San Francisco Giants Mailbag: Belt, Maxwell, Cain, Peavy, Heston
Apr 18, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Chris Heston (53) follows through on a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
@MaggiePilloton can they win without Cain and Peavy
— Candlestick Will (@CandlestickWill) April 22, 2015
@MaggiePilloton @CandlestickWill what's the future of Heston?
— Brian Blake (@BrianOBlake) April 22, 2015
I chose to answer both of these questions, since they’re related and my answer to the second question relates to the first question.
The Giants’ ability to win without Cain and Peavy will depend on the production of Heston and the long relievers, Ryan Vogelsong and Yusmeiro Petit. It also will obviously come down to how long Cain and Peavy are actually out.
Heston has arguably been the only consistent starting pitcher for the Giants so far this season. In three starts, he has a 0.87 ERA, a 0.97 WHIP, 16 strikeouts to five walks, and he’s allowing batters to hit .203 against him. He’s brought some much-needed stability and consistency to the Giants’ starting rotation, and he will continue to do so with Peavy and Cain out.
Despite his impressive starts, he might be on his way back to Triple-A Sacramento when both Cain and Peavy come back, as those two pitchers, along with the other members of the starting rotation, have large, guaranteed contracts, which could end up overruling Heston’s production.
Depending on production and injuries, it seems extremely likely that Heston will be back in a Giants uniform later on in the season though. He’s earned a future spot in this rotation.
Back to Vogelsong and Petit. Vogelsong has allowed 20 hits and 12 earned runs in just 10.1 innings so far this season, which gives him a 10.45 ERA. Petit hasn’t had quite as rough of a start to 2015 as Vogelsong has had, but he still currently has a 4.91 ERA in 7.1 innings so far. These are small sample sizes, but these statistics are still concerning.
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Out of the two, it seems like Vogelsong will be the one that will earn the spot starts, and Petit will remain the long reliever, as Bochy likes this combination and likes Petit’s effectiveness as a long reliever. Based on Vogelsong’s struggles though, it seems like Petit will need to be ready early on in Vogelsong’s starts, just in case he needs to come in and limit the damage early in a game.
Heston will help ease the pain with both Cain and Peavy out, but Bochy might need to consider bringing up another pitcher from the minor leagues if Vogelsong continues to struggle in spot starts.
If Cain is out for a long period of time and if Peavy can come back in the near future, the Giants will be fine, as Heston can continue to take Cain’s starts. If both pitchers are out and not healthy for an extended period of time, the Giants might struggle a little because of it.