San Francisco Giants Urged to Sign Starting Pitcher Before Spring Training

Do the San Francisco Giants need to add another starting pitcher before Spring Training convenes in Arizona.

Sep 28, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

It has been a decent offseason so far for the San Francisco Giants, who are hoping to improve after a couple of poor seasons.

With another losing season in 2024, the Giants came into the offseason hoping to make improvements. So far, they have made a couple of notable moves by bringing in Willy Adames and Justin Verlander.

However, while they did add a couple of notable names, they also lost one as well. Even though Blake Snell only really pitched about a half of season for San Francisco in 2024, he was really good once he got going.

This will be a significant loss for the franchise, and it’s hard to predict what Veralnder will be able to bring to the table after an injury-plagued 2024 campaign.

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently spoke about what should be on the wish list for the Giants before the start of Spring Training. He highlighted adding another starting pitcher as not necessarily a need, but a recommendation.

“Another starter is more of a recommendation," he wrote. "Though the Giants have a solid starting five lined up, Jordan Hicks would look better as part of their bullpen than as their No. 5 starter.”

While San Francisco does currently have a full rotation, it comes with some question marks.

Luckily, Logan Webb will be the anchor of the staff and has been one of the better pitchers in the league in the last few years. There shouldn’t be too many worries about his production, but after him it gets a bit hairy.

Former Cy Young Robbie Ray will be coming back from injury in 2025, making how much he’ll be able to pitch likely lower than the team would want coming off surgery.

Kyle Harrison is someone that San Francisco will be hoping takes a big step forward. The 23-year-old was able to make 24 starts last year, but with a 4.56 ERA, there is room for improvement, and he should be better in 2025.

Jordan Hicks feels like a pitcher that is in a bit of limbo between the rotation and the bullpen. Potentially, moving him back to the bullpen could be the best course of action for the Giants, After a dreadful August as a starter, Hicks seemed to find his groove coming out of the bullpen in September, totaling a 1.17 ERA.

Even though they currently have five starters, adding another one makes a lot of sense for the Giants. There are multiple pitchers that have cause for concern heading into the year, with really only Webb and Harrison pitching over 120 innings last year.

A front-end starter would be ideal to help replace Snell’s production, but a solid veteran would be beneficial as well.