Santa Cruz Sentinel

Where the pitching rotation stands after adding DeSclafani

SF agreed to terms on a one-year deal with starter on Wednesday

- By Kerry Crowley

Two days after the 2020 regular season ended, San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi announced that fortifying the team’s starting rotation would be the front office’s top priority this offseason.

Nearly three months after the Giants last played, Zaidi is making progress. The Giants’ search for pitching help continued Wednesday with the addition of right-hander Anthony DeSclafani, who signed a one-year, $6 million deal with the club.

“He was really enthusiast­ic about the opportunit­y to become a Giant and we certainly are looking for players in free agency that are looking to join what we’re trying to build here,” Zaidi said on a videoconfe­rence with reporters.

DeSclafani’s acquisitio­n won’t bring an end to the Giants’ offseason quest to build out a rotation that lacked depth this season, but it does provide the team with a veteran starter who boasts an intriguing track record over a six-year major league career.

The 30-year-old New Jersey native debuted with the Marlins in 2014, but spent the last five seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. The Giants were willing to overlook DeSclafani’s 7.22 ERA in 2020 as the righty was hampered by a back injury at the beginning of the year in hopes he’ll regain the form he showed during an above-average 2019 season when he threw 166 2/3 innings, struck out 167 batters and posted a 3.89 ERA.

There’s also a belief from the Giants that DeSclafani will benefit from leaving the hitter-friendly confines of Great American Ballpark, where his career 4.62 ERA is a full point higher than the 3.61 mark he’s enjoyed on the road.

“I don’t think a lot of this is rocket science,” Zaidi said. “He’s a guy with pedigree, a sixth round pick out of college, was a really well- regarded prospect. Has had a couple of injuries, but also had a couple of really nice seasons with the Reds. That’s a known tough ballpark, especially with right-handed pitchers with the ballpark dimensions and how the ball flies there, especially with a flyball pitcher like Anthony.”

At the outset of the offseason, Zaidi indicated the free agent market would be filled with pitchers who could benefit from the tweaks and adjustment­s an innovative Giants coaching staff would suggest to help them reach their full potential. The Giants’ front office believes the industry has taken notice of how Drew Pomeranz, Drew Smyly and top returnee Kevin Gausman transforme­d their careers in San Francisco and feel others, such as DeSclafani, could improve their performanc­es.

It appears the key for the former Reds pitcher in 2021 will be finding a way to ensure his slider and curveball are both effective pitches. DeSclafani threw his slider on more than 30% of his pitches last season, which outpaced his fastball, and his career numbers indicate his slider can be the most difficult pitch for opponents to hit.

DeSclafani’s curveball has also shown promise, particular­ly in 2019 when he generated whiffs on 38% of his curves, but he’s rarely paired it effectivel­y with his primary breaking ball.

The pitch mix DeSclafani brings to San Francisco is far different from what Gausman and the team’s other top returning veteran, Johnny Cueto, rely on for success. The Giants’ newest acquisitio­n needs his breaking pitches to record outs while Gausman uses a high- 90s fastball and splitter combinatio­n to stymie hitters. Cueto, the highest-paid member of the rotation, rarely tops 90 miles per hour with his fastball, but can be effective when his best secondary offering, his changeup, plays off of the four-seamer.

With DeSclafani likely to pitch behind Gausman and Cueto in the Giants’ 2020 rotation, other candidates for jobs include Logan Webb, who battled command issues during a tough rookie year, and Tyler Beede, who is returning from Tommy John surgery.

“Logan Webb has a lot of developmen­t left to occur, but he’s a good candidate to be in our rotation,” manager Gabe Kapler said Tuesday. “I think everybody knows Tyler Beede will be coming back for us and we expect him to be at least off the mound when spring training begins.”

Starting pitching prospects Sean Hjelle and Tristan Beck could enter the rotation equation later on in the year, but the Giants will continue their search for depth on the free agent market and through discussing trade possibilit­ies. It’s unlike Zaidi to enter a season without at least one solid left-handed option for the starting staff, but he said handedness won’t dictate future moves.

“I think we’re going to continue to look for starting pitching, it could come in the form of a versatile swing man who could go back and forth, but I actually think we have room to add another guy who we could rely on every fifth day,” Zaidi said. “Just knowing that we need seven to eight to nine to 10 pitchers to get through a full season.”

 ?? GENE J. PUSKAR — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Cincinnati pitcher Anthony DeSclafani throws against Pittsburgh last season. The Giants on Wednesday agreed to terms with the veteran starter on a one-year deal.
GENE J. PUSKAR — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Cincinnati pitcher Anthony DeSclafani throws against Pittsburgh last season. The Giants on Wednesday agreed to terms with the veteran starter on a one-year deal.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States