Former Cy Young Could Be X-Factor for San Francisco Giants Next Season

Who will be the X-Factor for the San Francisco Giants in 2025?
Aug 20, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA;  San Francisco Giants pitcher Robbie Ray (23) pitches during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park.
Aug 20, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Robbie Ray (23) pitches during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park. / Stan Szeto-Imagn Images
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It has been a solid offseason for the San Francisco Giants after a few years of struggles.

The Buster Posey era is off to a good start with the Giants this winter. San Francisco was able to accomplish one of their main goals of the offseason, which was to add an impact player to their lineup.

Signing Willy Adames will provide them with a much-needed boost in the middle of their lineup, which has lacked power for quite some time. Also, they were able to bring in future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander on a one-year deal.

The hope is that Verlander will be able to find his form in 2023 and bounce back from a bad 2024 that was plagued by injuries. Losing Blake Snell in free agency was to be expected, but it nonetheless will be felt in the rotation.

However, even without Snell, there is plenty of talent for the Giants in the starting five.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report recently broke down the Giants’ starting rotation and highlighted Robbie Ray as a potential X-factor for them this coming season.

“A healthy Robbie Ray is the X-factor here, as he has made just eight starts and pitched 34 innings the past two years. The 2021 AL Cy Young winner is capable of serving as a co-ace alongside Logan Webb, and the Giants at least need him to perform like a middle-of-the-rotation arm.”

Getting Ray back to form will be very important for the success of San Francisco in 2025. The southpaw was the Cy Young in 2021 with the Toronto Blue Jays, but hasn’t pitched much in the last two seasons.

If Ray can get healthy and pitch similarly to how he did in 2021, it would be a massive boost to the rotation.

As the Giants try to keep up with some of the talented teams in the NL West, having their starting staff healthy and producing is going to be key. Their lineup should be a bit better with the addition of Adames, but this is a team that will be leaning on their pitching to carry them. 

Logan Webb is a front-end starter at the top of the rotation, but he will need help from those around him. Verlander is certainly a wild card coming off a disappointing year, but he has bounced back from bad years in his career before. 

For Ray, he certainly feels like the X-factor of the rotation. Even though it has been a few seasons since he was elite, he appears to be healthy and that will be key. If he can return to Cy Young form or get close to it, he would provide San Francisco a big boost for their aspirations in 2025. 


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