Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
One Giants pitcher no longer has the unencumbered path toward a rotation spot he saw a few days ago, while another just wants to be included in the rotation mix.
Suddenly the Giants have the makings of a five-veteran rotation — all on expiring contracts — as they soon will welcome Aaron Sanchez into the fold, an addition not yet official. The 28-year-old Sanchez has had an injury-filled couple years, but he has a live arm and was a star as recently as 2016.
The Giants are expected to stretch him out, even if he eventually becomes a reliever, and he will become a front-runner for the No. 5 spot behind Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood and Johnny Cueto. If everyone stays healthy and that is how the rotation shakes out — and provided the Giants don’t shift to a six-man rotation — that would leave Logan Webb likely headed to Sacramento to begin the season.
“I think everything’s on the table,” Gabe Kapler said Wednesday, after the pitchers’ and catchers’ first workout, when asked about the possibility. “Logan Webb has made really good improvements so far leading up to camp, and now he’s just continuing to show now that we’ve officially started that he’s going to be a better pitcher than he was last year. And you know what? He was pretty good for us at times last year. This is just a matter of consistency.
“He has a lot of productive years ahead of him, and it would not surprise me to see 2021 be one of those productive years.”
Webb was let down by his defense on a few occasions, and his 4.17 FIP is far more promising than his 5.47 ERA from last season. He’s still just 24 and could be brought alone slowly regardless, seeing as he’s thrown 157 1/3 total major and minor league innings the past two seasons and was set to be on an innings limit last year before COVID-19 hit.
With the Giants adding a more experienced option, Webb no longer looks like the front-runner for a spot, even if one Giants coach said his bullpen session was “the best pen he saw all day,” Kapler said.
The Giants love competition, and Webb (and the other bulk options) will be getting a bit more from Caleb Baragar.
The lefty who came from just about nowhere last season, a late and surprise camp 2.0 inclusion who made the team and pitched well, posting a 4.03 ERA in 22 1/3 innings, wants to be more than that. The 26-year-old came through the system as a starter and made 21 starts in 2019 with Double-A Richmond and wants another crack.
Baragar will be stretched out, and the Giants will see what he can do.
“It doesn’t mean that ultimately he’s going to be a starter or that he’s going to be a longer relief option for us or that he’s going to be a one-inning guy,” Kapler said over Zoom. “But he has asked for and earned the opportunity to be evaluated as a starter.”
Melvin Adon, the fireballing righty relief prospect, had offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Video surfaced of the 26-year-old going down in winter ball, and it’s unclear when he will pitch again, but it won’t be for a long while. A torn labrum is the same injury that has sidelined Reyes Moronta since late 2019.
Adon is rehabbing on the minor league side along with fellow righty Raffi Vizcaino. The 25-year-old has a right elbow sprain he sustained pitching in winter ball.