San Francisco Giants DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

San Francisco Giants pitcher Randy Rodriguez will serve as the opener for Tuesday's game against the Chicago Cubs. It appears the Giants are going to go with a bullpen game here. Rodriguez will likely pitch a few innings, but probably not enough to factor into the decision. The 24-year-old holds a 4.82 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and 31/9 K/BB ratio in 18 games. Fantasy managers should probably look elsewhere for a streaming option on Tuesday.

San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman hit his ninth homer of the season in Monday's 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs. It was the first home run in June for Chapman, who took Justin Steele deep in the bottom of the fifth to start the Giants' comeback from a 4-0 deficit. Chapman has flustered fantasy managers, but his 2-for-4 effort that included two runs scored on Monday might push him out of his funk. He is slashing .233/.313/.394 with 31 RBI, yet ranks among the top 20 with 50 runs scored. The power will eventually return for Chapman, but as long as he continues to find his way across home plate, his ability to score runs justifies keeping him in lineups in most leagues.

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell (groin) will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday and start for the Sacramento River Cats at Triple-A on Friday, manager Bob Melvin said ahead of Monday's series opener against the visiting Chicago Cubs. After Snell struggled in Sunday's minor-league rehab appearance in his recovery from a strained left groin, the Giants have quickly decided that he needs some more work on the farm before they re-insert the hurler back into their rotation. It rules out a return before the end of June for Snell, who fantasy managers are patiently waiting on to kick-start his season. Through six starts during his first year in San Francisco, the 31-year-old reigning National League Cy Young Award winner has a dismal 9.51 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, and 31:14 K:BB over 23 2/3 innings.

The San Francisco Giants announced that pitcher Erik Miller will open the game against the Chicago Cubs on Monday. Miller last pitched on June 19, where he also started, and threw one scoreless inning with one walk and two strikeouts. The left-hander will start on Monday, but Spencer Howard is expected to follow him out of the bullpen and serve as the bulk reliever. Howard has struggled as of late on the mound, giving up seven runs (six earned runs) with five walks and four strikeouts over his last 3 1/3 innings of work. He does get a favorable matchup against a Cubs offense that ranks in the bottom half of the league in most categories. Still, Howard should only be considered in extremely deep formats on Monday.

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell (groin) labored through his first rehab start on Sunday, tossing 1 innings while allowing two runs on three hits. He didn't strike out a batter and walked three. It wasn't the appearance that Snell or the Giants were looking for and shows that he's going to need at least one more rehab start before he can return to the big league team. It's been a bit of a disaster season for Snell, who signed with the Giants late and hasn't been able to find his midseason form. Injuries haven't helped his cause, but that doesn't excuse the abysmal 9.51 ERA and 1.94 WHIP Snell has this season. Fantasy managers who own Snell know that he can turn it on at any point and look like a Cy Young candidate, but he will need to do that soon to salvage this season.