Colorado Rockies Opponent Preview: San Francisco Giants

The Colorado Rockies face the San Francisco Giants in a three-game series beginning on Tuesday at Coors Field. With that in mind, we reached out to Gary Oversen, the editor of the Giants-affiliated FanSided site, Around the Foghorn, for his thoughts on what the Giants will bring to LoDo this week.

The Giants currently lead the National League West with a 5-2 mark while the Rockies sit 1.5 games back at 3-3.

To see what I said about the Rockies heading into this series, click here to visit Around the Foghorn for those answers.

What has been the biggest surprise for the Giants this season?

Honestly, it’s the calmness of the team when they get down. The pitching staff knows that they have an offense that can explode at any time … and the explosion isn’t necessarily home runs. It could be a string of singles that puts the defense and opposing pitcher on their heels. This is just a good group of professional hitters. Also, while I thought he would recover nicely this year, Matt Cain’s first start was very promising, so it is somewhat of a surprise to some.

What has been the biggest disappointment for the Giants this season?

So far, the only starters hitting under .250 are Matt Duffy (.241) and Denard Span (.214). But Span just went 2­-for-5, and Duffy has hit two home runs, so that isn’t really a disappointment yet. With the small sample size, Jake Peavy’s outing was a little disturbing, simply because he gave up 10 hits and lasted just five innings. He and Cain are back-­to-­back in the rotation and it taxes the bullpen when they don’t last deeper into games.

What does Sunday’s comeback win over the Dodgers say about this year’s team?

The character in the clubhouse is one of playing like you’ve been there before. None of this seems like a surprise to the team. They play hard for nine innings, and understand the “game at a time, inning at a time” approach. After a somewhat tough loss the night before, the team could have packed it in after the first inning and maybe even think about getting Buster Posey some rest. But it was so early, and they just have this die­hard attitude. The entire series was like a prize fight, and it came down to a couple of haymakers by the Giants to pull it out. That first inning Sunday was tough to watch though.

The Rockies and Giants rank 1 and 2 in MLB in terms of home runs hit this season. Are you expecting that trend to continue this week at Coors Field?

I expect two out of the three games to be high­-scoring. Both teams are featuring the back­end of the rotation in the series, so there is a good chance that the bullpens will be getting a lot of work. So yes, I believe that the two teams will continue to be one and two. I’m just not sure who will be first when the series is over.

Who’s the one player that you expect to make a difference during this series for the Giants?

Brandon Belt. His first home run was hit Sunday, and Belt is a streaky hitter. His contract extension was finalized over the weekend, and he is healthy. All signs point to big things in the near future. And in that air, you never know. Also, Span is starting to see the ball better.

Next: Are We Overreacting to Colorado's Bullpen Woes?

From an opponent perspective, what do you think of Trevor Story’s debut?

It is always big news when a young hitter knows his strike zone and how to attack it this early in his career. But his numbers in the minors indicated that something like this was coming, obviously not to this extent. Story has made people watch the Colorado Rockies to see what he is going to do at the plate. That is always a good thing for the team’s exposure.