Skip to playerSkip to main contentSkip to footer
KGMZ-FM / 95.7 THE GAME
  • 2 days ago
Transcript
00:00Joining us now on the River Islands guest line is the manager of the Giants.
00:04Appreciate it so much, Bob Melvin, joining us on Willard and Tibbs.
00:07Hey, Bob, what's going on today?
00:09Hey, how are you guys?
00:10Oh, you know, same thing.
00:12Getting ready for a ball game.
00:13Yeah, indeed.
00:14Game two, Marlins in town.
00:16And would love to hear you expand a little bit on not just last night,
00:21but what feels, I don't know,
00:23it felt like there's some building frustration with regard to the lack of hitting.
00:30How would you describe it?
00:33Well, look, I mean, we've still been winning our share of games,
00:37and it really felt like over the weekend, you know, on Sunday,
00:42we had a really good offensive game where we came back multiple times during the game.
00:47You know, we've played a ton of close games.
00:49We've won our fair share of them.
00:51We do feel like our lineup is going to come around,
00:56and I felt like there were signs of it this weekend.
00:59So, you know, in that respect, you know,
01:01we get frustrated like on a night last night when we feel like we should do a little bit more,
01:06but I don't think the guys are down about it.
01:09When you think about doing more, is it being more aggressive in hitter-friendly counts?
01:14Is it trying to coax the pitcher into falling behind more?
01:17When you look at more of the minutia of the at-bats, what do you see?
01:20Well, you know, it's case-specific, right, to a particular pitcher.
01:25If we have a pitcher on the mound that walks a bunch of guys, we have to be cognizant of that.
01:29If we have a guy out there that throws strike run with his fastball and tries to get ahead of you,
01:34you know, you have to game plan for that.
01:36So I don't think in a vacuum you can just say, hey, this is the way we need to do it.
01:41I think we have several guys that we feel like there's going to be a lot more offensively,
01:46and we still are very confident that's going to happen.
01:49So I think it's just kind of staying with it, stick with a particular game plan every day,
01:53and be confident that it's going to come around some.
01:56I mean, you look at some of the other teams in the league, too.
01:58I mean, Padres are a really good offensive team, too, and I think we've scored more runs than they have.
02:03So we're not the lone rangers as far as maybe being down offensively a little bit.
02:08Yeah, that is a fact for sure.
02:10Bob Melvin joining us here on Willard & Tibbs.
02:12Hey, Bob, I wonder what you see in Justin Verlander's outings right now.
02:18You know, we engage with Giants fans on the daily, and after last night,
02:22part of this is a statistical oddity that he has no wins,
02:26but you can tell that the fans are starting to feel like, gosh, you know, when is this going to get going?
02:31But I wonder what the more educated view is right now of what you see when he's throwing.
02:37Well, we're not giving him a lot of support, and then, you know, we get behind, and it doesn't feel great.
02:43But, you know, he's just coming off the aisle.
02:46He's got a couple starts.
02:47He went through a deal where he just had a baby and so forth,
02:50even though he prepares the same way and he's ready to go.
02:53I think just based on the fact that we haven't gotten him a win yet,
02:58and once we get behind, like last night early in the game,
03:01it just doesn't have a great tone to it.
03:04But, you know what, he threw five innings, he gave up three runs.
03:07It still kept us in a game.
03:09We just didn't do enough offensively, and we really have not for him for the entire season.
03:15Is there a sense of guys pressing, not only for Verlander's outings,
03:18because you want him to get a win, but just overall?
03:21And I can't help but think about the call made by Matt Williams at third to send Devers home,
03:26which would have tied the game if he made it, but he was out by 15 feet.
03:30What was your opinion on that send?
03:34Yeah, there are times when you're not swinging the bat well that you have to be aggressive.
03:37So, I mean, look, it takes two good throws, two perfect throws to throw a guy out at the plate.
03:42We have a chance to tie the game up right there.
