San Francisco Giants: Matt Cain Needs to Stay in the Bullpen

After another disappointing start by Matt Cain for the San Francisco Giants, here is another plea for him to never start again.

He is now 0-9 in his last 13 starts this year and hasn’t won a game since May 15. Cain has allowed two runs or more in 11 of those starts, with just three quality starts during that span.

During the first month-and-a-half of the season he was 3-1 with three quality starts. That gave us some hope that maybe the old Matt Cain was still in there, but he fooled us.

Since his last win, he has a 6.18 ERA over his last 13 starts.

He has made two appearances out of the bullpen lately and it has gone great. Cain pitched three innings of scoreless relief on August 7, and walked two in one-third of an inning on July 9 but didn’t allow a run.

I know San Francisco Giants fans love Matt Cain, but the thought of him finding his former glory needs to end. It’s over for him as a starting pitcher. There is little-to-no reason for him to start a game for the San Francisco Giants again.

With the Giants clearly playing for the future, those starts need to be given to players who are part of the future. I’d much rather see them call up a rookie and give him those starts.

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I certainly think that is what is going to happen from now on, and what should happen.

On that note, I think Cain can be very effective out of the bullpen.

In 14 career innings as a reliever he has a 3.21 ERA and a WHIP of 1.21. That’s a very small sample size, but with as bad as the Giants bullpen has been in the past, he can’t make it any worse.

Whether it’s in a long relief role, or a short stint to get a tough right-handed hitter, Cain has value in the bullpen.

There is a $21 million team option for 2018, and there is no way the San Francisco Giants pick that up. The buy-out is still expensive at $7.5 million, but the Giants have to let him go.

Next: San Francisco Giants: Envisioning the 2018 Starting Rotation

So if you love Matt Cain, enjoy your last days with him as a Giant. An please let those days be spent in the bullpen.