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San Francisco Giants: Meet the New Faces to an Old Rivalry

By Sean Bialaszek

Apr 5, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (47) pauses before making a pitch in the seventh inning during the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Cueto pitched 7 innings to pick up the win as the Giants beat the Brewers 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (47) pauses before making a pitch in the seventh inning during the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Cueto pitched 7 innings to pick up the win as the Giants beat the Brewers 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /
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Another year has started, which means the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers get to renew their rivalry with some new faces.

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For many, many years, the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers have had a heated rivalry. Even from their time as the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, the two teams have butted heads competing for pennants. That didn’t change when they both moved west in 1958, and the California sun has continued to heat the rivalry. Their matchups have become must-see baseball, and they’ll start a four-game series in the first week of the season. Let’s take a chance to meet some of the new faces to the age-old rivalry.

Only two new Giants will get their first look at the Dodgers as part of the rivalry. New leadoff man and center fielder Denard Span has faced Los Angeles 10 times over the first eight years of his career, but the games take on an added meaning when he takes the field wearing the orange and black against them for the first time.

The Giants’ big fish acquisition, pitcher Johnny Cueto, gets the call in the series finale on Sunday, making not only his debut in the rivalry but his first start in AT&T Park in front of his new home crowd. In three previous starts in San Francisco, Cueto is 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA and 1.031 WHIP. He hasn’t fared as well against the Dodgers, but his 2-5 record in eight starts isn’t entirely indicative of the poor run support and bullpen help he received. He owns a 2.79 ERA and 1.117 WHIP against Los Angeles.

Injuries hit the Dodgers hard in Spring Training, and they began the year with 10 players on the disabled list. As a result, there’s a lot of new pieces to the rivalry wearing Dodger blue. Scott Kazmir will oppose Cueto in the series finale in his second start with the Dodgers. Joe Blanton is in his second stint with the Dodgers, and lost in both starts against the Giants in 2012. Blanton is pitching out of the Dodgers’ bullpen this time around.

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Rookie Ross Stripling will make his major league debut in the second game of the series, being thrown right into the fire that is constantly burning between these two teams. He earned one of the team’s rotation spots left open because of injury with a solid Spring Training performance.

Charlie Culberson is a familiar face to the Giants, but he’s with the enemy these days. One of the Giants’ first-round draft picks in 2007, Culberson made his big league debut in 2012, playing in six games for the Giants before being dealt to the Colorado Rockies in the Marco Scutaro trade (a trade the Giants totally won). Culberson didn’t meet the Dodgers in 2012, but in two years with the Rockies, he faced Los Angeles 18 times and San Francisco 16 times.

Another guy that may be familiar with the area is new Dodgers’ outfielder Trayce Thompson. Thompson is the younger brother of Golden State Warriors’ guard Klay Thompson, and after beginning his big league career with the Chicago White Sox last season, he’s now with the much-hated Dodgers.

Long time Kansas City Royals’ reliever Louis Coleman now makes up part of the Dodgers’ mix and match bullpen as well.

And finally, there’s a new man running the show for the Dodgers. Dave Roberts is the new Los Angeles manager, but he is no stranger to this rivalry. Roberts played two seasons for both Los Angeles and San Francisco in the 2000’s. In his 10-year career, Roberts hit .267 in 71 games against the Giants, and .326 in 51 games against the Dodgers.

Next: Giants Opening Day Roster Facts and Tidbits

One of each team’s big offseason pitching acquisitions won’t appear in the series. Giants’ free agent signee Jeff Samardzija and Dodgers’ international free agent Kenta Maeda both pitched in their respective team’s series finale, and will have to wait to get their first taste of rivalry action.

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