San Francisco Giants: Chris Stratton Makes Statement for 2019 Rotation

The San Francisco Giants are out of the playoff race and Chris Stratton has been in and out of the Giants rotation this season, but both dominated the first place Colorado Rockies tonight 2-0.

With all the talk before the game about the San Francisco Giants making big changes, the uncertain future of Stratton took a step in the right direction tonight.

Stratton pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only two hits and striking out seven while walking only two.

The Giants have Madison Bumgarner under contract for next season and rookies Dereck Rodriguez and Andrew Suarez seem like locks to stay in the rotation in 2019.

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Derek Holland, who is a pending free agent, has spoken with reporters about wanting to return.

The Giants also have Jeff Samardzija, who is likely out for the year with an injury and has not been healthy much at all in 2018. His uncertainty heading into the off-season certainly opens the door for Stratton.

He earned his tenth win of the season, which leads the team, and his inconsistency has also included some of the best performances of the season, like tonight’s shutout.

In his last five starts, he has posted a 2.10 earned run average.

He also entered the game with a negative -0.6 Wins Above Replacement on the season and still had a 4.99 ERA. After tonight’s shutout, his ERA dropped again to 4.66.

Pitching at a replacement level doesn’t scream keeper as the Giants head into an important off-season. As long as Stratton remains a question mark for next season, he will need all the scoreless innings he can put together.

Whether he ends up making the rotation in 2019 or not, it would seem Stratton made a bold statement against a very good Rockies lineup that he needs to be in the conversation next season.