Gausman makes first appearance of spring

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> It’s not a stretch to say the Giants built their rotation on hope.

They hope Johnny Cueto can pitch like he did in his prime, they hope disappointing 2020 seasons were just aberrations for Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood and they hope Aaron Sanchez can finally regain the form he showed prior to injuries that have wrecked his career.

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler have reason to believe that all four of those pitchers can be valuable assets in 2021, but only one of their projected starting pitchers was actually valuable last year: Kevin Gausman.

The Giants can’t just hope Gausman has a good season. They need him to deliver.

After Gausman posted a 3.62 ERA and made 10 starts for the Giants in an abbreviated 2020 season, the right-hander agreed to return to San Francisco. Even if their longest-tenured pitcher, Cueto, starts on Opening Day, there’s little doubt the Giants view Gausman as their best starter. Those type of expectations can weigh on a player, but Gausman says they don’t change how he’ll approach the season.

“You just go about your work and do whatever you’ve got to do for opening week,” Gausman said Friday.

The right-hander finally debuted Friday against the Colorado Rockies at Scottsdale Stadium. He only needed 18 pitches to navigate two scoreless innings and was able to pitch around a second-inning double to keep Colorado off the board in the 9-8 Giants’ win. BRANDON BELT TAKES BATTING PRACTICE >> Nearly three weeks after pitchers and catchers first reported to spring training, Brandon Belt took batting practice on the main field for the first time. The Giants tweeted a video of Belt in the cage and the first baseman looked to be swinging freely and comfortably after battling a non-COVIDrelated illness that’s held him out of action.