Six Pack of Stats: Giants 16, White Sox 6

FanGraphs

Well, the White Sox lose the series to San Francisco Giants. Giving up 31 runs on 38 hits in three games is going to get this team nowhere really quickly.

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The Starters

Today was Lance Lynn’s second outing of 2023. The Big Bastard had a solid start in his season debut last week against the Astros, who usually feast off of him, pitching 5 2⁄3 innings and surrendering only two runs on three hits with four walks and six strikeouts. Coming off of a 2022 season in which he went 8-7 with a 3.99 ERA, 124 strikeouts, 119 hits, and 1.13 WHIP in 121 2⁄3 innings — Lynn definitely did NOT have it today. The Giants hammered him, as he gave up eight runs on nine hits, three walks, three round-trippers, and struck out five. Velocity and spin on all six of Lynn’s pitches were down compared to last week’s outing.

Even though I know you’ll be tempted to cover your eyes, here are Lynn’s pitch visuals from Baseball Theater:

Lynn’s dreadful, please give me a do-over, 90-pitch, 4 1⁄3 -inning outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

The 32-year-old veteran southpaw, Alex Wood, made his 2023 season debut today for the Giants. Wood struggled in his second season with the Giants last year, going 8-12 with a 5.10 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and 131 strikeouts in 130 2⁄3 innings over 26 starts. The lefthander battled a shoulder injury late in the year, which he rehabbed throughout the winter. He also worked to raise his arm slot this offseason in an attempt to create more deception on his slider. With total health and a more consistent shape on his pitches, the Giants hope for a bounce-back season from Wood. He had a short, three-inning outing today, but it was decent enough to get the job done. Wood allowed six hits, one earned run, two walks, and three strikeouts.

Here are Wood’s pitch visuals from Baseball Theater:

Wood’s 71-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

In the bottom of the fourth, the Sox had the bases loaded with two outs. Hanser “Leury García” Alberto flew out to left field. The play had an LI of 3.29.

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Pressure Cooker

There wasn’t a whole lot of pressure throughout this blowout game. However, Alberto felt it most, stranding five runners on the day. He had the highest pLI, at 1.49.

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Top Play

Michael “We Don’t Need Him on the South Side” Conforto came in clutch with his three-run, four-bagger to right field, scoring Wilmer Flores and David Villar. The play had a .240 WPA.

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Top Performer

Conforto was also the overall performer today, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. He had a .241 WPA.

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Smackdown

Hardest hit: Surprisingly, with the way the Giants were launching the ball out of the park today, it was Jake Burger’s rocket double in the bottom of the first that had the most pop, at 116.5 mph.

Weakest contact: Wilmer Flores’ fourth-inning pop out was the wimpiest attempt of the day, at 53.2 mph.

Luckiest hit: Hanser Alberto’s single in the bottom of the third inning dribbled into a .090 xBA.

Toughest out: J.D. Davis takes this one with the line out that he smoked at 104.6 mph to Tim Anderson in the top of the sixth inning, with an .860 xBA.

Longest hit: Blake Sabol hit his first career home run because EVERYONE was hitting them in this series. “You get a home run. You get a home run. And YOU get a home run!” His second-inning blast went the farthest of the five home runs smacked by the Giants today. It landed 434 feet away, in center field.

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Magic Number: 13

The White Sox surrendering 13 home runs, a new ballpark record, in three games is NOT a recipe for success.

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Glossary

Hard-hit is any ball off the bat at 95 mph or more
LI measures pressure per play
pLI measures total pressure faced in-game
Whiff a swing-and-miss
WPA win probability added measures contributions to the win
xBA expected batting average

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