Welcome, Justin Verlander.
Hopefully the San Francisco Giants aren’t done adding to their rotation. But in all likelihood, they are.
The team still has all their fingers and toes crossed that they can convince Rōki Sasaki to give them a rose in the next two weeks but, after agreeing to a one-year, $15-million contract with three-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander on Tuesday, I think it’s safe to say that Sasaki is the only remaining option for the Giants. After losing out on Corbin Burnes, Buster Posey said the team was focused on improving the offense, so I think we can safely say that in a post-Verlander world, there will be no long-term deal for Jack Flaherty, no trade for Luis Castillo, no nothing of that sort.
And so, assuming this is it — and we sure hope that Sasaki enters the fold — it sure looks like the Giants have a (very tentative) rotation drawn up with a (very erasable) pencil:
Logan Webb
Robbie Ray
Justin Verlander
Kyle Harrison
Jordan Hicks
As anyone who has ever watched any baseball team, ever, can attest to, you can never have enough pitching. That’s not me saying the Giants should add another starter, it’s me preemptively calming down the calls for Hayden Birdsong, Landen Roupp, and others.
Let’s look back to last year, before the Giants signed Blake Snell. Many, many, many people told me the Giants didn’t need to spend big money on a pitcher like Snell, when Alex Cobb was about to return, Ray would be back halfway through the season, Hicks was a starter now, Harrison was ready for a big role, and Tristan Beck and Keaton Winn were ready for their chances.
Then, of course, Cobb never played for the Giants, Ray pitched just 30.2 innings, Winn suffered an injury that cut his season short, Beck suffered an injury that kept him out until September, and the Giants finished 29th in the Majors in innings from their starting rotation. And that was with Snell signing.
It will be a miracle if all five of those starters are healthy when the 2025 season begins, and it will be one of the most improbable happenings in MLB history if all five are healthy all year long. And even if they were, Verlander might not be good, Ray might not be good, Harrison might not be good, and Hicks might not be a starter. And trades might happen. Even with Verlander — and yes, even with Sasaki — there will be starts for Birdsong and Roupp and Beck and Winn and Mason Black and Trevor McDonald and Carsons Ragsdale, Seymour, and Whisenhunt to bicker over. Worry not about that.
Instead, celebrate that it looks like we know what the rotation is, still a full month away from pitchers and catchers reporting.
Now please mess it all up, Rōki.
How many days until Opening Day?
Just 78 now!