SF Giants dominated by Yankees starter Jhony Brito in 6-0 loss

The SF Giants were held scoreless by the Yankees for the second time in three games while Ross Stripling struggled in his team debut.

The SF Giants dropped their first series of the season on Sunday, losing 6-0 to the New York Yankees. Despite coming out of the series with one win, the Giants should be happy to be done facing the Bronx Bombers for some time.

SF Giants starter Ross Stripling pitches against the Yankees. (2023) / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Ross Stripling made his official Giants debut. Stripling, who signed a two-year, $25 million deal with San Francisco this offseason, struggled with command throughout his outing. He walked a pair and needed 28 pitches to escape the first inning unscathed, but the Yankees would eventually make him pay for his inconsistent location.

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, the two star outfielders who famously spurned the Giants for the Yankees, each hit towering home runs off of Stripling in the bottom of the third inning. Stanton's traveled 485-feet to straighaway center field. An inning later, catcher Kyle Higashioka add

485 ft.
117.8 mph.
Crushed. pic.twitter.com/hVeMuasdz1

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 2, 2023

Stripling surrendered a lot of hard contact today, a concerning trend that carried over from his final outing of the spring against the Athletics. A fly-ball pitcher, Stripling cannot remain effective while opposing hitters are squaring him up. One common denominator from both of his outings was catcher Blake Sabol (Giants #33 prospect).

Sabol is considered a welll below-average defensive backstop by most evaluators, but he also lacks experience at the position. One reality of the new pitch clock, pitchers have less time to shake off a catcher. It's worth wondering if Sabol's gamecalling has plaed a role in Stripling's struggles.

Despite Stripling's middling performance, the Giants offense was dominated by Yankees starter Jhony Brito, who was making his big-league debut. Brito was considered a command-first starting pitching prospect in recent years, lacking overpowering stuff. He has never ranked among the Yankees top 10 prospects by any major outlets. However, it sure looked like he should have on Sunday.

Brito's fastball sat around 95 mph throughout the afternoon, even reaching 97 mph. With his excellent feel for a changeup and curve, Brito looked like a potential frontline starter.

Brito struck out six across five innings of work, surrendering just a pair of hits and a walk. The Giants hope Brito is simply the latest elite Yankees starter to come out of nowhere. Otherwise, they made a relatively mid-level prospect look like a future All-Star.

If Brito was responsible for the Giants' offensive struggles, though, that doesn't explain why San Francisco was held scoreless by the New York's bullpen. Yankees manager Aaron Boone turned to the bullpen. Jimmy Cordero, Ron Marinaccio, and Colton Brewer who struck out six hitters across four no-hit innings.

Sean Hjelle, who was called up earlier in the day, replaced Stripling in the sixth inning and allowed two runs over two innings of work. Hjelle looked good in a 1-2-3 sixth, but was unable to locate in the seventh, walking three hitters and throwing three wild pitches. Granted, Sabol could have done a better job limiting the damage.

Giants southpaw reliever Scott Alexander also made his first appearance of the season, working around a leadoff single in a quiet inning of work.

The SF Giants will now travel to Chicago, beginning a three-game series against the White Sox. First pitch for Monday's game is scheduled for 1:10 PM Pacific. The Giants are planning to give Anthony DeSclafani the start. He will face off against Michael Kopech.