Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES — The Giants look wildly different Saturday, which is refreshing considering how Thursday and Friday went.
After being outscored 17-2 in games featuring Johnny Cueto, Drew Smyly, Tyler Anderson and Kevin Gausman and using a lineup of lefties against righty pitchers, the Giants could construct a righty-heavy 1-through-9 against LA southpaw Alex Wood.
Here’s how it will look behind … Logan Webb. The Giants waited until Saturday morning for the announcement, which opposing manager Dave Roberts told reporters was a bit of “gamesmanship”:
1. Austin Slater, LF
2. Donovan Solano, 3B
3. Wilmer Flores, 2B
4. Darin Ruf, 1B
5. Hunter Pence, DH
6. Mike Yastrzemski, CF
7. Jaylin Davis, RF
8. Mauricio Dubon, SS
9. Tyler Heineman, C
After Flores committed a couple errors in the first two games throwing to first, he moves to second and Solano takes his place. It will be Slater’s first start after a promising end of camp, the outfielder a weapon against lefties. Davis, who homered against a righty a night prior, can try for an encore. Brandon Crawford gets a day off against the lefty.
Gabe Kapler said Webb will give the team “bulk innings,” having built up to four innings and 60-plus pitches in his last simulated game.
The 23-year-old has been another project of the pitching minds, particularly Matt Daniels and Brian Bannister. He will debut his new “sweeper,” as he calls it, a breaking ball that has been tweaked since last season.
“We’ve seen improvements in the shape of the breaking ball,” Kapler said over Zoom. “We’ve seen improvements on the carry on the fastball. We feel like he’s repeating his delivery. … In talking to him last night about the possibility of starting today, he was very excited about the opportunity, he feels very ready.”
