San Francisco Giants Pitching Staff Poised To Excel in This One Important Area

The San Francisco Giants look like they are going to be elite at this one important pitching stat.

Feb 13, 2025; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb (62) throws in the bullpen during spring training camp. / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have received a lot of negative feedback about how they handled their pitching staff this offseason.

Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell opted out of his contract, hitting free agency after one year with the team. 

He landed with their rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, signing a massive five-year, $182 million deal, cashing in on the long-term deal he sought but did not receive during the offseason leading into the 2024 campaign.

The Giants attempted to land Corbin Burnes as a replacement, but he decided to sign a six-year, $210 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In need of a pitcher, San Francisco landed on future Hall of Famer, Justin Verlander.

Expecting Verlander to step into Snell’s role as the co-ace alongside Logan Webb is unrealistic at this point in his career. While he is almost certainly better than the form he showed last year, at 42 years old, he is best suited for a middle to back end spot in the rotation.

Beyond Webb, the starting rotation is littered with question marks.

Robbie Ray is a former Cy Young Award winner as well but hasn’t consistently shown that form. Jordan Hicks has been unable to stay healthy and rounding out the rotation will be one of Kyle Harrison, Hayden Birdsong or Landen Roupp.

In the bullpen, the Giants have a star in the making in Ryan Walker.

Manager Bob Melvin has spoken about the need for someone to take over his role as the “fireman” in high-leverage situations now that Walker is being deployed as the closer full time.

It would be nice if former closer Camilo Doval emerged in that role. The team also has Tyler Rogers who will factor into the late-game mix.

Hopefully, the uncertainties with the pitching staff are quelled over the last few weeks of spring training before the regular season gets underway.

At the very least, Melvin knows that he has a pitching staff that won’t rack up unforced errors and self-inflicted damage since they will be one of the best teams at limiting walks this year.

As shared by Grant Brisbee of The Athletic (subscription required), San Francisco has pitched 105 innings this spring. Only 26 free passes have been issued and 120 batters have been struck out.

Of course, there are a few anomalies in there, as exhibition games will sometimes bring up wonky stats as getting work in is more important than the actual production in most cases.

But, with how things are shaping up right now, walk prevention looks like it will be a strength.

“But they finished with a below-average walk rate last year after having the best walk rate in baseball in 2023. My guess is that they’ll get back in the top half, and they’ll have a chance to be even better than that,” Brisbee wrote.

One thing working in their favor is their home field, Oracle Park.

Pitcher friendly, they can afford to be aggressive and challenge hitters. Because of the friendly confines, the risk is nowhere near as high as it is in other ballparks being in the zone with frequency.

This is one area where Verlander will help immensely compared to Snell. There are some outliers on the staff, but this is a group that should excel in not giving free passes to opposing batters.

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