SF Giants, D-backs will pit top two starters against each other in pivotal series with playoff implications

Alex Cobb, still battling a hip impingement, will pitch on seven days rest Tuesday, while Logan Webb will take the ball Wednesday

DENVER (AP) — Alex Cobb’s last two starts have been postponed due to a hip injury. But the 35-year-old right-hander remains on track to start the Giants’ first game Tuesday in Arizona, and with Logan Webb lined up behind him, San Francisco will have its top two arms going in its two most important games of the season.

“I love the fact that those guys are pitching in Arizona,” manager Gabe Kapler said before the Rockies’ series finale on Sunday.

Kapler’s team needed to win Sunday to avoid being swept in a four-game series against last-place Colorado.

“I want to win today’s game,” he declared. “It’s also a significant one.”

The two-game series in Arizona looms large, though perhaps less so than when they decided to postpone Cobb’s start. Nobody in the organization expected the Rockies to lose the next three games, putting them 212 games behind Arizona, Miami, and Cincinnati.

The pitching matchups reflect the stakes: Cobb will face Zac Gallen, while Webb will face Merrill Kelly, pitting both clubs’ top two starters against each other.

While a sweep would still leave the Giants on the outside looking in, they only need to win one game to clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker with Arizona. San Francisco already holds the tiebreakers against Cincinnati and Miami, and a win in Arizona would give them a four-way tiebreaker.

“It’s still a big series,” said Cobb.

Cobb was chatting with trainer Anthony Reyes at his locker as the club assesses the situation with his hip. The impingement on his left side has been a problem since mid-June, but it has gotten worse in recent starts, necessitating extra precaution.

The problem was “prevalent” during his 131-pitch complete game, and he only lasted three innings in his next start against San Diego. Cobb was then given a cortisone shot, which forced him to postpone his next race by three days. He was supposed to start Saturday in Colorado, but will instead pitch on three days rest in Arizona.

“I think we know that the more rest it gets in between, the more time it has to calm down,” Cobb explained. “It only acts up when I’m playing a game.” I pitch, then it hurts, then it gets better. I only aggravate it while playing the game. You can tell it’s going to be there when I throw it in between starts. But it’s nice that I’ve had some extra rest over the last two outings, so that should help.”

“I don’t know if his hip is ever going to be perfect for the rest of the season,” Kapler said, “but a couple of extra days will probably be helpful.”

Cobb stated that doctors do not believe the problem will necessitate surgery. He has prior hip surgery experience. He saw Dr. J.W. Thomas Byrd in Nashville in 2019 for an operation to repair an impingement in his right hip. That procedure effectively ended his season. Cobb would also consult with Dr. Marc Philippon in nearby Vail.

“I should get more clarity on it, honestly,” Cobb admitted.

‘Not too late’

Kapler’s message to his team after an uninspiring start to its final road trip: “It’s not too late.”

But the manager wasn’t just referring to the playoff race, which will be decided in the next 13 games.

He believes there is still time for changes to bear fruit and influence their fate in the final two weeks.

“This is the time of year, and it’s not just the Giants, but people all over baseball, where they start thinking about what changes they’re going to make in the offseason to get ready for ’24,” Kapler said. “Because they believe that if you make any changes now, you won’t have enough time to see the results of those changes.” That, in my opinion, is completely false.

“A lot of the messaging for today is that there’s still plenty of time to make small adjustments that will make us better in the short and long term.” That means today, tomorrow, and the next day, as well as at the end of the season and for ’24.”

It’s also about managing the mindset of the players, he says.

“Taking a half-hour conversation and complaining for 20 minutes about everything that’s wrong and who’s at fault and who needs to do a better job isn’t a very efficient use of that half-hour,” Kapler said. “That half-hour should be spent looking ahead to see what adjustments we can make and how we can scale these conversations.”

‘Prime Time’

The transformation taking place just up the road in Boulder, led by Deion Sanders, is the talk of the town here.

Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes hosted the rival Colorado State Rams on Saturday night in one of the weekend’s marquee games, and a few Giants players rushed 30 minutes or so from the team hotel to see what all the fuss was about.

Cobb, Webb, Ross Stripling, and Luke Jackson were among the four pitchers who arrived just in time for the second half. Their seats, near the 30-yard line, provided the ideal viewing angle for a dramatic finish in which Shedaur Sanders led the Buffaloes 98 yards with less than a minute remaining in regulation to force overtime.

“It was electric,” said Cobb. “We had an absolute blast.”