TL; DR - Since joining the Braves, Mahle has a 1.48 ERA in five starts with 32 strikeouts, five walks in 30 and 1/3 innings pitched vs a 5.13 ERA in 18 starts with the Giants. Maybe 5 starts is just a small sample size, or maybe the Giants coaching staff is just lost.

Hey Everyone,

I'm closing baseballisforeveryone.org on September 15th

Thanks to everyone who got some swag! Together, we've raised $2123.75 for Team SF, a non-profit supporting LGBTQ+ sports in the SF Bay Area.

Thanks to everyone who showed their support with kindness and each person who shared an opposing point of view in good faith.

If you'd like to get something, head over to baseballisforeveryone.org before the store closes on September 15th. As always, all profits go to Team SF. If you can't afford it, didn't make it before the store closed, or would prefer one of the designs on something else, I'm leaving a link here where you can download any of the png files I still have for free and make your own stuff.

This was a fun and fulfilling project. Hope to see you at Oracle!

Darren Baker, who will join Triple-A Sacramento when it's done. A cool homecoming for Dusty's son, who went to high school in the Sacramento area. He was in Triple-A with the White Sox earlier this season.

https://bsky.app/profile/giantbot.bsky.social/post/3muhzg53c6t2h

Susan Slusser

I’m hearing Jackson Flora will joint Class-A San Jose this week and is likely to start during the series at Fresno.

https://bsky.app/profile/giantbot.bsky.social/post/3mui4r6zfbq2i

Justice delos Santos

I can confirm that Jackson Flora will join Single-A San Jose. He’s scheduled to pitch on Friday in Fresno.

@susanslusser had it first.

AN OPEN LETTER TO BUSTER POSEY

From the Families, Fans, and Next Generation of San Francisco Giants Supporters

Buster,

Throughout your historic career, you defined what it means to lead with dignity. You earned the deep respect of the Bay Area not just through your championship vision on the field, but through the integrity, family values, and quiet strength you displayed off it. As a principal leader of this legendary franchise, your influence extends far beyond the diamond—especially to the millions of young men and children who look to you as a blueprint for manhood.

That is why we urge you to protect that legacy now.

The rising tide of mass-market sports gambling, financialized prediction markets like Kalshi, and commercialized betting platforms represents a clear and present threat to the next generation. These platforms are engineered to exploit, drawing young people into cycles of financial ruin, addiction, and misplaced priorities. They degrade the purity of competition and threaten the very fabric of the communities that supported you.

An organization as great as the San Francisco Giants, and a leader as blessed as you, should be a shield against this predatory industry—not a partner to it.

This is not a casual grievance. For many of us, this game has been a central part of our lives (half a century for me)—a passion passed down through generations. But we cannot and will not allow our loyalty to be used to validate an industry that harms families. If our sports institutions choose to prioritize betting lines over community integrity, you will lose us. We are prepared to walk away from the game we love.

We ask you to use your immense platform, your voice, and your leadership to keep this great organization out of bed with gambling outlets. Do your part to protect our children, our families, and the integrity of the game we love.

Some things are worth more than a sponsorship contract. Your legacy is one of them.

With respect and hope,

Your die-hard fans and protectors of the next generation

If you haven't already, I recommend reading The Comebacker by Dave Eggers. It's a short story "fiction" about a relief pitcher called up from Sacramento to help a struggling Giants team. Haven't we all heard that before?

In the acknowledgement section, you'll see who one of the characters was possibly modelled off of.

Better to read this before the movie comes out in 2027, when they disappointingly change the SF Giants as the team from the book and the movie version takes place at Citifield and is centered around the NY Mets.

The main link is the story from Baseball America, a great breakdown of how they went.

And here is Eric Logenhagen's take, although he wrote about a lot, so his takes on the Giants players are less detailed, but still worth watching.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/scouting-ketel-martes-rehab-and-jackson-floras-pro-debut/

Flora:

"For not having pitched for a few months, Flora looked great. He touched 99 twice, sat mostly 97-98, and threw each of his four pitches in one inning of work. His lone 85-mph sweeper was really, really nasty, and his gyro-style sliders were firm, in the 90-92 range depending on the radar gun. He threw one splitter at 90 mph. Here is his entire outing:

Flora’s delivery was a bit more violent about the head and neck than I’d want it to be, and his secondary pitch feel was rusty, which is what you’d expect from a guy who hasn’t thrown in an actual game for several months. His stuff looks great, and it sounds like Flora might sneak out to an affiliate pretty quickly."

J. Hernandez:

"My brief first look at Joniel Hernandez was really exciting.

He’s very physical and short to the ball with power, and he did some nice stuff at shortstop before I left. When we were evaluating him on tape ahead of the trade deadline, I was a little skeptical about his hit tool. After one in-person viewing, I am more on board with Brendan and our sources than I was a month ago. This guy has big upside. Good buddy Jason Pennini put together video of Hernandez from this game over at Baseball America."

Hi giants top brass. Give us more FP Santangallo and Joe Ritzo. That is all. Thank you 🙏