San Francisco Giants: Three Hot Takes from Week 1

3. Matt Cain Doesn’t Belong in the Rotation

Breaking news: Matt Cain has done things. He threw a perfect game that one time. He won World Series games. He simply can’t do any more. Quite the hot take, I know. Stay with me.

He gave up two home runs and four total runs in a commendable 4.1 inning start in San Diego. The fact that he still has trouble missing targets and that he hangs pitches up for prime home run potential aren’t the main concerns.

It’s the fact that he can’t seem to last a whole season without several implosions and injuries. Cain last pitched 100 innings or more in 2013, where he wasn’t exactly on fire, but certainly still had something left in the tank.

It’s not that Cain is a total failure, it’s that he hasn’t had much luck getting his career back on track for several years now, while younger pitchers sit in the minors or in the bullpen. There’s no sure-thing in the farm system, but it seems that giving those 60-80 innings that Cain has been  allocated over the past few seasons could be better served elsewhere.

Next: Giants: 3 Up, 3 Down from SD Series

Whether it’s Ty Blach, Tyler Beede, or Clayton Blackburn, it’s hard to justify keeping them out of the fifth starter role for a veteran like Cain who has proved to be anything but consistent or effective. Especially when the bullpen shows little sign of improvement, why risk throwing Cain against the Rockies at Coors Field altitude right after an extra-inning game the night before?

While there is a Matt Cain Perfect Game t-shirt somewhere in my closet that I will surely find one day, I don’t think Matt Cain will suddenly find his 2010 World Series-self again.

There’s my hot takes to start the season. Tell me why I’m wrong in the comments!