The MLB midsummer break has ended and teams are pivoting to the future. For the San Francisco Giants, that entails making a push for the postseason. For the Colorado Rockies, it is looking beyond 2024.
The teams will kick off the second half of the season Friday night in Denver.
San Francisco sits nine games back in the National League West but just three games behind the last wild-card spot, so a postseason push is realistic. The Giants finished the first half by going 11-8 to stay in the playoff hunt in manager Bob Melvin’s first year leading the team.
San Francisco has dealt with injuries to its rotation behind Logan Webb and Blake Snell, but a solid bullpen and some key contributions from young players such as Heliot Ramos and Brett Wisely have kept the team from falling out of contention.
The Giants hope to find some stability in their starting staff — which includes getting veterans Robbie Ray and Alex Cobb back from the injured list soon — and getting more from their veterans to keep alive their postseason ambitions.
“There’s some grit, whether it’s the bullpen guys and the innings that they’ve accumulated, whether it’s some guys we’re running out there every day, the younger guys that have come up and been a big part of it,” Melvin said before the All-Star break. “I don’t know that we have a true identity yet. We’ll see once we get whole, but these guys have been fighters.”
The Rockies have shown some of that grit after an 8-28 start but don’t have a realistic shot at reaching the postseason — or .500. Colorado is on pace to lose more than 100 games for the second straight season and may need to make deals at the trade deadline to create room for younger players.
The Rockies have begun to clear roster space for prospects, designating Dakota Hudson, Josh Rogers and Elehuris Montero for assignment. Montero, along with starter Austin Gomber, were the key acquisitions in the deal that sent Nolan Arenado to St. Louis before the start of the 2021 season.
Kris Bryant, who is in the third year of a seven-year, $182 million contract, has played in just 146 of a possible 421 games since signing the deal before the 2022 season, including 24 of 97 games this year. He has not played since suffering an oblique/rib injury at the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 2.
He is eligible to come off the injured list but could remain inactive for the weekend series.
Michael Toglia took advantage of Bryant’s absence leading up to the All-Star break, homering five times in the last four games, three of which came at the New York Mets on Sunday. He leads the team with 16 home runs despite playing in just 51 games.
“I feel pretty awesome,” Toglia said after going deep three times. “It’s extremely rare so when it does happen, all you can do is try to enjoy it.”
The Giants have yet to name a starter for Friday, while Colorado will go with Cal Quantrill (6-7, 4.13 ERA). The right-hander has a stellar track record against San Francisco, going 3-0 with a 2.73 ERA in five career starts.
–Field Level Media
