SF Giants pitching slumped in 2024 after 2 key voices departed last year

The SF Giants lost a lot of pitching acumen when both Brian Bannister and Andrew Bailey departed the organization last year. Not surprisingly, the pitching staff has not fully recovered in 2024.

SF Giants pitching slumped in 2024 after 2 key voices departed last year

Bailey joined the Boston Red Sox as a pitching coach, whereas Bannister signed on to work in the Chicago White Sox's front office in a pitching development role.

The White Sox are in the midst of one of the worst seasons in baseball history, so that is a tough role to assume. However, Boston's pitching staff was strong in the first half but has struggled as the season has progressed. The Giants did add Bryan Price, but his first season has been mixed. I should caution that it is typically hard to evaluate a coach or coaching staff, so this is going off of a gut feeling.

When the Giants faced off against the Milwaukee Brewers last week, it was impressive how Milwaukee was able to piece together a solid rotation. Despite shipping Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles and Brandon Woodruff spending the entire year on the injured list, the pitching has not missed a beat.

Milwaukee's 3.66 ERA is the fourth-best mark in baseball. In fact, that number is slightly better than the 3.73 ERA they set as a staff just last season. And, that was with Burnes and Woodruff in the rotation.

So, how have they even done it? It is not with the household names. They have an excellent bullpen but managed to piece together a rotation that consists of Colin Rea, Tobias Myers, Aaron Civale, and Joe Ross. Freddy Peralta is the de facto ace of the rotation. It is not the type of rotation that you would expect to even be middle of the road in terms of rotation ERA (4.04 ERA) but they are.

The Brewers are a smart organization. It was not that long ago when the Giants were a desirable destination for unheralded pitchers or pitchers looking to rebuild their stock. Brian Bannister and Andrew Bailey were at the forefront of that while helping a lot of pitchers improve. That no longer appears to be the case.

Perhaps, Sean Manaea and Jakob Junis were the last of that bunch from the 2023 season. There has not been as much of that feel this season and it is hard to ignore the connection with Bannister and Bailey departing.

The Giants have invested heavily in the rotation with Logan Webb, Blake Snell, Robbie Ray, and Jordan Hicks. However, there has not nearly been enough return on investment and that has nothing to do with Webb or Snell, both of whom are having a nice season.

The Giants have a 4.17 pitching staff ERA, which is 20th in baseball this season. That unit needs to be a strength but it has been a surprising weakness.

In fact, the Giants may need to go into free agency to add at least one more starter. Throwing money at the issue is one way to address it, but the Giants were smarter than that a few seasons ago. Perhaps, the better alternative is to go out and add a smarter pitching mind to the organization and again find some of the success that the Brewers are seeing this year.