Gausman makes case to start season opener
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Maybe the Giants don’t have their rotation entirely set to open the season, though right now it certainly appears to start with Johnny Cueto, Kevin Gausman and Anthony DeSclafani.
Cueto didn’t fare well in his outing Tuesday night, and though Gausman got hit around a little bit more in his second spring start Wednesday than he had in his first, some of that was because of an error by shortstop Will Wilson that led to two unearned runs.
Based on a normal everyfivedays schedule, either Cueto or Gausman would be available to go April 1 at Seattle.
“Obviously, it’d be a huge honor,” Gausman said after allowing three hits in 21⁄3 innings in the Giants’ 118 win over the Rockies at Salt River Fields. “At the same time, whether I pitch the second day or the third day, it’s still my first outing of the season, so I’ll feel honored just taking the ball.”
Gausman was the Giants’ top starter last season, and they brought him back on a oneyear, $18.9 million qualifying offer. Catcher Curt Casali referred to him as the team’s ace during a video call Wednesday.
Cueto is the veteran leader among the starters, and many teams like to reward seniority. Pitching Opening Night is a nice honor, but the top priority for teams is maximizing the number of starts they get from their best pitchers, which is seldom determined by what the rotation looks like the first week.
Cueto has allowed 12 hits and eight earned runs in 71⁄3 innings over his three starts; Gausman has given up four his and three runs, one earned, in 41⁄3 innings.
“The first inning, he breezed through. The second, there was a little hiccup with the error,” Casali said. “In terms of his competitiveness, I thought it was really good . ... Overall, I thought he was right where he needs to be.”
Gausman — who came out of the second with two on and one out, then went back in for the third inning — said his issue Wednesday was failing to get some fastballs high enough in the zone, something for which Casali blamed himself. Both were happy with Gausman’s splitfinger fastball, and Casali noted that Gausman’s slider is better now than when Casali caught him with the Reds two years ago, “which is really cool, a different wrinkle to the mix.”
⏩ The Giants racked up 15 hits Wednesday, led by Alex Dickerson, who had three hits, including a monster solo homer to center in the eighth. Austin Slater had two hits, including a double, and is 4for10. Utilityman Jason Krizan, who was at second, was 3for3.
⏩ It wasn’t the best day for some bullpen hopefuls: Zack Littell allowed three hits and a run, Trevor Gott three hits, a walk and two runs, Yunior Marte two hits and a run and Camilo Doval a run in the ninth, though a twoout flyball to center field that was ruled a double appeared to be catchable.
⏩ Speaking of which, the Giants’ 19 errors lead the majors this spring after two more Wednesday — two more than any other club. “It’s just not good enough, frankly,” said manager Gabe Kapler, emphasizing that the team’s fielders need to be more aggressive. “We have to do a better job on defense, both to record outs and to protect our pitchers. We just haven’t been good . ... And there is some urgency at this point. We’re getting closer to Opening Day, and we want our defense to be as tight as possible.”