San Francisco Giants: Opening Day Roster Facts and Tidbits

Opening Day is finally here for the San Francisco Giants, and in just a few short, but incredibly tedious hours, they will take the field to face the Milwaukee Brewers and open their campaign with high hopes for some more even year magic.

The Giants’ opening day roster has been set for a few days, and there’s some interesting facts and tidbits within that roster. In preparation for another season of America’s Pastime, here are some of those facts and tidbits.

Madison Bumgarner is the ninth Giants’ pitcher, and the youngest, to start at least three straight Opening Days

With his third consecutive Opening Day start, Bumgarner joins a list that includes some pretty impressive names. Carl Hubbell and Juan Marichal (who started six straight season openers at one point) are the two most famous names on the list, but they are joined by Livan Hernandez, John Montefusco, Johnny Antonelli, Bill Voiselle, Larry Jansen, and Tim Lincecum. Bumgarner is the youngest of this group, beating Tim Lincecum by just over a month in age.

Bumgarner is the youngest of all 13 Giants’ pitchers

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Just to harp on how young Bumgarner is, he enters his eighth season as the Giants’ youngest pitcher. That’s right, in his eighth season as big leaguer, Bumgarner is younger than every single one of his counterparts. Bumgarner also made his debut before five of his older teammates. Cory Gearrin and George Kontos debuted in 2011, Hunter Strickland and Chris Heston in 2014, and Josh Osich in 2015.

All six Giants’ infielders are under 30 years old; all four outfielders are over 30

The Giants’ youth movement in the infield is striking. Shortstop Brandon Crawford is the elder statesman of the group, at 29 years old and not turning 30 until next January. His Brandon compatriot, Brandon Belt is 27, and Ehire Adrianza is 26. Joe Panik, Matt Duffy, and Kelby Tomlinson are all 25 years old. Beyond them and in the outfield, all four Giants are over 30. Denard Span, Gregor Blanco, and Hunter Pence are each 32, but Pence’s birthday comes up in nine days. Angel Pagan is the senior outfielder, at 34 years old and turning 35 in July. Also, all the infielders are homegrown talent, while the outfielders come from outside the organization.

Javier Lopez is the only Giant born in the 1970’s

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Time just keeps ticking on, but Javier Lopez keeps holding Father Time at bay. He’s the oldest Giant, the only child of the ’70’s in the group, but is coming off one of his finest seasons and will be a large piece in the bullpen for another season. The next youngest Giant is Lopez’s bullpen mate and fellow “Core Four” member Santiago Casilla, and he’s three years and two weeks Lopez’s junior.

19 former Giants’ big leaguers are on Opening Day rosters around the league

The former Giants are spread around the league, but the Cleveland Indians have the most with four men who formerly donned the orange and black. Rajai Davis, Marlon Byrd, Dan Otero, and Juan Uribe all call Cleveland home now. The Pittsburgh Pirates are next with three, including Chris Stewart, Michael Morse, and Ryan Vogelsong. The Atlanta Braves are the other team with multiple former Giants, with Jeff Francoeur and A.J. Pierzynski (who has been away from San Francisco for 12 years) on the opening squad. The rest are scattered around the league, and they are:

Pablo Sandoval (Boston Red Sox)
Melky Cabrera (Chicago White Sox)
Adam Duvall (Cincinnati Reds)
Charlie Culberson (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Alejandro De Aza (New York Mets)
Carlos Beltran (New York Yankees)
Emmanuel Burriss (Philadelphia Phillies)
Nori Aoki (Seattle Mariners)
Mike Leake (St. Louis Cardinals)
Yusmeiro Petit (Washington Nationals)

Next: San Francisco Giants and the Road to the Show

Enjoy another season, Giants’ fans, and Let’s Go Giants!

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