SF Giants: Three Key Takeaways from the Rockies Series

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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 26: Buster Posey #28 of the SF Giants hits an rbi double scoring Brandon Belt #9 against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning at Oracle Park on April 26, 2021 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

The SF Giants took the series against the Colorado Rockies after securing a 7-3 win in the rubber match on Wednesday night.

SF Giants: Three Takeaways From the Padres Series

1. The starting pitching remains a strength

Despite the number of high-risk starters the Giants brought in this past offseason, the rotation has emerged as an early strength in 2021. As of Thursday morning, San Francisco starters had combined to post a 2.20 ERA in 25 games, which was the lowest ERA in baseball.

At 8.9 K/9, Giants starters are not consistently racking up high strikeout totals, but they are inducing plenty of weak contact as they have generated a ground ball in 51.3% of batted ball events. Similar to rotation ERA, that ground ball rate ranks as the best in baseball.

The Giants have received solid contributions up and down the rotation even after Johnny Cueto hit the injured list with a lat strain. In the Rockies series, they continued this trend with a couple of impressive performances.

On Monday, Anthony DeSclafani strung together the most impressive performance from a Giants pitcher this year. He recorded a complete-game shutout, needing only 100 pitches to do so. Upon further review, complete games have not been outlawed by Major League Baseball… yet.

The right-handed hurler generated nine strikeouts while allowing only four baserunners to help secure a satisfying 12-0 win.

This was a tough act to follow, but Aaron Sanchez gave the Giants just enough to win while battling erratic command. He yielded two earned runs on just one hit and five walks across 4.2 frames.

Similar to DeSclafani, Alex Wood was nearly unhittable on Wednesday. I mean that literally as he did not allow a hit through the first 5.2 innings of the game. It did look like he ran out of gas at the end of his start as his final stat line included four hits, two walks, two runs, and nine strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Nevertheless, he put the Giants in a position to win and they did not disappoint.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 26: Evan Longoria #10 of the San Francisco Giants hits a two-run rbi double against the Colorado Rockies in the second inning at Oracle Park on April 26, 2021 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

SF Giants: Three Takeaways From the Padres Series

2. The offense had its blowout game

The Giants’ offense has not fully clicked yet, but it did put together its first blowout game of the season. Before Monday’s game, San Francisco often played with very little margin of error and that was due in part to the lack of offense.

At least for one night, that narrative changed. The Giants crossed home plate 12 times on Monday and received notable performances from a handful of key contributors:

Buster Posey: 4-5, 1 HR, 3 runs, and 3 RBI
Austin Slater: 2-5, 1 run
Wilmer Flores: 2-5, 2 runs
Evan Longoria: 2-2, 1 run, and 3 RBI
Mauricio Dubón: 1-2, 4 RBI

Posey and Longoria have been the most consistent hitters and they continued that trend with strong performances on Monday. Posey is looking like the hitter fans remember and his renaissance is changing the dynamic of the lineup.

Similarly, the SF Giants expect Slater, Flores, and Dubón to be reliable role players and none of them have truly got it going. Slater and Flores have had their moment in 2021, but Dubón has struggled mightily at the plate.

Dubón might need a couple more good games to rebuild his confidence, and hopefully, his clutch performance on Monday was a start. It bears mentioning that his baserunning leaves a lot to be desired.

Sometimes, teams need a game like this to really get going and the Giants scored a total of 24 runs in the Rockies series. The offense has looked better and more consistent in recent games and a 12-run outburst could help the bats get going.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – APRIL 21: Camilo Doval #75 of the San Francisco Giants pitches during the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on April 21, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)\ /

SF Giants: Three Takeaways From the Padres Series

3. Camilo Doval has quickly climbed up the bullpen totem pole

It did not take long, nor should it be surprising, but Camilo Doval has quickly emerged as one of the more reliable right-handed options in the bullpen. The Giants signed the hard-throwing reliever as an international free agent in October of 2015, but he remains very light on pro experience.

The canceled minor league season in 2020 was a product of this, but Doval had not pitched above Single-A before this season. It is beginning to look like the 23-year-old will be skipping Double-A and Triple-A entirely as he has quickly gained the confidence of Giants manager Gabe Kapler.

Unfortunately, the SF Giants are light on reliable righties out of the bullpen with Reyes Moronta on the injured list and Matt Wisler off to a rough start. Tyler Rogers has been fantastic, and Doval is becoming the next best option behind the submarine-style pitcher.

In the Rockies series, Doval was called in on a couple of high-leverage moments and he did not disappoint. Doval was called upon in the top of the seventh on Tuesday’s game that was even at 3-3. The righty recorded one strikeout in what was an uneventful inning to preserve the tie.

However, his appearance on Wednesday was even more impressive. Alex Wood battled through the seventh inning, but he struggled to regain the sharpness he had demonstrated earlier in the game. The left-handed pitcher yielded his first run while loading the bases without recording an out before Doval was brought in.

This is a tough situation for any reliever, especially a rookie. With that being said, Doval embraced the challenge. He induced a double play that scored a run followed by a walk and a groundout that ended the inning. This inning could have gone in a bunch of different directions, but the rookie reliever limited the damage while maintaining a 4-2 lead. It was the key moment of the game.

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This series was a confidence booster for Doval and it is clear that he has quickly earned a leverage role in the bullpen. The Giants remain thin on right-handed relievers, but Doval gives them a hard-throwing option to go along with Tyler Rogers’ funkiness.

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