Three buy-low starting pitching targets that the SF Giants could target at the trade deadline

Three buy-low starting pitching targets that the SF Giants could target at the trade deadline

3. Colorado Rockies starter Chad Kuhl

Chad Kuhl is having a surprisingly good season after being non-tendered by the Pittsburgh Pirates last winter. The six-year veteran signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Colorado Rockies in the offseason and that is a deal that has worked out nicely for Colorado.

There will be demand for Kuhl, but it will be interesting to see how the Rockies approach the deadline as there are not many pitchers who have pitched well at Coors Field like Kuhl has.

In seven starts, Kuhl has posted a 3.27 ERA with 25 strikeouts against only seven walks at home this season. In total, he has recorded a 3.83 ERA, 4.03 FIP, 1.32 WHIP, 6.4 K/9, and a 1.97 SO/W ratio in 15 starts.

Impressively, he has only allowed eight home runs in 82.1 frames (0.9 HR/9) for the Rockies this year. He has found a way to keep the ball in the ballpark in one of the most hitter-friendly fields in baseball and that has value to not only the Rockies but plenty of interested suitors as well.

That said, Kuhl has produced the lowest HR/FB (7.6% HR/FB ratio) of his career, so that low home run output should regress to the mean at some point.

Kuhl would be in the same ballpark as Drew Smyly and Michael Pineda in terms of cost. The big difference is that Kuhl does not have the long track record like the other two pitchers, so teams will be wary of what they give up to acquire Kuhl.