San Francisco Giants' Casey Schmitt (6) celebrates with Brandon Crawford, obscured, Bryce Johnson, middle, and Mitch Haniger after the team's won over the Baltimore Orioles in a baseball game in San Francisco, Saturday, June 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
It’s June, and the Giants still have an NL West opponent they have yet to see this season. A new oddity of this year’s balanced schedule, that ends this week, though, as the Giants head to Coors Field for three games against the Rockies, starting Tuesday.
The week ahead
Heading into their first meeting this season with the Giants, the Rockies have won three of their past four series. Since an eight-game losing streak in mid-April, they have played .500 ball for nearly a two-month stretch now, 21-21 since April 20. Like the Giants, the Rockies are off Monday after traveling back to Denver from Kansas City, where they took two of three.
The Giants make a quick pitstop back in San Francisco this weekend for three games with the Chicago Cubs between returning from Denver and jetting off to St. Louis on Monday. It’s the end of a 10-game West Coast swing for the Cubs, who are looking to get back on track after a 10-18 record in May.
Pitching probables
Tuesday, 5:40 p.m. PT – TBA/bullpen* vs. RHP Dinelson Lamet (1-2, 13.17)
- TV: NBC Sports Bay Area; Radio: KNBR
Wednesday, 5:40 p.m. PT – RHP Logan Webb (4-6, 2.85)* vs. RHP Connor Seabold (1-2, 5.40)*
- TV: NBC Sports Bay Area; Radio: KNBR
Thursday, 12:10 p.m. PT – RHP Alex Cobb (5-2, 2.71)* vs. RHP Chase Anderson (0-0, 2.08)*
- TV: NBC Sports Bay Area; Radio: KNBR
Friday, 7:15 p.m. PT – RHP Anthony DeSclafani (4-5, 3.97)* vs. LHP Drew Smyly (5-3, 3.56)*
- TV: NBC Sports Bay Area; Radio: KNBR
Saturday, 4:35 p.m. PT – TBA vs. RHP Marcus Stroman (6-4, 2.39)*
- TV: FOX; Radio: KNBR
Sunday, 1:05 p.m. PT – TBA vs. RHP Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 3.86)*
- TV: NBC Sports Bay Area; Radio: KNBR
*=unofficial
Three storylines to watch
1. Get healthy: The Giants scored 14 runs over the final five games of their home stand (equal to their output in their first game), and manager Gabe Kapler acknowledged their lineup in the finale “wasn’t our deepest (or) strongest.” That should change Tuesday, when Thairo Estrada (wrist) and Joc Pederson (hand) are both expected to be activated from the injured list and Michael Conforto (heel) is hopeful to be back at or near full strength. Estrada, their most valuable position player, and Pederson, one of their biggest left-handed boppers, are welcome returns but present their own conundrums: Whose spots do they take and how will playing time shake out?
2. Travel demands: No team will log more miles in the air this season than the Giants (mostly due to fewer in-division games and their trip to Mexico City), and Tuesday marks the beginning of another brutal stretch. San Francisco will play 12 games in 13 days across four cities: starting in Colorado, heading home for three games and flying to St. Louis before coming back west for their first series of the year at Dodger Stadium. “Considering what we dealt with earlier in the season, it doesn’t seem like it should be overwhelming or anything more than challenging,” Kapler said Sunday. “It’ll definitely be challenging, but I don’t see it as debilitating in any way.”
3. Coors horrors: Good news: The healthy pitchers on the Giants’ staff should be fully rested for their first games this season at mile-high Coors Field after Monday’s off day. Not so good: They are still without Ross Stripling and lost another starter, Alex Wood, to the IL over the weekend. While they have yet to finalize their rotation, the off day allows them to skip Wood’s spot this turn. They will need all the pitching they can get in the thin mountain air, but unlike Mexico City, at least the ballpark has dimensions built for the conditions and, presumably, a functioning humidor. It is the Giants’ first matchup with the Rockies this season, one downside of the balanced schedule: San Francisco has beaten up on Colorado the past two seasons, posting a 29-9 record and a plus-99 run differential.
Who’s hot?
Last 15 days
OF Mike Yastrzemski: 11-for-38, .289/.341/.526, HR, 3B, 4 2B, 9 R
LHP Taylor Rogers: 5 games, 0.00 ERA, 5.1 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 10 K
Who’s not?
Last 15 days
IF Casey Schmitt: 10-for-48, .208/.220/.271, 1 BB, 13 K
RHP Anthony DeSclafani: 1-2, 7.20 ERA, 15 IP, 19 H, 5 BB, 10 K
Injury updates
Joc Pederson (right hand bruise): Expected to be activated Tuesday, which would end a 20-game absence after being hit in the hand with a pitch while squaring to bunt on May 12. Appeared in one rehab game with Single-A San Jose on Friday. Eligible: Now.
Thairo Estrada (left wrist sprain): Also expected to be activated Tuesday, after spending the minimum 10 days on the IL. Participated in normal baseball activities over the home stand. Eligible: Now.
Joey Bart (left groin strain): Batting 2-for-11 through his first three games of a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento. Maximum rehab length for an MLB position player is 20 days, which Giants might try to milk with a difficult roster decision to make upon his return. Eligible: Now.
Ross Stripling (low back strain): Expected to throw a second bullpen session Monday, after throwing 25 pitches Friday in his first action off a mound since leaving his start May 17. Received a cortisone shot in the SI joint in his lower back. Eligible: Now.
Alex Wood (low back strain): Anticipated to miss minimum amount of time. Eligible: June 16.
Originally published at Evan Webeck