03:44So, yeah, I'm all for being aggressive in that situation.
03:47Bob, speaking of Devers, how close is he to play in first base?
03:52I think we're getting closer every day.
03:54You know, one, he's got to be comfortable doing it.
03:56He's never done it before.
03:58Unfortunately, we don't have a spring training to prepare for that.
04:01So we have to kind of run him through some things that we feel like will make him comfortable.
04:07It's never, you know, the first couple games are going to be completely comfortable.
04:10But he can feel the ball really well.
04:12He's got soft hands, obviously can throw the ball across the diamond.
04:15You know, it's just a different spin.
04:17And lefty's a little different than righty's over at third.
04:22But we want to make sure that he's 100% with the groin.
04:25I think we're getting pretty close as far as that goes.
04:28It's certainly not going to be today or tomorrow, but maybe at some point in time on this next road trip.
04:33I wonder also just the larger view of Rafi Devers getting comfortable as a giant.
04:38This has probably been a hell of a week and a half for him.
04:41He's never known anything but the Red Sox.
04:44He's switching leagues.
04:45What have been your kind of observations on his overall comfort level and fitting in?
04:52Yeah, you know, I think we lose sight of the fact that it's not the most comfortable thing in the world
04:57when you've been in one organization your whole career on the East Coast in the American League
05:02and all of a sudden in one day you're flying to San Francisco to play for a new team
05:06that you're going to be with for years and years and you've only played there one time, I think, in his career.
05:12So there's a lot to digest and have to deal with.
05:16I think he's done it beautifully from the day he's gotten here.
05:18And I think our fans were incredible in making him feel at home right away.
05:24You know, the players, too, the reception, the front office, everybody here tried to make him as comfortable he could on day one.
05:31There's just a lot going on.
05:32But you know what?
05:33He's got a smile on his face every day.
05:35I think each and every day he gets more comfortable in this uniform.
05:39You know, knowing the ballpark, you know, the opposition's a little bit different.
05:43He used to playing in the American League East.
05:45But I marvel at the way he's handled this and how comfortable he seems right away.
05:50Pretty great to see all of you there for the introductory press conference.
05:54That was just probably heartwarming for him and a great visual for the fans.
05:58When he gets out to the yard, how much time is he putting in before the game at first?
06:02And does he have to go through kind of the evolution of all the different mechanics you need to play at first?
06:08Yeah, you do.
06:09So, yeah, he was out there quite a bit yesterday.
06:12Had a little bit of a growing thing going on.
06:14So we're not, you know, just there's a limit to how much work he can do defensively.
06:20But, look, he has no qualms with it.
06:22He wants to be able to go out there.
06:24We want to be able to get Wilmer in the DH spot some, too, which he's been very, you know, productive in.
06:30So he knows there's a little bit of a timetable we're up against in trying to get it done with him.
06:36But I think yesterday was his most comfortable day as far as how much work he took.
06:42And, like I said, you know, hopefully at some point in time on this road trip we get him out there.
06:47Bob Melvin with us on Willard & Divs.
06:49Bob, you know, we talk so much about is he going to play first base and where is he in the lineup.
06:54I'd love to hear more about his role kind of off the field and in the clubhouse, particularly because of how things went down in Boston.
07:01And you guys have talked about how maybe Chapman and Adamas will be more of the vocal leaders.
07:06What is Rafi Devers' role on this team in the clubhouse?
07:11It's pretty early to tell, but he's, look, he gets along with everybody.
07:18There's a smile on his face.
07:19I don't know that he's going to be the most vocal guy in the clubhouse, and we don't really need that.
07:25We have several guys that will rely on that.
07:28Just being comfortable going up there and doing damage to the plate, I think, you know, that's what's going to really make him comfortable around here.
07:35And, you know, that's definitely going to happen.
07:39And so he's still kind of feeling his way out there.
07:41There are a lot of these guys he didn't know.
07:43Actually, there were very few guys that he knew.
