CINCINNATI — It’s a pretty fair assessment to suggest the Giants will go as far as their rotation takes them. An effective bullpen? A clean defense? Timely hitting? Yes, everything’s calculated into the formula, but it starts with the starters, the guys who are trusted to carry the load on the mound, who set the momentum every time out.
Through the first three games of the 2025 season, Logan Webb, Justin Verlander, and Robbie Ray all pitched well enough to carry the Giants in position to victory.
Especially Ray, whose primary goal for this season was simply to be physically OK after his long road back from Tommy John surgery. He returned to the mound late last season and was so-so over seven starts.
Sunday at Great American Ball Park, he was absolutely perfect in his season debut through five innings. Then the sixth inning happened, and things turned wacky.
Still, Ray’s the only Giants starter among the top three to hand a lead to the bullpen. It was 4-3, Giants, when he walked off in the sixth, and it was 6-3 when it ended — the Giants took two of three in Cincinnati, making for a happy flight to Houston.
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“Coming out of this with a series win is huge for the team,” Ray said. “We’re not complacent with where we’re at. There are things to work on, there are things to get better, and that’s the thing about all three of us. We’re going to work hard to get better. If this is what we’re building off of, then it’s going to be exciting.”
Relying on a fastball that touched 95.2 mph, a dominant slider, and a new changeup he learned from Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, last year’s American League Cy Young Award winner, Ray cruised through five perfect innings on 61 pitches and seemed destined to last seven.
But the first pitch in the sixth was grounded up the middle by Gavin Lux. The next batter made an out, though it took a spectacular play by third baseman Matt Chapman, who robbed Blake Dunn of a hit down the line — it wasn’t even Chapman’s best play of the day. From there, chaos ensued. Ray’s 1-2 pitch to Austin Wynns was delivered too late, a violation of the pitch-clock rule, and he was charged with an automatic ball. Next pitch, Wynns clobbered it over the left-field wall, a two-run homer, and Matt McLain followed with another homer.
Ray walked his next batter and was pulled. He went from perfection to discombobulation.
“I was frustrated. I didn’t think it was a violation,” Ray said. “I was pretty sure I started [the windup] before they got to zero. It was definitely frustrating, because it messed up my pitch sequencing in that at-bat. Then I left a pitch up. But we move on. We won. A big series to start the season. That’s all that matters right now.”
It’s early, but it appears the rotation is in far better shape than a year ago at this time. Remember, Blake Snell was to help anchor the 2024 rotation but was not ready to pitch when the season opened — he was 0-3 with an 11.57 ERA in three April starts, and only in the second half was he his old self.
Furthermore, Alex Cobb and Ray were supposed to join the rotation late last summer, but Cobb got traded to Cleveland and Ray wasn’t much of a factor. Kyle Harrison was the No. 2 starter behind Webb, and Keaton Winn was No. 4. Both young pitchers now are at Triple-A Sacramento because there was no room in this year’s rotation. Plus both spent spring training trying to build back strength after rehabbing from injuries.
So in theory, this year’s rotation has the potential to be far deeper, though more will be known in the coming days. Jordan Hicks makes his season debut Monday in Houston. Hayden Birdsong, who had a solid spring competing for the fifth rotation spot and is temporarily in long relief, will be available out of the bullpen if Hicks’ start is brief.
Landen Roupp, the fifth starter, won’t pitch the fifth game Tuesday. That assignment will go to Webb on regular four days’ rest — Roupp had been sent to the Giants’ Arizona complex on Friday to face hitters and won’t start until Wednesday.
The Giants are off Thursday and play their home opener Friday against Seattle. Verlander, seeking his 263rd win, and Ray will start the first two home games.
Sunday, Ray benefited from homers by Heliot Ramos and Matt Chapman and a Jung Hoo Lee RBI double, giving the Giants a 4-0 lead. The defense also stood out, from LaMonte Wade Jr. at first base to Ramos in left field and especially Chapman. When the Reds were threatening in the eighth, Chapman gloved Santiago Espinal’s grounder, tagged runner Jacob Hurtubise and threw a strike to first base for an inning-ending double play.
“Nobody else makes that play,” manager Bob Melvin said, “where you even have the presence to think about going to get to the runner and then on the run make that throw to first base. There’s so much riding on that. He does that often. You can’t get callous to it because it’s special.”
The Giants scored two unearned runs in the eighth after shortstop Elly De La Cruz’s error. With closer Ryan Walker dealing with a back issue, Camilo Doval pitched the ninth and earned the save.
“Obviously, we expect to win every game, but to win every series, that’s our goal, especially on the road early in the season,” Chapman said. “It’s tough. Emotions are high. Everybody’s excited. Everybody’s still kind of getting settled in. So to be able to come out of this series with two wins — and I believe that that’s going to be a good [Reds] team — it’s big for us.”