Gausman awarded Opening Night start
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — After a sterling first season with the Giants, Kevin Gausman was rewarded with an $18.9 million qualifying offer and Wednesday, the team gave him another nice perk: He’ll start Opening Night at Seattle next Thursday.
“I think it’s a huge honor for Kevin, and very welldeserved based on his performance last year, and some of his lightsout outings already this spring,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “It’s always a nice conversation for a manager to have, too, so I’m really excited to watch him pitch” Opening Night.
Maybe not quite such a fun conversation, one might think, with Johnny Cueto, who has 13 years of service time and who started last year’s opener for the Giants, plus four openers with the Reds. Kapler said that the talk actually went very well, calling it “one of our best. We continue to work toward a relationship that includes really crisp, healthy, consistent communication. And I think he is in an understanding place.”
Gausman, who started Baltimore’s opener in 2017, put up a 3.62 ERA last season. He struck out 79 and walked 16 in 592⁄3 innings. The Mariners will start lefty Marco Gonzales, who was 72 with a 3.10 ERA last year and walked only seven in 692⁄3 innings.
Gausman has allowed five earned runs on 11 hits in eight innings this spring, striking out seven and walking one.
Logan Webb is in line to start the third game, though the Giants have not announced the rotation beyond Gausman and Cueto, but Webb hasn’t allowed a run all spring and has struck out 17 while walking just one in four starts. Anthony DeSclafani is pitching the day after Webb and the fifthstarter spot remains unclear, with Aaron Sanchez and Alex Wood the top contenders.
⏩ Brandon Belt (coronavirus, mono) got his first atbat of the spring and struck out in the Giants’ 73 win over the Padres on Wednesday night. “Physically, I feel really good,” he said. “At the plate, I feel godawful.”
⏩ Donovan Solano and Austin Slater both homered for the second consecutive day. Mike Yastremski and Joey Bart also went deep. Desclafani allowed a run, four hits and a walk and struck out eight in four innings. ⏩ Kapler said that the Giants have no plans to use Buster Posey at first base this season. ⏩ The Giants made some roster moves, including a surprising one: Jason Vosler, who got off to one of the hottest starts in camp but who has cooled recently, was optioned, as was lefthander Sam Selman. Reassigned were these nonroster men: righthander Silvino Bracho, righthander Rico Garcia, lefty Phil Pfeifer and outfielder Joe McCarthy.