San Francisco Giants Name Cactus League Opening Day Starter

The San Francisco Giants open up Cactus League play on Saturday against the Texas Rangers. One of their possible rotation pieces will get the start in the game.

Per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Landen Roupp will get the start against the Rangers Saturday afternoon.

Roupp has a chance to earn a spot in the rotation if he can pitch well in Spring Training. However, the competition is stiff.

The top four spots are pretty much locked in. Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Justin Verlander will most likely start the first three games of the season. Jordan Hicks came into Spring Training in better shape, and he will probably get the fourth starting job. That leaves one opening for the fifth starter between three pitchers.

Kyle Harrison has a lot of potential, and he is probably the favorite to fill that role. However, Hayden Birdsong is a candidate, as well. Roupp is the third player fighitng to earn his place in the rotation.

The right-handed pitcher made 23 appearances, including four starts during his rookie campaign. He threw 50.1 innings, allowed an oBA of .226, struck out 47 batters and finished with a 3.58 ERA. The one downfall for him is his walk rate. He was in the eighth percentile in the MLB with a 12.0% walk rate.

Still, the 26-year-old is going to get an opportunity to prove himself in Spring Training.

All four of Roupp's starts came at the end of the season, so he was moved into that role after relieving all year. The righty allowed just two earned runs in his first 15.0 innings pitched in the new role, but he did have five walks.

The final start of the season is what skewed his stats as he allowed six runs on nine hits through 3.2 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The former 12th-round pick had better numbers as a reliever because of his last start. He had a lower ERA, lower oBA and a much better K/9. However, he did walk more batters out of the bullpen.

With all that, Roupp is going to break camp with the team. He will be in the bullpen if the starting job is given to someone else, so that is not something for him to worry about. Nonetheless, the North Carolina native will get the ball for game one of Spring Training, and he hopes to prove his worth as a starter.

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