Despite sloppy defense, Donovan Solano has been one of baseball's best position players - a podcast by Locked on Podcast Network, Ben Kaspick

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick talks about the San Francisco Giants' 6-4 loss to the Houston Astros on Monday night. Logan Webb was on the mound for the Giants, and he pitched much better than his final line would suggest. As has been a recurring theme this season, the Giants' defense collapsed in the third inning and cost Webb several runs that probably should not have scored. With one out and nobody on base, Jose Altuve hit a ground ball single that Donovan Solano probably should have handled. The next batter, Josh Reddick, hit what should have been a ground ball out, but catcher Chadwick Tromp was called for catcher's interference, the fourth one for the Giants this year. After a walk loaded the bases, Michael Brantley hit a bloop ground rule double, then with the infield in Solano fielded a ground ball and threw home, but his throw hit Alex Bregman in the back and the Giants did not record an out. Later in the inning, the Giants failed to turn a double play on a ground ball to Mauricio Dubón. By the time the inning was over, it was 5-0 Astros and the game was all but over.
Lance McCullers Jr. started for the Astros and was dominant over seven innings. Finally, in the 8th, the Giants got on the board with an Austin Slater solo home run against a right-handed pitcher. Slater has been playing great as of late, including against righties, and he's making a case to be an everyday player. He's now tied for 18th in all of baseball among position players with 0.8 FanGraphs WAR. The Giants staged a rally in the top of the 9th, which included big hits by Solano and Brandon Crawford. Solano had two doubles in the game, and he currently ranks fourth among position players in fWAR. Solano's excellence with the bat cannot be overstated and is a continuation of what he did last year. His projections now call for him to hit .310/.342/.419, which is an above-average line and one that's dramatically better than his projections entering the season. Ultimately, the Giants stranded the tying run on base as pinch-hitter Evan Longoria flew out to end the game. It was notable that Pablo Sandoval did not start against a right-handed pitcher, and was not selected to pinch hit in a big spot against a righty. If neither of those roles belong to him, he doesn't appear to have one on this team.
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