Thursday BP: Carlos Rodón makes Giants history

Good morning, baseball fans!

If I were to ask you which pitcher has thrown the most strikeouts in their first three games with the San Francisco Giants or New York Giants (dating back to 1901) who would you guess? Juan Marichal, maybe? Or Tim Lincecum?

What if I told you that you actually already know the answer, because you have reading comprehension skills and the ability to piece together context clues such as the name used in a headline?

That’s right, it’s Carlos Rodón! Per Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle, Rodón now stands above Cliff Melton, Juan Marichal and Tim Lincecum with 29 strikeouts in his first three starts with the Giants. Not a bad list to be at the top of.

To clarify, the broadcast showed a different stat, which was most strikeouts in the first three starts of any season with the Giants, not the first three starts with the Giants, period. The former had Christy Mathewson in first with 30 in 1908. Different stat, but Rodón still hits second on that list. Which is just as impressive, if not more so since it opens up the field of eligibility to some rather great pitchers over many seasons of their careers and Rodón still nearly topped the list.

Though Rodón ran up against the pitch count in last night’s game, no one can argue that he wasn’t extremely effective. He’s truly been a bright spot in a bright start to the season.

In other notable news from last night’s game, Brandon Belt has finally broken his curse of going hitless on his birthday. Before last night, Belt had gone 0-for-18 on his birthday throughout his career. The baseball gods granted him some kindness last night with his booming home run that had his teammates singing to him as he rounded home.

And for your daily dose of #BayAreaUnite, please enjoy Klay Thompson and Brandon Belt being Bay Area kings.

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants hope to split the series with the New York Mets this morning at 10:10am PT. Brunch baseball, baby.