Rockies, Giants Battle to Escape NL West Basement
Webb and Feltner headline a holiday-weekend series with last place at stake in Denver
Logan Webb and the Giants open a pivotal three-game set at Coors Field on Friday, squaring off against Ryan Feltner and the Rockies with last place in the NL West on the line. San Francisco (36-50) and Colorado (35-53) sit just two games apart in the loss column entering the holiday weekend. Webb (5-5, 3.09 ERA) takes the mound as the clear front-line arm, while Feltner (2-2, 4.42) tries to keep Colorado's rotation afloat.
The basement fight matters more than the standings suggest. Colorado is coming off a historically bad 119-loss season, and new president of baseball ops Paul DePodesta is trying to reshape the roster from the ground up. San Francisco, meanwhile, is trying to avoid a July 4th spent in last place for the first time since 2019.
Bullpen math looms over the weekend. The Giants' relief corps posted the fifth-worst fWAR in the majors in June, a number manager Bob Melvin can't ignore with a rotation that leans on Webb every fifth day. Colorado's pen was quietly mid-pack last month, one of the few bright spots on a 35-53 club.
Sunday's Peacock broadcast gives the series a bigger stage than either team is used to. Whoever takes two of three heads into the All-Star break with at least a sliver of separation from the division cellar, and that's worth something even for two teams playing out a lost summer.