The Giants and Mets are set to feature a couple of marquee pitching matchups over the next couple of days at Citi Field. You could even argue that baseball’s top two 1-2 pitching punches will be going head-to-head.
Rain forced Monday’s series opener to be postponed, but Giants ace Logan Webb and Mets ace Max Scherzer are set to duel in Tuesday’s Game 2, which is scheduled to take place 40 minutes after the 12:10 p.m. PT matchup concludes. In Wednesday night’s contest, Giants southpaw Carlos Rodón will face former A’s righty Chris Bassitt, who is off to a blazing start with the Mets.
Giants insider Dave Flemming joined 95.7 The Game’s “The Morning Roast” Monday to break down the potential of the Webb/Rodón duo. Check out the full interview above.
Giants President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi didn’t make any nine-figure signings in the offseason. The two-year, $44 million deal used to lure Rodón was the richest contract they needed to fill out their impressive, veteran-laden rotation.
The 29-year-old southpaw has been lights out in two starts with San Francisco, racking up a National League-best 21 strikeouts in 12 innings while allowing just two runs on five hits and four walks. Rodón’s 15.8 K/9 rate is tops in baseball.
“I’ve been astonished,” Flemming told hosts Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky. “I just didn’t have any idea and I should have. I work in MLB, I should know. But I just hadn’t seen enough of this guy up close to know how talented he is. He is incredible.”
According to Baseball Savant, Rodón has relied mostly on a 97 mph four-seamer, which he throws 58.7 percent of the time. He also mixes in a nasty slider 31.8 percent of the time and a curveball 9.5 percent of the time. His approach is built off his fastball and his ability to attack hitters is uncanny.
“I think he’s got the best power stuff any Giants left-hander has ever had,” Flemming said. “It’s probably not close. I don’t wanna go overboard here, but you could make an argument with (Mets righty Jacob) DeGrom hurt – who’s got a better stuff in the big leagues? His fastball alone to me, is like the best weapon any pitcher has right now going.”
Peak Madison Bumgarner might want to have a word with Flemming, but he’s got a point. Randy Johnson was well past his prime when he played in a Giants uniform. Rodón is something special.
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Granted, it’s only been two starts. Flemming also acknowledged the inherent risk with Rodón. Last season with the White Sox, only six of his 24 starts were made on normal four days’ rest as he dealt with shoulder fatigue.
“There’s a reason why the White Sox didn’t give him a giant contract to keep him around,” Flemming said. “He had a hard time staying healthy. The performance didn’t stabilize over a long enough period and they weren’t willing to take the risk. But already, this guy’s paid off for the Giants. It’s just incredible, the talent that they picked up in this guy. He’s amazing.”
Webb, meanwhile, has struck out 10 batters and walked just one over 14 innings. Webb and Rodón have a combined 1.38 ERA, 0.73 WHIP with 31 strikeouts and five walks in 28 innings. The Scherzer/Bassitt combo has a combined 1.96 ERA, 0.87 WHIP with 27 strikeouts and seven walks in 23 innings. Runs could be at a premium for these part of contests in the four-game set.
Looking down the road, Flemming says the 7-2 Giants are built better for the postseason with Webb and Rodón leading the rotation in a series.
“They are better equipped this time with that guy,” Flemming said. “No offense to Kevin Gausman, who was a great pitcher for the Giants for a couple years – Kevin did great work here. But in terms of a playoff 1-2 punch – especially if you’re gonna face a team that has a split where they really hit right-handed or left-handed pitching – to have both those guys? If they’re both performing at a high level going into the playoffs, for me it is a big advantage to have both a righty and a lefty that you trust in those spots.”
