San Francisco Giants Head to the Mile High City to face Rockies

Three Things to Watch:

The first of three things to watch is the potential debut of Dereck Rodriguez. The former outfielder, converted to pitcher, and son of hall of fame catcher, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, has been called up to the big leagues according to his instagram account. With Suarez starting today, they could be using him on the Taxi Squad today, optioning Suarez back somewhere, and inserting Rodriguez into the team as a potential long man until MadBum comes back.

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Rodriguez has made nine starts in Sacramento and posted a 3.40 ERA, while striking out 53 in 51 innings, and only walking 11. That K/BB ratio combined with his WHIP should bode well for the guy whose been a pitcher for four years now.

The next big thing to watch is Mac Williamson’s new swing at Coors Field. We all know it’s a hitters’ paradise. But Mac’s swing plays with mega power at AT&T, meaning he could probably look at a baseball and put it ten rows deep in the left field bleachers. Kidding. But I’d like to see if he could get close to the “RockPile” seats in center field. He’s had a couple of hits since coming back from the concussion, and his RBI numbers look nice. A few games at Coors Field seems like just what the confidence doctor ordered for Mac.

The last thing to watch for on the Giants’ end is how the pitching holds up. As I mentioned before, the Giants don’t have starters going six outside of Derek Holland. That doesn’t bode well. Especially going into Coors, which is always a taxing series for the bullpen. The Giants need to be smart with how they utilize their pen, and the bats are going to have to help the staff out as well.

The Rockies, at home, are hitting better than they are on the road. That would be obvious. But the Giants really have to keep them in check, and get to the Rockies starters as early as possible.

Next: Should MadBum come back early?

Predictions

I think the Giants are going to come out on top in this series. It took the Rockies a twelve inning game to not lose 3/4 in the last series against them, and in the final two days, the Giants had their way with the Rockies pitching. Dare I say they sweep them in Colorado? I don’t think that could happen. However, I could definitely see them taking 2/3. So my prediction is the Giants gain a game in this series, keep themselves two out, and win this series 2-1.