Should the San Francisco Giants Pursue Another Starting Pitcher?

After some disappointing performances from its starting pitchers in 2017, should the San Francisco Giants pursue another starting pitcher?

Going into the 2017 season the San Francisco Giants had one of the best starting rotations on paper. But then we saw how much that piece of paper was worth.

They finished with the 15th best starter ERA in Major League Baseball at 4.58.

The top seven starter ERAs in baseball all made the postseason with Colorado being the exception at 16.

As much of a fuss as people make about relief pitching these days, it’s still the starting pitchers who win you games most of the time.

Madison Bumgarner had the best ERA for the Giants at 3.32, but he obviously missed a lot of time. Jeff Samardzija was second on the team at 4.42 — that’s not a great number for your second best starter.

Apparently Johnny Cueto was dealing with an injury most of the year that contributed to his 4.52 ERA — his worst ERA since his rookie season in 2008. Meanwhile, Matt Moore did finish with his career-worst ERA of 5.52.

Chris Stratton didn’t make enough starts to qualify, but he would have had the second best starter ERA on the team at 3.68. Ty Blach was good at times, but finished with an unimpressive 4.78 ERA.

Everyone is assuming that these seasons were anomalies, and that each pitcher will bounce back in 2018.

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But what if that’s not the case? What if this is just the start of a decline for Cueto and Samardzija? What if Moore never gets back to his pre-Tommy John self?

Is it smart to just sit back and hope these guys return to form in 2018?

I really don’t know the answer to that question, but I would definitely have a contingency plan. It would be smart if the San Francisco Giants looked at adding another starting pitcher or two this offseason.

They don’t have to be a big name, but maybe an aging veteran for depth. However, it would obviously be nice if they could add another two or three-type pitcher in the rotation.

Next: San Francisco Giants 2017 Season Review: Management

In my honest opinion, it’s just a little scary banking on pitchers to bounce back. Hopefully they all do, but I also hope the front office and fans are prepared in case they don’t.