SF Giants’ Kapler responds to Dubón criticism: ‘We gave Mauricio a lot of good opportunities’
After saying he wasn't 'treated right', Dubón texted his former Giants teammates to clarify he wasn't talking about them: "It's just certain people," he said.
HOUSTON — Giants manager Gabe Kapler responded Tuesday to Mauricio Dubón’s comments after Monday night’s game that he felt he was “not treated the right way” in San Francisco, saying that he was happy for Dubón’s success in Houston but pushed back against the narrative that he didn’t get enough opportunities.
“I feel like we gave Mauricio a lot of good opportunities,” Kapler said before Tuesday’s game. “In my experience over the years seeing lots of major league players, when players are not getting all of the opportunities they want and they’re not performing, generally speaking they’re not overjoyed about their situation. … We always said to Mauricio, and I would probably continue to say to any player today, if you perform really well you’re going to get lots of opportunities.”
Dubón admitted that he was a little emotional and overexcited Monday night, after collecting three hits, driving in two runs and scoring two more in first game against his former club. As he saw his postgame comments make the rounds, he made sure to text the group chat he maintains with many of his former Giants teammates to clarify that he regretted his choice of words and reiterated it wasn’t about them.
“I mean, they knew where I was coming from,” Dubón said Tuesday. “Those guys are like my family. I still have guys over there that I talk to every day. It’s just certain people.”
Asked who those people might be, and if they included Kapler, Dubón chuckled and bit his tongue.
“It is what it is,” he said. “Things happen for a reason and I think God put me in this place just to enjoy every moment of it. That’s what’s happening right now. Like I said, it’s in the past.”
In parts of four seasons with the Giants, the team he grew up rooting for after moving to the Sacramento area from Honduras as a teenager, Dubón batted .259/.302/.396 over 522 plate appearances in 177 games. Filling in as the Astros’ starting second baseman in Jose Altuve’s absence, Dubón has batted .317/.340/.406 and rattled off a 20-game hit streak to start the season but has been the beneficiary of a .348 batting average on balls in play (MLB average: .294) and, according to OPS+, has been 7% better than major-league average (his 89 OPS+ with the Giants was 11% below league average).
“I’m happy that Mauricio’s having success,” Kapler said. “I think it’s great. Last night he obviously had some big hits for the Astros. He’s playing good defense, he’s off to a really good start. We want to get him out for the next couple days and hope that he has success going forward.”