SF Giants set Opening Day starting rotation with Landen Roupp winning final spot

Young SF Giants hurler Landen Roupp had a strong spring and earned the final rotation spot, beating out Hayden Birdsong. What does the rest of the Opening Day starting rotation look like?

SF Giants set Opening Day starting rotation with Landen Roupp winning final spot

It bears mentioning that the Opening Day rosters, lineups, and rotations tend to receive a disprotionate amount of analysis. It is just one game in a 162-game season with many teams hoping to play beyond that.

This is to say that the starting rotation at the beginning of the year will look different than the one at the end of the year. While Birdsong will not begin the year in the rotation, there is a good chance he will get plenty of starts this season. Teams rely on more than just five starters to fill out the rotation.

Nevertheless, it is bitter pill for many Giants fans to swallow given the upside Birdsong has flashed. He was certainly deserving of a rotation spot after he yielded just one earned run with 18 strikeouts and zero walks in 12 frames this spring. These numbers do not include his rough outing in an exhibition game against the Sacramento River Cats on Sunday.

There was only one rotation spot available and Roupp threw the ball just as well as Birdsong. He allowed five earned run with 14 strikeouts and one walk in 12 innings during the Cactus League. This did not go on Roupp's ledger, but he also struck out 13 batters in a minor league game a couple of weeks ago.

Roupp will join a rotation that has been set in stone since before spring training began. Logan Webb, Justin Verlander, Robbie Ray, and Jordan Hicks will fill out the first four rotation spots followed by Roupp. That does look like the order the Giants will begin the year with, as Webb is slated to take the ball on Opening Day against the Cincinnati Reds.

Verlander and Ray have followed Webb in the rotation in spring training, with the latter starting the penultimate game this spring. Hicks completed five innings in the final preseason game on Tuesday. The routines have been set, and it is tough to break them at this point in the year.