Predicting the Giants starting rotation on Opening Day

Giants No. 1 starter: RHP Johnny Cueto

Johnny Cueto is now the unquestioned ace of the Giants staff.

He is the most accomplished pitcher on the team, and if Bumgarner was still around, he almost surely would have been in the No. 2 slot behind him.

He spent most of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he was still able to make four starts at the end of the year and in two of those starts he looked fantastic.

In his first two starts, he went five scoreless innings both times, striking out six and only giving up four hits total.

His next two starts were a different story. He only went six innings total and surrendered nine runs against the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers, two playoff teams.

It probably isn’t wise to read too much into those four starts given they are such a small sample size, but those two scoreless outings provide some level of confidence that Cueto is still capable of being a solid MLB starter.

With another offseason to recuperate from his injury, I anticipate him being the Opening Day starter for the team because of his track record and the fact that he’s the most talented starter on the staff.