The Giants will go with Carlos Rodón, Alex Wood and Alex Cobb for their upcoming three-game series against the Rockies.
San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler announced the starting pitching slate on Sunday ahead of the Giants’ series finale against the Cardinals. The Giants broke their five-game skid with a 13-7 win on Buster Posey Day Saturday night.
Kapler has typically been coy with announcing starting pitchers ahead of time this year. With injuries and COVID-19 issues, the Giants have had to fill spots in the rotation with bullpen games, so it’s rare Kapler has all relevant information available to make a decision on any given game’s starter. On Sunday, Jakob Junis is opening a bullpen game against St. Louis.
For Colorado, Rodón will start on Monday on five days rest. His last start came on May 3, when the lefty threw six strong innings but took a his first loss of the season in a 3-1 defeat to the Dodgers.
On the year, Rodón has a 1.55 ERA. He has the second highest WAR (behind Kevin Gausman) and the third best strikeouts per nine innings among starters, per Fangraphs.
Wood, Tuesday’s starter, will also have an additional day between starts. The veteran had a solid outing in Los Angeles but took a loss like Rodón. He hasn’t escaped the fifth inning in a start yet.
Taking the ball in the series finale, Cobb will make his third start since returning from a right abductor strain. Even after a strong outing his last turn, the difference between Cobb’s ERA and FIP (4.80 to 2.21) is among the highest in baseball, indicating misfortune on balls in play.
The upcoming series is the first of the year against Colorado. It’ll also be the first time Kris Bryant returns to Oracle Park since spending the second half of 2021 with San Francisco.
- Brandon Belt, who exited Saturday’s game with neck stiffness, was scratched from Sunday’s lineup. The neck soreness his experiencing isn’t a concern, both he and Kapler said. It’s something that pops up every year and lasts a few days. He could be available to pinch-hit off the bench on Sunday and very well could start on Monday.
- Thairo Estrada is getting his first day off of the season Sunday. He’d played every inning of every game so far.
“He’s ready to go today, but it’s just one of those preemptive strikes. Coming off a really impressive Dubón game and a day game after a night game, there was a pretty strong sentiment that we should get him off his feet. At least to start the game — he’s going to be available if we need him. Sometimes it’s nice to let the brain relax as the game begins.”
