Baseball fans can watch live online video as the San Francisco Giants open their 2015 MLB season looking to repeat as World Series champions and win their fourth championship in six years when they travel to face the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix on Monday.
But, this time, the always pitching-rich Giants face serious questions about whether their bats can create any kind of significant offense.
Information on how to watch streaming video of the San Francisco Giants vs. Arizona Diamondbacks live online can be found below.
Since the World Series, San Francisco lost Game 7 hero Michael Morse to the Miami Marlins — who gave the power-hitting Morse a two-year $16 million contract — and more importantly, once-beloved third baseman Pablo “Kung Fu Panda” Sandoval took his talents to Boston, where the Red Sox showered him with $95 million over five years.
As if those losses weren’t enough, right fielder Hunter Pence suffered a broken left ulna bone early in Spring Training when Cubs fireballing prospect Corey Black drilled him in the forearm. Pence is expected to miss at least a month of the season, and whether he’ll be back at full strength when he comes off the disabled list is anyone’s guess.
Even with what is looking to be a rather anemic offensive attack , the Giants will still have lefty Madison Bumgarner on the mound Monday night in Arizona.
Bumgarner comes off a historic postseason performance that started with a complete game shutout over the Pittsburgh Pirates n the National League Wild Card game, and winding up in the World Series, in which the lefty pitched 21 innings over two games, allowing just one run as San Francisco beat the surprising Kansas City Royals in seven games.
But on his way to October glory, Bumgarner threw 52 2/3 high-stress postseason innings on top of his 217 1/3 regular season innings which was the fourth most in the National League.
Will Bumgarner show any ill effects from those 270 innings? The Arizona Diamondbacks hope the answer is “Yes” as they attempt to recover from a disastrous 2014 that saw the team put up not only the worst record Major League Baseball, but at 64-98, the second-worst record in the 18-year history of the franchise. Only the Diamondbacks’ nightmarish 2004 season was worse, when the team lost 111 games.
Josh Collmenter gets the Opening Day mound assignment for Arizona. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm in Arizona, 10:10 pm Eastern Time on April 6.
Live online video of the San Francisco Giants vs. Arizona Diamondbacks will be carried by WatchESPN at this link , as well as on mobile devices through the WatchESPN app. Viewers with access to a cable TV subscription account may also receive WatchESPN on set-top boxes including Apple TV, Amazon Fire and most Roku models. For a subscription fee, MLB.TV carries all 2015 Major League Baseball games, subject to regional blackouts.
[Image: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images]