San Francisco Giants: 5 Players Most Under the Microscope Entering Spring
Spring Training is right around the corner with pitchers and catcher reporting next week, and for the San Francisco Giants, they have a few players they need to watch closely.
The San Francisco Giants have given their unwavering support to the 12-year veteran, and that seems to be the case again entering 2017, the final guaranteed year on his contract. Matt Cain will get first crack at the fifth and final spot in the rotation for another season.
San Francisco’s rotation is well-stocked at the top, with double aces in Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto spearheading the group. Behind them, Matt Moore and Jeff Samardzija figure to make one of the best rotations in baseball.
With that in mind, the Giants don’t need Cain to be a sub-three ERA pitcher again. He hasn’t been that guy since 2012, and after battling numerous injuries over the past few seasons, that guy is probably long gone. But the team does need him to be better than the 5.70 ERA pitcher of the past two seasons.
Cain coming in and having a good Spring, or at the very least, getting through an entire Spring healthy, would be good for the Giants’ bench. Not having to carry a 13th pitcher as a long reliever and spot starter would allow them to keep a fully-stocked five-man bench.
The 13-man pitching staff has been the norm for the Giants over the past couple of seasons, as the team has worried about Cain and Jake Peavy‘s ability to successfully navigate more than a handful of innings. Cain has to prove that he can not only stay healthy, but can do more than three or four innings of work every fifth day.