What pitch do SF Giants pitchers want to steal from a teammate?

What pitch would each member of the SF Giants pitching staff steal from a teammate if they could add it to their arsenal? The answers may surprise you.

The SF Giants pitching staff features a wide variety of arms that are effective in wildly different ways. Building a pitching staff in modern MLB requires a team full of arms that can get players out with unique movement, arm slots, and velocity. So, Giants Baseball Insider asked every pitcher on the team (alongside a few others) what pitch they would most like to steal from a teammate and add to their arsenal.

SF Giants reliever Tyler Rogers delivers a pitch at Oracle Park (2023) / D. Ross Cameron - USA TODAY Sports

"There's a lot of right answers," said veteran righty John Brebbia as he contemplated the possibilities. He ultimately settled on submariner Tyler Rogers' rising slider once he realized the thought experiment allowed him to take any arm slot he wanted. Giants ace Logan Webb agreed with Brebbia, picking the submariner's slider.

Some pitchers focused on the movement profiles they lack in their arsenals. Both Sean Manaea and Tristan Beck (Giants preseason #19 prospect) immediately wanted to add a sinker, with Manaea wanting to mirror Webb's sinker from the left side, while Beck eyed either Webb or Sean Hjelle's sinker.

The most common answer, though, was one fans probably could have guessed. When asked, the Rogers brothers, Taylor and Tyler, both immediately pointed over to closer Camilo Doval. The dominant closer's cutter, which consistently eclipses 100 mph was chosen more than twice as much as any other pitch by members of the staff.

Longtime starters like Jakob Junis and Ross Stripling agreed with the Rogers twins, wanting Doval's incredible cutter to lead their arsenals. For what it's worth, Doval said through interpreter Erwin Higueros that he thought his cutter could still reach triple-digits after several innings of work.

Luke Jackson chose Doval's cutter as well, but like several players, he immediately began contemplating the perfect combination of pitches. Jackson mentioned Tyler Rogers' arm slot, Alex Cobb's curveball, Anthony DeSclafani's two-seamer, and Jakob Junis' breaking ball.

"It's tough," Junis said. "I think Doval's fastball. My number two is a tie between Webby's changeup and Cobb's splitter."

SF Giants relief pitcher Camilo Doval delivers a pitch in the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins. (2023) / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

When asked what pitch he would want to add to his arsenal, though, Doval was unable to come up with an answer. The fireball-throwing righty struggled to consider trying to integrate another pitch into his elite arsenal.

Doval, after all, has three incredible pitches, which prevent him from relying on only one offering. In fact, Doval has not thrown any one pitch more than 36.9% of the time. Granted, imagine if he had a changeup like Webb or a splitter like Cobb to keep hitters even more off-balance.

Interestingly, others who have pitched around the team were less inclined to pick Doval's heater than members of the current staff. Giants position players who pitched in college and pitching coach Andrew Bailey, who was a closer and setup arm in the majors from 2009-2017, leaned much more heavily toward Webb.

J.D. Davis, who recorded 11 saves and a 2.94 ERA as a reliever during his college career at Cal State Fullerton. Davis, who has actually faced a few members of the Giants pitching staff, is 1-for-3 with a single in his career against Webb and wanted his sinker.

Casey Schmitt, who was San Diego State's closer in each of his three seasons, posted a 2.48 ERA across 87 innings pitched (50 appearances) while racking up 23 saves in college. He wanted Webb's sinker too.

Brett Wisely, the only Giants hitter who was a starting pitcher in college, wanted Webb's changeup. Wisely made 12 starts in his lone season at Gulf Coast State College in Florida, a top junior college baseball program. Wisely recorded a 2.87 ERA in 78.1 innings pitched with 89 strikeouts and 14 walks.

"I think it would be Webby's changeup," Wisely said. "It's nasty. Playing center field behind him, seeing it move... Wow!"

Veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford, though, was not chasing movement. After proudly hitting 90 mph in his first opportunity to pitch on a big-league mound, Crawford did not hesitate to choose Doval's cutter.

Here are the full results from the player survey:

Each pick (position players and coaches in italics)
Scott Alexander: Cobb's splitter
Andrew Bailey: Webb's changeup
Tristan Beck: Webb or Hjelle's sinker
John Brebbia: Tyler Rogers' rising slider
Alex Cobb: Junis' slider
Brandon Crawford: Doval's cutter
J.D. Davis: Webb's sinker
Anthony DeSclafani: Cobb's splitter
Camilo Doval: None
Luke Jackson: Doval's fastball
Jakob Junis: Doval's heater
Sean Manaea: Webb's sinker
Taylor Rogers: Any of Doval's three pitches
Tyler Rogers: Doval's fastball
Casey Schmitt: Webb's sinker
Ross Stripling: Doval's heater
Cole Waites: Rogers' rising slider
Ryan Walker: Webb's changeup
Logan Webb: Rogers' rising slider
Brett Wisely: Webb's changeup
Alex Wood: Junis breaking ball
Keaton Winn: Doval's cutter

Vote tally by player (total with hitters/coaches in parenthesis)

Camilo Doval: 6 (7)
Logan Webb: 3 (7)
Alex Cobb: 2
Jakob Junis: 2
Tyler Rogers: 2
Sean Hjelle: 1

Vote tally by pitch

Doval's cutter: 6 (7)
Webb's sinker: 2 (4)
Cobb's splitter: 2
Junis' slider: 2
Tyler Rogers' slider: 2
Webb's changeup: 1 (3)
Doval's sinker: 1
Doval's slider: 1
Hjelle's sinker: 1