San Francisco Giants DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

In his first major-league outing since undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2023, San Francisco Giants left-hander Robbie Ray held the Los Angeles Dodgers hitless across five innings. Ray settled in beautifully after allowing one earned run on a bases-loaded walk in what was a shaky first inning. The 32-year-old rebounded to blank the Dodgers over his next four innings, finishing the night with eight strikeouts on 86 pitches in his debut with the Giants. Ray's velocity topped out at 95.2 mph, and he finished with 22 swinging strikes. His performance against L.A. should erase any doubt as to his fantasy potential for the remainder of the season, and he should be rostered in all leagues.

San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks in Wednesday's victory versus the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. One of his hits flew 417 feet his bat at 105 MPH for a solo home run. The veteran, who came over as a free-agent this offseason from the Toronto Blue Jays is having a standard year of good power with a lower batting average. On the season, the veteran is now hitting .233 with 14 homers, 45 RBI and 11 stolen bases. The stolen bases have been a big surprise with him only have 11 career swipes entering the season. The veteran has his ups and downs, but is a solid option in deeper mixed league for managers seeking some power at the hot corner.

San Francisco Giants shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald continued his homer streak in a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday. Fitzgerald went 3-for-3 with a homer and two RBI but it wasn't enough as the Giants lost to their division rivals. On the bright side, the rookie infielder set a Giants rookie record, becoming the first San Francisco rookie to homer in five straight games. The last Giants player overall to homer in five straight games was Barry Bonds back in 2004. Fitzgerald is now hitting .322 with six homers, 18 runs, 13 RBI, and seven stolen bases across 90 at-bats this year. If Fitzgerald is able to homer in a sixth consecutive game, it would set a new MLB record. He will look to accomplish the feat on Wednesday against Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow.

The San Francisco Giants announced on Monday that right-handed rookie Hayden Birdsong was optioned to Single-A San Jose, but manager Bob Melvin said there's an "excellent chance" that Birdsong will return for the team's doubleheader on Saturday to start against the visiting Colorado Rockies. The move comes on the heels of the 22-year-old prospect's best big-league start, when he struck out 12 while giving up two runs in six innings at Coors Field against the Rockies. While fantasy managers will want to keep Birdsong around for that favorable matchup this weekend, it's likely that he'll be booted from San Francisco's starting rotation after that with Robbie Ray (elbow) returning this week and Alex Cobb (hip, shoulder) not far behind. In his first five MLB starts, Birdsong has held his own, going 2-0 with a 3.55 ERA and 1.22 WHIP with 30 K's and 12 walks in 25 1/3 innings pitched.

Updating a previous report, San Francisco Giants left-hander Robbie Ray (elbow) will come off the 60-day injured list to make his team debut on Wednesday on the road against the division-rival Los Angeles Dodgers. It will be Ray's first major-league start since having Tommy John surgery in March of 2023, which will obviously make him extremely risky from a fantasy perspective, especially against one of the best teams in baseball on the road. The 32-year-old former American League Cy Young winner looked good in his final minor-league rehab start for Triple-A Sacramento last Friday and pitched into the sixth inning, though, and he should be picked up off the waiver wire in mixed fantasy leagues if he's still available for his strikeout upside. Ray had a league-high 248 K's in 2021 when he won the AL Cy Young and has had 200-plus punchouts in five of his 10 MLB seasons.