The Giants and Rockies are set to meet with the bottom of the NL West looking crowded and not much separating the two clubs. San Francisco and Colorado both sit at 38 losses, and the Rockies occupy the No. 5 spot only because they’ve dropped two more games.
That makes this final series before the All-Star Break feel a little different. If Colorado takes the opener, the gap tightens even more. If the Giants handle business, they can put some distance between themselves and a young Rockies team that has already proven it can make things messy.
The pitching matchup could end up deciding a lot of it. Colorado sends Ryan Feltner, one of the steadier arms in its rotation, into a game that comes with a 3.23 ERA over his last seven starts and a 1.08 WHIP. On the other side, the Giants are giving the ball to left-hander Carson Whisenhunt, who is making his second start of the season after allowing plenty of contact but limiting the damage to two earned runs over five innings in his last outing.
San Francisco’s lineup stays built around its left-handed depth, which makes a right-handed starter a welcome sight. Giants 7/9H.
Ramos RFL. Arraez 2BC.
Schmitt 3BR. Devers DHW.
Adames SSB. Eldridge 1BV.
Bericoto LFD. Gilbert CFD.
Cavanaugh CC. Whisenhunt SP
The Giants did make a couple of changes after getting nearly no-hit on Wednesday. Jung Hoo Lee and Eric Haase are both coming off the bench for the series opener.
Lee’s recent stretch has been rough, with him hitting under .175 over the last week, so the move isn’t exactly a shock. In some cases, a player in that kind of slump just sits until the break, and that possibility is on the table here.
The concern for San Francisco is that Colorado’s offense has been hot, and the Giants’ first two starts in their last series went sideways quickly. Both Tuesday and Wednesday got away from them early, and that’s a bad setup against any lineup, even one that has been stagnant at times. Falling behind by five to eight runs right out of the gate leaves almost no room to recover.
By the end of it, the Giants could be looking at either sole possession of last place or their first step toward 40 wins. They’re one of four teams still trying to get there, and they could be next.
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Shohei Ohtani's Absence Could Open A Huge Door For The Giants
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Casey Schmitt has been one of the more obvious internal candidates because of the way he has produced, while Jung Hoo Lee also belongs in the discussion after a solid first season in San Francisco. Nothing has been finalized yet, but the Giants have enough momentum from both players to make this a situation worth watching as the roster picture comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]