Kapler: Starting staff ‘most encouraging’ part of Giants camp originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It was exactly five years ago at this time that the Giants received a reminder you can never have too much starting pitching. Madison Bumgarner was hit by a line drive in his last start of the spring, and a few days later, Ty Blach got a surprise Opening Day assignment.
When a team comes into camp feeling it has more pitching than it initially needs, something always happens to clear out some of the excess. Except here the Giants are, eight days from their opener, with the knowledge that they don’t even need a fifth starter on their season-opening six-game trip and that all six of their starters are still healthy and on track to be ready March 30. The biggest challenge early might be getting everyone enough work to stay sharp.
“It’s a little bit of a puzzle early on,” manager Gabe Kapler said on Wednesday morning.
It’s one the Giants already have figured out, although they’re being coy about their final plans. Kapler has named Logan Webb his Opening Day starter and Alex Cobb the No. 2, but he doesn’t want to go any further than that. On Wednesday, the main nugget he offered was that the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox are both heavily right-handed with their lineups, which means the Giants may prioritize their right-handers early on.
That would give an edge to Anthony DeSclafani and Ross Stripling, and maybe even Sean Hjelle, who has been as good as anybody in camp as he has pushed for a bullpen job. Someone like Hjelle or Jakob Junis could be valuable in a bulk innings role early, but if all of the starting options are on the initial roster, the Giants will also have to find the right spots for Alex Wood and Sean Manaea.
“Guys have to pitch,” Kapler said. “We’re going to have to get guys innings.”
Those innings could come in a different way. The Giants have talked often of “piggybacking” starters and have done it all spring, with one starter getting his work in and then another taking over. It’s possible there are times this season when someone like DeSclafani goes five innings and then is followed by Manaea for the rest of the game, or most of it, but that’s a little difficult to map out.
With two off days in the first five days of their season, the Giants may not even have that much work to go around. If the weather cooperates, they could bring Webb back on an extra day of rest to pitch the second game of the…