07:45But every day you see him hanging out with the Wilmers and Willies and, you know, getting to know Chappie and, you know, some of the pitchers we have here that are kind of high profile, too.
07:56Everybody's doing the best they can to try to, you know, make this transition a little bit quicker for him.
08:02But I think what he does is he hits and he drives and runs and he does a lot of damage, and that's what we're looking for.
08:08We're not asking him to be the emotional leader of the team.
08:12You mentioned Willie and Adamas is not having the statistical year that everyone would hope for, but you haven't seen anything other than his dauber up.
08:21How much has he been a big-time positive influence in the clubhouse that feels different this year?
08:26Yeah, he really has.
08:29And that's hard to do, you know, when you have an expectation level of yourself to do, you know, X amount offensively and it doesn't happen.
08:38You're in a new place and there's a lot expected of you.
08:40It can be difficult to come in with that attitude every day, but he comes with it every day.
08:44And what we take out on the field, you know, those are kind of intrinsic things that you can't really put a value on.
08:51And I tell him every day, look, a lot of times what you're doing is not showing up in the box score, but it's showing up on the scoreboard and how we play the game every day and how, you know, determined we are to play.
09:01And you're out there every single day and every game, and there's a lot of value in that.
09:06So we know the offensive numbers are going to come, but he still has an impact on our guys and how we take the field and kind of our mojo every day.
09:14Bob, what do you need to see from Chapman before he's ready, and how do you think that will change the lineup?
09:21Well, it'll change it significantly.
09:24You know, he was hitting in the four-hole for us for the most part.
09:28We'll see how it plays out.
09:30You know, having a Devers in the lineup, too, is as far as where he hits.
09:34But if you're talking about guys that are emotional leaders of the team, that's kind of his thing.
09:39So we miss that, too, on the field, the tenacity he brings, the defense that he brings, the base running that he brings, you know, just kind of everything that Matt Chapman's all about.
09:50As far as the timetable, not 100% sure.
09:54I'm thinking more when we get back from this road trip and how much we want him to, whether it's a rehab game or something like that.
10:02But, you know, really and truly, we don't want him coming back with these, especially the bone bruise and that middle one, affecting him the rest of the season.
10:12So he's eager to get back.
10:14He's bouncing off the walls and wants to get back as soon as possible.
10:18But we're going to take, you know, what the training staff tells us and where they feel that he is.
10:23He'll have input, obviously, in how he feels every day.
10:26And, you know, hopefully it's sooner than later.
10:28But I think if we get him back for the homestand before the All-Star break, I think that's a win.
10:36Bob Melvin with us here on Willard and Dibs.
10:38Hey, real quick also, just with Logan Webb on the mound tonight.
10:44Like, what sort of vibe does that give you guys?
10:47He's been such a good stopper recently.
10:49You know, how is his presence kind of different for this team, especially after a loss?
10:54Yeah, he just feels like win day.
10:57So, you know, it feels like the way we play and losing close games and sometimes we're frustrating.
11:02Not sometimes.
11:03We are frustrating offensively at times.
11:05You know, it just feels like every loss is really dramatic.
11:10And then we come back and win the next day.
11:12And whether it's scoring some runs or it's the pitching.
11:15But, you know, your number one guy is the guy that you really feel great about taking the mound.
11:20And we will today, too.
11:21And if we expect to win this game today and then it's going to be a completely different feeling,
11:26you try to stay away from the emotional highs and lows of the season.
11:30But any time that Logan Webb takes the mound, we feel great about our chances.
11:34Okay, Bob.
11:35A lot of baseball in the next 24 hours.
11:37Go get him.
11:38We very, very much appreciate your time.
11:41You got it, guys.
11:42Thanks for having me on.
11:42Yeah, thank you.
11:43There it is.
11:44Skipper of the Giants.
11:44Bob Melvin.
11:45That's Bo Mel.
11:46Bo Mel.
11:46Yeah.
11:46Yeah.