San Francisco Giants Set Roster; Season Outlook
It’s here! It’s finally here! The greatest holiday in a baseball fans’ life, Opening Day, is here. The San Francisco Giants had some tough choices to make as they prepared their roster for the occasion, but after much debate among the fanbase and writers, they made their final decision. The opening day roster shapes up like this:
C – Buster Posey, Hector Sanchez
IF – Joaquin Arias, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Matt Duffy, Casey McGehee, Joe Panik
OF – Nori Aoki, Gregor Blanco, Justin Maxwell, Angel Pagan
Rotation – Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, Jake Peavy, Tim Hudson, Tim Lincecum
Bullpen – Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla, George Kontos, Javier Lopez, Jean Machi, Yusmeiro Petit, Sergio Romo, Ryan Vogelsong
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Duffy turned out to be the feel good story of the Spring for the Giants. He absolutely tore the cover off the ball during exhibition games, leading the team in average (.361), RBI (15), and tied for the lead in home runs (three). He also totaled four doubles and two triples. He played his way on to the roster, and has begun to take reps in the outfield, as well as being a utility infielder, so he will find his way into the lineup a little more this season.
But with Duffy’s triumph comes another man’s downfall. Ehire Adrianza did not make the Giants’ opening day squad, and because he is out of minor league options, he has been designated for assignment. The utility infielder will be put through waivers, and it seems likely that a team who needs infield help (Baltimore Orioles, maybe?) will claim him. If that doesn’t happen, he can go back to Triple-A with the Giants.
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The rotation is far from set, as Peavy is going through a prolonged battle with dead arm. Vogelsong has been rumored to take his spot the first time through the rotation, and it’s possible the Giants could go with a six-man rotation for the first couple weeks. Another possibility is to let Peavy continue to rest, and just keep Vogelsong in his spot.
When things with Peavy sort themselves out, the Giants will feature an eight-man bullpen, with Vogelsong joining Petit as the long-men. Kontos and Machi were battling tooth and nail for the final job in the pen, but rather than cutting one loose, the Giants opted to keep the pair.
Both pitchers are out of options, and it seems likely that at some point in the near future, one will be removed to make room on the roster, because the team will need the bench depth. When Hunter Pence returns from the disabled list, expect his roster spot to come from the bullpen.
Joining Pence on the disabled list is 2014’s postseason hero, Travis Ishikawa. He dealt with a back issue for the latter part of Spring, and his trip to the DL made the decision to keep both Machi and Kontos much easier.
Erik Cordier is also headed to the disabled list to start the season, as he’s battling a forearm strain. When Cordier comes off the list, the Giants will have a decision to make regarding him. He’s also out of minor league options, so the Giants will either have to keep Cordier in the major league bullpen, or send him through waivers as well.
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Cain, Pagan, and Hudson, who are all coming off surgeries either last season or in the offseason, are on the roster and look like a full go when the seasons starts.
Cain is cleared for about 100 pitches when he makes his season debut, after throwing 79 in his final Spring tune-up. Pagan began playing full games toward the end of Spring Training, and his swing started to come around as well. He was running easily also, both in the field and around the bases. Hudson ended Spring Training by throwing five shutout innings against the Athletics in the Spring finale. There’s a lot of optimism and hope that these guys can come back strong to help the Giants’ title defense.
The Giants’ 2015 opening day roster features 17 players who were on the opening day squad in 2014. The team has had a stable core for a while now, and that looks to continue this season.
There are a lot of question surrounding the Giants as they begin their third World Series title defense in five years. But only one team can claim to be the defending champions. The Giants will work hard with Bruce Bochy running the show to break the “odd year curse”, and prove everyone wrong again.