Giants name Gausman Opening Day starter
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> There’s officially a new tone-setter atop the Giants’ starting rotation.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler announced Wednesday that righthander Kevin Gausman will start for the team on Opening Day against the Seattle Mariners at TMobile Park. Fellow right-hander Johnny Cueto started for the Giants on Opening Day last season, but after Cueto posted a 5.40 ERA in 12 outings and battled command is
sues at times this spring, the Giants went in a different direction and tabbed their best pitcher from a season ago.
Gausman’s start on April 1 will mark the second Opening Day nod of his career. He took the ball for the Baltimore Orioles in the opener in 2017, throwing 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball in a 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.
Gausman becomes the Giants’ fourth different Opening Day starter in four seasons, following Cueto in 2020, lefty Ty Blach in 2019 and Madison Bumgarner in 2018. Blach started the seasonopener in 2019 as a fill-in for Bumgarner after the veteran southpaw fractured his hand in his final outing of Cactus League play, forcing him to miss the first two months of the regular season.
With a 3.62 ERA in 12 outings last season, Gausman was the Giants’ most consistent pitcher and performed well enough to receive a one-year, $18.9 million qualifying offer from the organization. Despite receiving interest from multiple teams on multiyear deals, Gausman chose to return to San Francisco, citing his desire to remain with an organization that’s helping him maximize his potential and the chance to work with veteran catcher
Buster Posey.
BELT TO MAKE DEBUT » Giants first baseman Brandon Belt was slated to make his 2021 spring training debut in Wednesday night’s late game against the Padres as a pinch hitter, the club announced. Belt was initially scheduled to be held out of early Cactus League action because he was recovering from an October surgery to remove a right heel spur, but his return to action was delayed after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and mononucleosis prior to the start of spring camp.
The Giants have yet to rule Belt out for Opening Day, but it’s possible he’ll open the season on the injured list for the second consecutive season as he continues to regain his strength and stamina. Kapler has mentioned recently the Giants want to ensure Belt can play the field for a full nine innings and before the team would be comfortable adding him to the roster.
Belt has been a participant in live batting practices where he’s taken multiple at-bats and played some first base at Scottsdale Stadium over the last week, but Wednesday’s game against the Padres marked his first game action.