Why Giants’ bats could thrive in Mexico City

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MEXICO CITY -- The stage is set for the Mexico City Series, with the Giants and Padres slated to face off in the opening game of a two-game series at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú on Saturday afternoon.

The Giants took advantage of Friday’s off day to begin adjusting to the new elements here, most notably the altitude -- Mexico City sits 7,350 feet above sea level, which is 2,000 feet higher than Denver. The thin air could make for an even livelier hitting environment than Coors Field, which could be a good match for a Giants offense that features power up and down the lineup.

San Francisco entered Saturday with the fourth-highest home runs (38) in the Majors, with 57.7 percent of its runs coming via the long ball this year.

“When you get more altitude than Denver, you wonder what that’s going to be like,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “I imagine the ball is going to carry quite well.”

“I never really gave it any thought about the altitude,” infielder David Villar said. “But as you bring it up, it might be a fun series. We’re playing the Padres, and they’ve got a good lineup, too. I think we’re going to be confident going into that series.”

Major League Baseball made some slight tweaks to the ballpark dimensions to account for the elevation, including moving the center-field fence to 410 feet, but the hitter-friendly stadium will still present a challenge for pitchers on both sides.

“I’m just picturing it being a little like Colorado,” said left-hander Sean Manaea, who will start on Saturday. “Just trying to keep the ball in the ballpark and try to get as many groundball outs as I can.”

Veteran right-hander Alex Cobb, who will pitch Sunday’s series finale, was one of the few Giants players who attended an optional workout at the ballpark on Friday and said he planned to throw on the field and review the Trackman data to try to get a feel for how the movement of his pitches might be affected by the high elevation.

Cobb might be the Giants pitcher who is best suited to handle the elements, as he leads the National League with a 62.5 percent groundball rate and induced 17 groundball outs while throwing his second career shutout against the Cardinals on Monday.

“In the past, I think sinkerballers are affected a little bit less,” Cobb said. “With the altitude, the key is going to be getting the ball on the ground as much as possible. So I think that plays to my advantage a little bit, as long as my pitches are able to move.”