Dream SF Giants starting rotation for the 2024 season

Blake Snell

The first free agent added to this Giants dream rotation is Blake Snell. Snell is arguably the favorite to win the NL Cy Young this year after putting up a 2.25 ERA for the Padres in 180 innings in 2023. His walk rate is pretty concerning and he was actually lucky to put up as good a season as he did given his peripherals. However, he misses bats, would give the Giants a top flight lefty in the rotation, and he does have a track record of success given that he won the Cy Young back in 2018 as well.

Snell is projected to get a nice nine figure payday in free agency and given that we don't care about money here, that is not a problem whatsoever. It is fair to wonder if Snell's struggles with walks could be a problem in the long-term, but his upside with his swing and miss stuff from the left side is too good to pass up and he should excel with the Giants' coaching staff especially Bob Melvin who managed Snell with the Padres.

Kyle Harrison

A certain amount of looking to the future is appropriate here especially when the Giants have a guy with as much upside as Kyle Harrison has. At first glance, Harrison's first season in the big leagues was pretty mediocre. He put up just a 4.15 ERA in 2023 after being called up in August with a good, but not great, strikeout rate at 9.1 K/9. However, Harrison's ceiling is considerably higher than that and he could become a frontline starter if everything falls his way.

Possessing a plus fastball and slider from the left side in addition to a good changeup to keep righties honest, Harrison put up big time strikeout numbers throughout his minor league career while battling walk issues. However, it looked like the Giants were very diligent in trying to get his command where they wanted it in the majors as he only walked 2.9 batters per nine innings pitched in the big leagues. Assuming he can find that balance between trusting his stuff and throwing strikes when he needs to, and we are betting that he can, this is a special arm.