1 quality that the SF Giants need with any prospective starting pitcher target

The SF Giants could seek a number of qualities with any prospective starting pitcher target such as pitch mix, strikeout rate, or ground ball rate. One quality that they desperately need to add to the rotation in 2025 is durability.

1 quality that the SF Giants need with any prospective starting pitcher target

The Giants starting rotation has thrown 1,508 innings since the start of 2023, which is last in baseball. Conversely, the bullpen leads baseball with1,360.1 innings thrown during that stretch.

This is one data point and looking at rotation volume can be somewhat misleading due to the team's aggressive use of openers and bullpen games. That said, the Giants likely want to make some progress on this trend in 2025.

As currently constructed, it could be more of the same. The Giants' projected rotation for next season currently consists of Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, and Hayden Birdsong. A lot can change between now and the start of spring training.

Webb has been one of the most durable pitchers in baseball in recent seasons. He has made at least 32 starts in each of the past three seasons and led the NL in innings pitched since the start of 2023. That type of workload is just not all that prevalent around baseball today but it is one of the reasons why the 28-year-old pitcher is one of the better hurlers.

Outside of him, there are certainly some workload concerns. Ray is coming off of major elbow surgery. Perhaps, a full offseason to recover will get him back to when he was throwing at least 150 innings per season not that long ago.

Hicks, Harrison, and Birdsong are all still building up arm strength to be able to throw a full season. This is not to say that the Giants should add a free agent that would block any of the three from reaching that goal.

Though, there are innings available if that is the rotation plan and the Giants should hedge their bets against the fact that workload is difficult to project and injuries do happen. The Giants have been connected to one of the top starters on the market in Corbin Burnes.

Burnes, Sean Manaea, Nathan Eovaldi, Max Fried, and José Quintana all threw 170 or more innings in 2024. They would check that box for durability. However, many of those options will earn $20 million or more annually in their next contract. If the Giants are operating more within a budget, it is tough to envision them committing that amount to one player.

There are more affordable options as well such as Kyle Gibson or Frankie Montas, each of whom tallied at least 150 innings last year. At that point, the Giants would be straddling the line between getting an innings-eater versus actually upgrading the rotation.