Colorado Rockies opponent insider preview: San Francisco Giants

Today, we continue our tour around the National League West and meet the foes that will battle the Colorado Rockies for the 2018 division crown. In this article, we will take a look at the San Francisco Giants.

Daniel Sperry, a co-expert at Around The Foghorn, our FanSided cousins who cover the Giants, took time out of his schedule to answer five questions from us. His responses to our questions are below…

Rox Pile: The Giants made a lot of news in the offseason. Which player will have a bigger impact on the Giants this season … Andrew McCutchen or Evan Longoria? Why?

DS: I think it will end up being Andrew McCutchen and mainly because I think his bat will produce more for the Giants than Longoria’s will. Longo will be a nice constant at third base, with both his defense and a consistent plate approach, but McCutchen looks like he’s been ready for the season to start since he got to Arizona. He’s locked in and in a contract year, which makes me think it will end up being him.

Rox Pile: Let’s talk about the Madison Bumgarner injury. What effect does this have on the rotation and the team’s psyche?

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DS: I actually think the timing of it will boost their psyche. Derek Holland has been calling out Giants fans for doubting them and saying the season is over, and I think they’re mentally in a better place to start. Last year when they lost him, they weren’t in a good mental place. Timing is everything and I think they’ll be OK.

The worry is that they play the Dodgers 10 times in April. The upside to that is that the Dodgers will likely be at their weakest through that point, so we’ll see how bad it hurts them in the standings. As long as they escape through April around .500, they’ll be in good shape.

Rox Pile: Jeff Samardzija is also out with an injury to start the season. Can the Giants rotation survive these two big losses?

DS: I still think it can. The question is if they feel confident enough in Samardzija returning quickly and in a strong fashion. If they don’t, they’re likely wheeling and dealing for someone. If they do think he’ll come back strong, then we’ll get a chance to see Tyler Beede and/or Andrew Suarez.

They don’t need a fifth starter for the first two weeks of the season though, so that bodes well for them. They have time to get a fifth guy into the rotation. I ultimately believe in Ty Blach, Chris Stratton, and Holland to hold down the fort long enough.