Kontos states Miller’s reaction to Giants misplay can’t happen originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Giants center fielder Heliot Ramos was in the middle of another outfield misplay for the second time in three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers this week, and in both instances, San Francisco reliever Erik Miller was on the mound.
The latest occurrence didn’t sit well with Miller, who had a profanity-laced reaction at the end of the eighth inning of the Giants’ eventual 8-3 win on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.
After the game, former Giants pitcher and current NBC Sports Bay Area analyst George Kontos addressed Miller’s outburst.
“It’s a very highly emotional point in the game right there,” Kontos said to host Carlos Ramirez and analyst Randy Winn. “Erik Miller is coming in, he’s in between the white lines. He’s trying to do everything he can to get outs for his team. He doesn’t want his ERA to go up. There was obviously a little bit of a mental mistake that happened. The guys are always trying. [Mike Yastrzemski] is trying. We know that Ramos is trying, you know that.
“I get that you’re going to be frustrated. But if you’re going to say something like that, you better put your glove up in front of your face or do it in a way where the camera is not going to catch you, because everyone out there is trying. And I know that this is not indicative of the kind of guy that Erik Miller is and it was a product of the moment, but you can’t show your teammates up like that. That’s something that you can never do because everyone’s trying, you’re trying on the mound, everyone’s trying behind you.
“The catcher Patrick Bailey‘s trying behind home plate and it’s just not a good look when a camera catches you doing that, even though it’s just a moment of frustration that happens, we’ve all been there. It’s just something that you can’t happen because your teammates eventually will see that and that’s just not a very good look.”
On Monday, it was Ramos and left fielder Luis Matos who miscommunicated on a fly ball, allowing Kiké Hernandez to reach on a double. He later scored the eventual winning run for the Dodgers on a Teoscar Hernandez single.
Wednesday’s miscue wasn’t as costly, with the Giants winning comfortably. But lack of communication between Ramos and Yastrzemski on a ball that should have been caught still is noteworthy.
“Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time that ball is caught,” Winn said after Wednesday’s game. “What happens here? Obviously, Mike Yastrzemski’s in position. He shaded over. Everybody shaded over. Yaz is in right center. Ramos is in left center and Yaz is calling it early because he’s shaded there and then Ramos comes over, calls it and then lets it fall in.
“The mistake is made by Ramos. When you call the ball as a center fielder, I don’t care where that ball is, you got to catch it. As a center fielder, you call it, you catch it, period. End of story.”
Kontos and Winn both acknowledged that fences will need to be mended following Miller’s reaction, but it’s not an issue that should linger.
“It’s a simple conversation,” Winn said. “It’s really easy. This game is frustrating. It’s hard to hit, it’s hard to get guys out. It’s hard to win ballgames. So everybody understands the frustration. Like as a center fielder, you feel like I’ve let a couple of balls fall in, right? That’s on me. Like, I can’t let that happen. You know that you made a mistake, you don’t need your teammates or your pitchers, whatever, to say that.
“So it’s a simple conversation. The team’s feeling good right now. The offense clicked. The offensive side, they scored runs. It’s a simple conversation. I think this is going to be kind of a water under the bridge thing.”
The Giants enter the series finale against the Dodgers with a 49-54 record. They need a hot stretch over the next few days to give president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi a reason to add pieces before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. PT MLB trade deadline.
San Francisco has to hope it can ride the momentum of Wednesday’s win, rather than let Miller’s outburst splinter the group.
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