore the lineup.

See your Bay Area Chevy dealers today.

The city is seeking passionate individuals to serve on various advisory boards,

commissions and committees.

Multiple positions are available on the arts commission library board,

planning commission and other important advisory bodies.

Many positions are open to residents as young as 16.

All voices are welcome because diversity strengthens our community.

Ready to make a difference?

Find out more and apply today at redwoodcity.org forward slash VCC.

That's redwoodcity.org forward slash VCC.