Maintaining Health Among Veterans Is Crucial for San Francisco Giants' Success

If the San Francisco Giants are going to have success, their veteran trio will need to stay healthy.

Mar 24, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Robbie Ray (38) delivers a pitch against the Detroit Tigers during the first inning at Oracle Park. | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

With the regular season underway for the San Francisco Giants, there are mixed expectations coming into the year. 

The Giants have been stuck in mediocrity for quite some time in the National League West, and the team is hoping this is when they can get back over the .500 mark. 

This winter, the team made some notable changes, but projecting whether they are better on paper or not is challenging. 

While adding Willy Adames improves the batting order, they lost Blake Snell in the rotation, which was a significant blow. Still, the team has potential, but having success is going to be dependent upon all players living up to their capabilities.

Maria Guardado of MLB.com believes health for the rotation is the most important thing, though.

“With an accomplished trio -- Logan Webb, Justin Verlander and Robbie Ray -- leading the way, the Giants’ rotation has the potential to be among the best in the league, but health, as always, will be paramount.”

Despite the questions some may have about this starting unit, their ceiling is also high.

Logan Webb is a steady hand at the top of the rotation and there shouldn’t be too much reason to be concerned about what he will do in 2025. However, the other two veterans of the rotation don’t come without concerns. 

Justin Verlander was the signing brought in to replace Snell, and the future Hall of Famer is coming off a down showing in which he dealt with a neck injury. 

However, despite being over 40 years old, the right-hander looked really strong this spring, which was an encouraging sign. 

In addition to Verlander, the Giants will also be hoping for a bounce-back season from Robbie Ray. The southpaw is a former Cy Young Award winner in the American League, but has missed much of the last two years recovering from Tommy John surgery surgery. 

If both of these pitchers are able to regain All-Star form after injuries hampered them in recent seasons, the team could have one of the better rotations in the league. 

If that doesn't happen, fortunately there is some good young depth on the team if there an injury to one of their veterans were to occur. 

For San Francisco to have a great season in 2025, that will likely start with the rotation being one of the top in the league.