2/28 Gamethread: Let’s do that baseball!

Welcome to the first gamethread of the year. We won’t be having these for every spring training contest, but tonight’s exciting, televised matchup seemed like the perfect time for the first gamethread of 2020.

Who/what/where/when

Who: San Francisco Giants (4-2-1) vs. Colorado Rockies (3-2)
When: 6:05 p.m. PT
TV: MLB Network and NBC Sports Bay Area

Lineups

First the (BOOOOOOOO) Rockies:

1. Raimel Tapia - LF
2. Chris Owings - 3B
3. Daniel Murphy - 1B
4. Ryan McMahon - 2B
5. Sam Hilliard - RF
6. Garrett Hampson - SS
7. Yonathan Daza - CF
8. Tony Wolters - C
9. Dom Nuñez - DH
P - Antonio Senzatela

And more importantly, for the Giants:

1. Brandon Crawford - SS
2. Joey Bart - C
3. Brandon Belt - 1B
4. Pablo Sandoval - DH
5. Chris Shaw - LF
6. Kean Wong - 2B
7. Billy Hamilton - CF
8. Zach Green - 3B
9. Heliot Ramos - RF
P - Johnny Cueto

Musings and such

Okay, this is a helluva lineup for a fun Friday night game. There’s so much to watch.

First, we have Bart and Ramos, two of the three best prospects in the Giants system, and two players we might see this season. These are not just great prospects, but highlight-heavy prospects. Bart has already shown that this spring, with an impressive opposite-field dinger in his first game.

Second, we have the spring debuts of Cueto and Sandoval, two of the most entertaining Giants on the roster.

But there’s intrigue at every position. Can Shaw and Green build on their strong AAA numbers a year ago and get on Farhan Zaidi’s good side for the future? Can Hamilton prove unique and important enough to grab the recently-added 26th roster spot? Can Crawford continue his hot spring? Can Wong earn some points on a team that has a million middle infield options? Can Belt convert all of the people on the wrong side of the Belt Wars?

We’ll also likely see a lot of these players play heavy innings for the first time this year, because the Giants already played a game earlier in the day, a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals. They used 25 players in that game, so you’re unlikely to see those players tonight.

Among the notable players who have already played baseball today are Buster Posey, Evan Longoria, Dereck Rodríguez, Andrew Suarez, Sean Hjelle, Steven Duggar, Jaylin Davis, Mauricio Dubón, and Alexander Canario. So you won’t be seeing them tonight.

Enjoy the baseball, friends!