Concerns Mount for San Francisco Giants Due to Multiple Starters' Struggles

Even though the San Francisco Giants are playing well, concerns about the starting rotation are starting to mount.

Apr 20, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) throws in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants are off to one of the most surprising starts in baseball, and the team is hoping to sustain it throughout the long season.

It has been a great start for the Giants, but since expectations were somewhat low coming into the year, there is concern that the hot start could cool off.

However, San Francisco certainly isn’t thinking that way, and they should be focused on keeping up their excellent level of play.

This winter, one of the main focuses of the Giants was to improve their offense. So far, even though their star signing, Willy Adames, is off to a slow start, the offense has been much-improved.

The emergence of Jung Hoo Lee has been a major reason why, but this was a team that was built on having a strong pitching staff to carry them.

While there has been some good production from the rotation, there have also been some concerning ones.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) recently wrote about a potential reason to be pessimistic about the Giants being the struggles of a couple of starters in their rotation.

“Although the starting rotation has had its bright spots, led by ace Logan Webb and his 1.96 ERA through six starts, Robbie Ray’s resurgence and his newfound changeup, and the development of Landen Roupp, there have also been question marks including the performance of Justin Verlander (5.47 ERA) and Jordan Hicks (6.59 ERA).”

Without a doubt, the leader of the rotation in 2025 is Logan Webb. The right-hander is off to a strong start, totaling a 1.98 ERA in 36.1 innings pitched. Furthermore, he is also striking out batters at a much higher rate this season, with 44 on the year.

After Webb, the Giants have been relying on Robbie Ray, who is seeking to regain his form after missing a lot of time due to injury. So far, he has pitched well for the most part, but San Francisco would still like to see more.

With some young arms in the organization, it was Landen Roupp who won the spot and has been performing well.

However, while there has been some good production from a majority of the rotation, the struggles of Justin Verlander and Jordan Hicks are concerning. For Verlander, it simply could be father time coming for the future Hall of Famer.

In the case of Hicks, he might end up being better used as a relief pitcher than a starter.

With two members of the rotation struggling, adding another starter might be a need for San Francisco this campaign. If the Giants want to sustain being a contender, they can’t do so with two starters having an ERA over 5.00.

While there is time for Verlander and Hicks to improve, San Francisco must be mindful of their struggles as a potential issue going forward.