The Rivalry That Shaped Baseball: Unveiling the Untold Story of Two Legendary Pitchers

Perhaps the biggest story of the Giants spring has been the divergent paths we’ve seen those pitchers take. Trevor McDonald, for instance, has been nothing short of brilliant: in three innings he’s yet to allow a hit or a walk, while striking out five. Birdsong, on the other hand, has been a disaster: in his two outings, he’s allowed 10 baserunners and eight earned runs, while recording just four outs. And Blade Tidwell? He’s thrown gas, and looked emphatically like one of the team’s 13 best pitchers.

Two other young pitchers had only made one appearance going into Monday’s game, a 6-5 win over the Chicago White Sox that pushed the Giants to 8-2 in Cactus League play. And, yet again, we saw them take very different paths.

Incumbent starter Landen Roupp took the bump to start the game. Roupp had been strong in his first outing of the year, and he was even stronger in this one. He struck out Chase Miedroth to open the first, then struck out Luisangel Acuña immediately afterwards, en route to a 1-2-3 first inning. His second inning was just as strong: while he didn’t have any strikeouts, he needed just 12 pitches to set down the side in order, inducing two ground balls and a soft liner.

That was it for Roupp, and it provided reason to think that his spot in the rotation is secure, as it should be. He needed just 25 pitches to cruise through two perfect innings, and was completely control.