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The San Francisco Giants spent a lot of money during the offseason to reload their starting rotation for 2016. They went out and signed fireballers Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto from a pair of American League Central teams to go with their holdovers. This turned out to be a good plan as the fivesome has made every start and is acting like the high priced pitchers they are. This rotation’s ability to strike out batters without walking them has been the Giants’ biggest strength so far this season.
Samardzija and Cueto are second to only ace Madison Bumgarner in strikeouts so far and have given up the fewest walks per inning of any two starters in the Giants’ rotation. They also are leading the rotation in WHIP at 1.06 and 0.99 respectively. They have come in and reset the rotation for the Giants in a meaningful way. The numbers continue to bear this out, as they are leading the rotation in innings pitched and total runs allowed. They have given up fewer home runs than any of the three holdovers as well. You might even say that this pair is carrying the rotation.
The last two pitchers, Jake Peavy and Matt Cain, are faring poorly in WHIP and ERA. They both have WHIPs over 1.40 and ERAs over 5.25. This doesn’t tell the complete story, however. Cain is only walking one batter every four innings and Peavy is striking out just under a batter per inning. Despite being the weakest link in this rotation, they are both adhering to the overall pattern.
It may be difficult for Samardzija and Cueto to keep this up all season. Hopefully, Cain and Peavy can get their issues straightened out. In any case the rotation’s ability to strike out batters without walking a high number has been the strength of the first place team in the National League West.
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