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Giants have kicked off their spring training with full-squad workouts that began on Monday. The team plays their first Cactus League game at Tempe Diablo Stadium against the Angels at 12:10 PM on Saturday. Today, Giants manager Bruce Bochy announced who will be starting in the first few games of the spring.
Cactus rotation: Stratton and Blach in Saturday’s opener. Bumgarner Sunday in home opener. Monday will be Holland and Pomeranz. Rodriguez in Tuesday. Samardzija and Suarez on Wednesday. #sfgiants
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) February 20, 2019
Coming into the 2019 season, Farhan Zaidi and the Giants have done a nice job creating depth at key positions, one of which being starting pitching. Assuming we can pencil in Madison Bumgarner, Dereck Rodriguez, and Jeff Samardzija into the Giants projected rotation, its important for the team to see what they have with offseason additions Drew Pomeranz and Derek Holland. The list of starting pitchers the Giants have at their disposal has grown and will provide the team with plenty of depth all season long.
The Giants rotation and bullpen seem to be in decent shape heading into the spring, but the focus will be on the outfield and which players will compete for an opening day roster spot. The team is expected to proceed cautiously with their starters this spring, especially Buster Posey who is recovering from hip surgery.
Bochy said Posey probably won’t play until March 1, most of veterans will be held back early. It’s a long spring. Stratton starts first game Saturday, Bumgarner on Sunday. All the starters — including Samardzija — will throw in first five games.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) February 20, 2019
Moving forward, we can expect to see many different players cycled in throughout the first couple weeks of spring training. There will be plenty of opportunities for players competing for outfield spots, backup infield positions, starting rotation and bullpen depth. Coming off a season where the Giants battled injuries to key players, the team will likely give their stars plenty of rest in an attempt to make it out of Scottsdale healthy and ready to go.