The Giants had a day off Thursday then had Friday's game against the A's rained out. Sadly, the Spring Breakout game featuring prospects scheduled later in the day was also rained out. We've had several intense discussions about the Giants pitching situation and whether they need to acquire another veteran starting pitcher. One big problem which I have not seen discussed that much is a looming roster crunch for both starting and relief pitching. This is a nice break in game action to drill down on that.
Here is a list of pitchers currently on the 40 man roster divided into categories:
Healthy SP's In Camp:
Logan Webb RHP
Jordan Hicks RHP
Kyle Harrison LHP
Injured SP's In Camp(questionable for Opening Day Active Roster):
Alex Cobb RHP- recovering from hip surgery, ahead of schedule but has not pitched in a game yet.
Sean Hjelle RHP- Elbow sprain, will definitely miss Opening Day.
Keaton Winn RHP- Elbow pain. Throwing but has not appeared in a game since being shut down.
Injured SP's on 60-Day IL:
Tristan Beck RHP
Robbie Ray LHP
Healthy SP's Already Optioned to Minor League Camp:
Trevor McDonald RHP
Injured SP's Already Optioned to Minor League Camp:
Kai-Wei Teng RHP(oblique)
Healthy RP's In Camp:
Camilo Doval RHP
Luke Jackson RHP
Tyler Rogers RHP
Taylor Rogers LHP
Ryan Walker RHP
Injured RP's In Camp:
Ethan Small LHP(oblique- out several weeks)
Injured RP's on 60-day IL:
Austin Warren RHP
RP's Already Optioned to Minor League Camp:
Erik Miller LHP
Randy Rodriquez RHP
That's it. The Giants currently have 3 healthy SP's and 5 healthy RPs, 8 total, on the 40-man roster and in camp. To my eye, none of the other pitchers on the 40-man roster look ready to start the season either due to injury or to inexperience. This is already a daunting problem because it means they have at least 4 and possibly 5 pitching roster spots to fill that will require dropping players off the 40 man roster to make room.
Here is a list of non-roster invitees to spring training. I am not sure who is still in MLB camp and who is healthy but will divide into SP's and RP's:
SP Non-roster Invitees:
Hayden Birdsong RHP- Reassigned?
Mason Black RHP
Blayne Enlow RHP
Spencer Howard RHP
Daulton Jefferies RHP
Tommy Romero RHP
Landen Roupp RHP- Reasssigned?
Carson Seymour RHP- Reassigned?
Carson Whisenhunt LHP- Injured?
Reggie Crawford LHP- Reassigned
Black, Howard, Jefferies and Roupp have had some encouraging appearances but again, room would have to be cleared on the 40-man roster for them to make the Opening Day Active Roster. My frontrunners are Black and Jefferies, although Blayne Enlow pitched very well against the first line Dodgers lineup last week.
RP Non-roster Invitees:
Nick Avila RHP
Jose Cruz RHP
Amir Garrett LHP
Juan Sanchez LHP
Cody Stashak RHP
Thomas Szapucki LHP- Could be swingman.
Garrett was clearly brought in with the intent for him to make the team but Juan Sanchez has been the most effective pitchers of this group so far.
So, these are the options barring additional free agent signings or significant trades.
Broken record time, but the SP and LHRP situations are as bad and dire as it gets..Love Webb!!!!!..then there's Harrison (who I love and WILL BE amazing in the future) and the conversion project Hicks, both who will have pitch/innings limits...Hey, it may work out for both of them and the Giants but given how much pressure is being put on them in slots they shouldn't be, an injury or poor-performance is kinda likely...After that, not a kid healthy or ready (not surprising) and, despite Spring Training performances, after that pretty much a bunch of flotsam and jetsum that have zero long term (months) prospects........But.......here's the thing.....One Pitcher can make a hell of a difference for everybody...Can FZ at least do that????
ReplyDeleteThe messy, to put it nicely, LHRP situation puts even more pressure on the SP. But even here, a quality ML pitcher could have made a difference instead of all the flyers FZ was/is taking on pitcher.....But..i really do like the RHRP!!!!!!
I want it to be different but really don't know how to see it any other way and there's only one person to blame....but again..it's never too late..if You have the brains and/or guts to improve things..There are answers still out there even if other clubs seem more interested in answering questions than the stubborn (being nice again) FZ has.
SteveVA
Zaidi spends money to make an incremental improvement at 3B, all the while staring at as razor thin of a pitching staff that I can ever remember. I don't understand this either.
DeleteTerrific post!
ReplyDeleteIs it clarifying or muddying? (That's bad humor.)
So much is riding on the Boras' "2" who are most likely also affecting offers for Clevinger (ACES) and Lorenzen (CAA).
Signing 1 (or 2) of them require knocking that many off the 40-man, or, perhaps one or more could go on the 60-day IL (Hjelle? Teng? Winn?).
More muddying: Giants "should" try to add LHPs, starter or reliever given their heavy RHP dominance.
Perhaps, FZ could trade one of his "prizes" or is he too reluctant to go there? One of the advantages of waiting until the end is, everyone is set so slipping someone off the 40-man may not be so dangerous.
Shouldn't this be considered a good thing, meaning that having so many "good" prospects is what you want?
It also plays into something you favor: trading top prospects to get someone like Cease whose projected fWAR ranges from 2.8 (Steamer, ATC) and 3.4/3.5 (ZiPS, THE BAT). He might be the Giants 2nd best SP for 2 years, ahead of Ray, Hicks, and Harrison.
DeleteOTOH, Cease did have a down year in 2023, with many parameters up (WHIP, H9, HR9, BB9) and SO9 being down while pitching fewer innings in more starts.
Padres are playing for 2024 while it would be nice for SF to be competitive until the end rather than fading out late as they have done for the last 2 years.
Couldn’t you put guys on IL. Seems like Cobb and Teng could be allowing you to bring up Black +1
ReplyDeleteYes, but it has to be 60-day IL to not count toward the 40-man roster.
DeleteI mentioned this in a recent response that I wasn’t sure how they would rotate in all the arms they will need to get through the first 2 months when most of them aren’t on the 40 man. Surely they have to expect that it will take more arms than normal under these circumstances and it appears there is less space than I had thought! There will be lots of players DFA’d because well there is little hope that FZ can trade them and my guess is it will likely be Yaz, Slater, and Wilmer that could end up being casualties among several others who are long shot FZ dumpster dives. Should be morbidly entertaining!
ReplyDeleteYaz, Slater, and Wilmer will NOT be DFA'd. Will not be surprised to see Hjelle, Bart, and an arm traded for who-knows-what. Hard to keep in mind that the opening day roster is meaningless.
DeleteFuture of the team is young arms. Gonna be interesting to watch how they are developed to be the contributors they have to be.
Agree YtY, Slater and Wilmer aren't going anywhere but remember the Opening Day roster must be comprised of players on the 40- man roster. As of right now, there are not enough healthy pitchers on the 40-man roster to field a full 26-man active roster.
Delete