San Francisco Giants: Who’s the Best Fit to Replace Tim Hudson?
By Neil Povio
Yesterday marked the beginning of baseball season for the defending champion San Francisco Giants, as pitchers and catchers reported for the first day of Spring Training. This is a happy time for fans as well as the many players who — since the World Series parade on Halloween — have been looking forward to the start of the 2015 season. But the first day of Spring Training wasn’t completely filled with happiness and good news as Bruce Bochy revealed to Chris Haft of MLB.com, that Giants’ starting pitcher Tim Hudson was behind schedule in his recovery from off-season ankle surgery.
With Hudson behind schedule in his recovery time, he will miss the beginning of the regular season. Given his absence, San Francisco will need to find a replacement in the starting rotation while Hudson is still rehabbing. Luckily, the Giants won’t have to look too far for a replacement, as the team has two capable starters in the bullpen already — Yusmeiro Petit and Ryan Vogelsong.
The question now is, who would be a better fit to replace Hudson for the time being?
Answer: Ryan Vogelsong.
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Why Vogelsong might you ask? Well first of all, Vogelsong has more experience as a regular starter in the rotation. Vogelsong hasn’t pitched out of the bullpen since 2011, and before that, his last relief appearance was in 2006 when he pitched exclusively out of the bullpen with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In that season, Vogelsong made 20 appearances and owned a 6.39 ERA. He seems to be more comfortable as a starter than as a reliever when comparing his ERA between relief pitching, 5.81 ERA, to his 4.42 ERA as a starter. Granted, a lot of those relief appearances came more than a decade ago, before Vogelsong pitched in Japan and really found himself as a pitcher. But still, Vogelsong has more starting experienc and the numbers show he’s more effective when inserted into the rotation.
Petit has been the go-to-guy out of the bullpen for Bochy the last couple seasons. Any time the Giants needed a spot start or someone to start on short notice, Petit was the guy. But taking him out of the bullpen and thrusting him into the rotation could actually hurt the Giants. Over a five week period last season, Petit broke a Major League Baseball record by retiring 46 consecutive batters. Petit was lights out pitching out of the bullpen where he compiled a 1.84 ERA. He was less effective as a starter, putting together a 5.03 ERA.
Petit was money when the Giants needed a reliever to get some outs — especially during games when a starter had to leave the game early. Petit was able to eat up four or five innings on his own, which gave the rest of the bullpen additional rest, and kept the staff fresher.
Having the option of Petit in the bullpen, a guy that Bochy can trust as a long reliever, is a huge plus for the Giants. It would make much more sense to have him relieving Vogelsong, while filling in for Hudson if needed, than the other way around.
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Petit might even end up becoming a starter later in the season for the Giants anyway. If Tim Lincecum cannot return to his old form after spending the entire off-season working with his father on his pitching mechanics, then the Giants will no doubt call upon Petit. Or perhaps, Vogelsong will once more assume a spot in the rotation if Lincecum is ineffective and/or Hudson is still out.
It was so important for Brian Sabean to sign a sixth starter this off-season because of the question marks that come with Hudson and Lincecum. It’s hard to predict at this moment whether the Giants will get the Hudson they had the first half of last season, a pitcher who was dependable game in and game out. Or if they’ll get the Hudson they had in the second half of the season, a pitcher who was lucky to have even made it to the fifth inning on most occasions.
As hard as it is to predict what Hudson will be like upon his return, it’s just as hard to predict which Lincecum the Giants will have this season. We all will be rooting for Lincecum to return to his Cy Young form, but it’s good to know that the Giants have options. The team is prepared already by having Vogelsong and Petit in the bullpen — and ready to start — just in case Hudson and/or Lincecum can’t make it through the entire season as starters.