SF Giants dealt curveball ahead of Saturday's game against the Colorado Rockies

Tomoyuki Sugano was originally tabbed to start Saturday's game against the SF Giants. However, according to a team announcement, Sugano has been scratched with back spasms and replaced with young lefty Sean Sullivan.

Sugano has a 4.80 ERA in 16 starts for the Rockies this season. He is not a hard thrower, with a fastball that sits in the low 90's, but he can throw a number of pitches for strikes.

The Giants were not expecting to see premium velocity today, and that does not change all that much with Sullivan. In fact, he throws a pair of fastballs that sit comfortably below 90 MPH.

That said, Sullivan checks off all the boxes that tend to give the Giants lineup trouble. He is a soft-tossing lefty that they have not seen before. It feels like a bit at this point, but this has typically been a tough matchup for the Giants for a long time. Sullivan was originally a second-round pick by the Rockies in the 2023 draft out of Wake Forest University.

The SF Giants have struggled badly against left-handed pitchers they have not seen before

The southpaw pitcher has made four starts, pitching to an 8.64 ERA with 12 strikeouts and nine walks in 16.2 frames. He is very much a pitch-to-contact starter. His secondaries, including a sweeper and changeup, generate low whiff rates, and his control is shaky.

On the other hand, the Giants have not been particularly strong against left-handed pitching. That was an issue last season, and they did little to address it this year. They are slashing .249/.301/.384 (90 wRC+) with a 6.5 percent walk rate, 22.9 percent strikeout rate, and .134 ISO in those matchups this season. The 90 wRC+ against left-handed pitching is 21st in baseball.

The Giants' roster is not necessarily designed to take advantage of platoons, so it leads to a lot of suboptimal matchups. That said, Casey Schmitt (135 wRC+), Heliot Ramos (121 wRC+), and Jung Hoo Lee (120 wRC+) have all performed well in those matchups this year. Willy Adames (63 wRC+) and Rafael Devers (58 wRC+) have struggled badly against southpaws.

The Giants will tab Robbie Ray for today's start. Ray has not allowed an earned run in his previous starts, spanning 22.1 innings. Overall, he has a 3.39 ERA in 17 appearances this year. The Giants will likely look to move the veteran pitcher ahead of this year's trade deadline.

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The SF Giants have struggled badly against left-handed pitchers they have not seen before

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