San Francisco Giants Positional Preview: Starting Pitching

As Spring Training approaches, we’ll take a look at the San Francisco Giants depth at every position. The ninth group looked at is the rotation.

Last year when I did a similar pre-season series to this one on the San Francisco Giants‘ positional depth, the starting pitching was by far the most difficult group to assess. There were so many questions regarding every member of the staff, and it was a scary proposition entering the year. Could Madison Bumgarner continue to dominate despite the grueling 270-inning workload from 2014? Could Matt Cain recover his old form after a surgery that basically forced him to change his pitching arm motion? Could Tim Lincecum become Big Time Timmy Jim again? Could Jake Peavy be as effective as he was for the Giants in 2014? Who would be the fifth starter? Luckily this Spring, the questions are not as daunting.

Bumgarner answered his critics with another sterling season, posting his third consecutive season of a sub-3.00 ERA. Bumgarner enters the 2016 season as one three pitchers riding streaks of at least three straight years with an ERA under three, along with Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw (who has seven such years in a row). He carried another heavy workload for the Giants, as he threw 40 innings more than any other pitcher on the staff, and matched the best total in baseball with four complete games. The broad-shouldered Carolina boy will start his third straight opening day for the orange and black, and remains the leader of that pitching staff.

Behind their ace lefty, there is a lot more help in the rotation. The Giants’ front office did a lot of heavy lifting in the offseason so Bumgarner won’t have to do as much during the season, adding two 200-plus inning pitchers in Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. Cueto and Bumgarner should combine to make one of the most potent one-two starting pitcher combos in the game. Despite a rough time in his first taste of American League action, Cueto is still one of the best pitchers in the game. From the start of the 2011 season to his final start as a Cincinnati Red in 2015, Cueto posted sparkling numbers, with a 2.51 ERA and 1.045 WHIP, both in the top-five among National League pitchers. With a huge park and great defense behind him in San Francisco, another phenomenal season could be in the works for the crafty right-hander.

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Samardzija is coming off the worst season of his career, leading baseball in 2015 with 228 hits, 118 earned runs, and 29 home runs allowed. Despite that, the Giants took a risk and dished out a five-year, $90 million contract, and have given the man they call “Shark” rave reviews so far in their short time in camp. It is believed last year that Samardzija was subtly tipping his pitches last year, and it wasn’t fixed until late in the year. He did show improvement at the end of the year, giving up two runs and nine hits over 16 innings in the last two starts of the year, including a complete game, one-hit shutout. He will be working with a great staff and catcher this season, which combined with the park and defense should equal a bounce-back year for Samardzija.

Peavy enters his third season with the Giants slated to be the fourth starter, and if he continues to pitch in line with what he’s done with the team, he’ll be one of the game’s best backend starters. A hip and back ailment accounted for two terrible starts to begin the season in 2015, but after a long time to recover, he returned and pitched very well. In 31 starts wearing the orange and black, Peavy has a 2.99 ERA, 1.088 WHIP, and gives up a very tidy two walks per nine innings, as well as allowing less than half a home run per start. The health will again be a concern, as hip and back injuries are nothing to take lightly, but if he is healthy and on his game, the fiery veteran adds another very solid arm to the staff.

The fifth starter’s spot provides the biggest question mark. Cain returned from elbow surgery and a forearm strain in June last year, but struggled mightily as his command was nowhere near where we’re used to seeing from the Horse. The elbow surgery, which removed very old and uncomfortable bone chips from his pitching arm, caused Cain to have to change his delivery, and the forearm strain really limited his time to work on his pitching motion. With an entire offseason and Spring Training to work things out, Cain should at least be able to become a serviceable fifth starter. Anything more than that is a big time bonus.

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Should Cain, or any other starter, falter, Chris Heston will be waiting in the wings to step in to the rotation. Heston is poised to be the long man in the bullpen, replacing Yusmeiro Petit, but like Petit, will be available to make spot and emergency starts. Heston was one of the big surprises last season, pushing out a solid rookie season with a 3.95 ERA and 1.311 WHIP, including a no-hitter against the New York Mets. Heston wore down as the season went into the dog days, as he had never pitched that deep into the season. If Heston can regain his very heavy sinker, he should be a solid depth piece, so long as the Giants don’t need him to be a number-two pitcher again, like he was last year.

As far as depth goes, the Giants have a couple of prospects that appear to be on the cusp of breaking into the big leagues. Should the need for a starter arise, right-hander Clayton Blackburn and left-hander Ty Blach are both on the 40-man roster, and both appear to be just about big league ready. Blackburn was last year’s Pacific Coast League (a notorious hitter’s league) ERA champion, posting a very nice 2.85 ERA in 23 games and 20 starts. Blach has moved through the system quickly, and is a pitcher who looks for contact. He struggled a bit in Triple-A (the same league Blackburn was in), but has the makeup and mindset to move up.

Also on the 40-man roster, the Giants have pitchers Chris Stratton, Adalberto Mejia, Joan Gregorio, and Kyle Crick. Out of this group, Stratton is the closest to a big leaguer, as he made the jump to Triple-A last season, but is still fairly low on the organizational depth chart. Mejia pitched very well in Double-A and in the Venezuelan Winter League after serving a 50-game suspension last year, and at 22 years old, his ceiling is very high. Gregorio and Crick have both begun transitions to the bullpen, and Crick is quickly falling out of favor as his control issues seem to be worsening (66 walks in 63 innings last season).

Among the non-roster invitees, the Giants have Sam Coonrod, Ricky Romero, Vin Mazzaro, and Tyler Beede in camp this Spring. Coonrod was very impressive in Single-A last year, averaging over a strikeout per inning, but is still not close to the big leagues. Romero and Mazzaro both have big league experience, but Romero is still trying to find his form after undergoing two knee surgeries in 2014. If he can regain the form that made him a star in the making with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Giants could have another diamond in the rough type of player. Mazzaro is an experienced organizational player who should be available if needed. Beede was the team’s number-one draft pick in 2014, and has quickly moved through the system ranks to become a top prospect. He struggled in Double-A, but catcher Buster Posey clearly sees big potential in “Young Beedah”.

Next: Giants Position Preview: Right Field

In the Giants’ World Series runs in 2010 and 2012, starting pitching was their calling card as they had one of the strongest staffs in the game. In the past couple of seasons, that wasn’t the case as the staff gradually became weaker and weaker. With a very good offseason in the rearview, that staff looks like it will become a strength again.

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San Francisco Giants Positional Preview: Starting Pitcher

By Sean Bialaszek | Feb 20, 2016

As Spring Training approaches, we’ll take a look at the San Francisco Giants depth at every position. The ninth group looked at is the rotation.

More from Golden Gate Sports