by
Greek Giant
Since the Giants and Rockies were rained out last night in Denver I get to write a series preview post (always fun). Today our boys are playing two. In the first game of the doubleheader Alex Wood is slated to start for the Giants against German Marquez of the Rockies. In the nightcap neither team has yet declared a starting pitcher. The Giants enter today’s games 17-11, one half game ahead of the Bums. The National press is starting to take notice of the Giants and their surprising April. Here is ESPN’s Jeff Passan on his MLB round-up for the month of April:
Are the Giants real? They are not better than the Dodgers or the Padres. Let’s get that out of the way. But have they done a phenomenal job of building a rotation essentially from scratch? Yup. Have their hitters underperformed, leaving them room to improve? Indeed. Have they got a phenomenally deep farm system the industry believes might be among the game’s five best? Yes. Are they a place where pitchers want to go, not just to take advantage of Oracle Park’s dimensions but to work with Andrew Bailey, Brian Bannister, Justin Lehr, J.P. Martinez and the phenomenal infrastructure the team has put into place? Absolutely. So while the Giants might be outplaying their talent level and won’t end up winning the NL West, are they a burgeoning monster, with excellent management, development and a boatload of money to spend? Oh yeah.
As for the Rockies, well, as you might expect from a team that literally paid the Cardinals to take Nolan Arenado (and whose GM should be burned at the stake for this unforgivable sin), they are struggling, to the tune of last place at 10-18 and the worst record in the National League. Make no mistake, this is still Denver and the Giants always have their ups and downs at Coors Field. I never look at the Rockies record when the Giants play in Colorado. It’s just too weird and volatile a ballpark to ever feel comfortable in.
Five Questions
- Which Giant will homer first in the series in Denver?
- Who will lead the Giants in runs scored in 2021?
- Will Trevor Story be a Rocky by the end of the season (or a Giant?)?
- is Alex Wood a Cy Young candidate?
- How many homers will Buster Posey hit this year?