SF Giants desperate for fresh arms as beleaguered pitching staff struggles

The SF Giants have dropped four straight games and their playoff hopes are dwindling. Their beleaguered pitching staff has struggled and the team is desperate for any fresh arms to try and give the staff some sort of respite.

One move the team made was to call up right-handed pitcher Trevor McDonald and option Keaton Winn so the team had a fresh arm to pitch after Tristan Beck's start on Tuesday.

SF Giants struggling to piece together a workable pitching staff

The Beck and McDonald pairing did not produce great results as they allowed a combined five earned runs in five innings of work. Joey Lucchesi and José Buttó pitched well but Ryan Walker, really the team's only option at closer right now, coughed it up in the ninth inning for a Diamondbacks walk-off victory.

One has to empathize with manager Bob Melvin a little bit as he tries to piece this pitching staff together. The bullpen is essentially being held together by duct tape in the words of The Athletic's Grant Brisbee and he is not far off.

After trading away Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval at the trade deadline and losing both Randy Rodríguez and Erik Miller to injury, the bullpen is incredibly depleted. The Giants have had to turn to unlikely arms like Matt Gage and Joel Peguero who have thrived at times but have struggled as of late. What was once a strength has now turned into a liability for the Giants.

The rotation has been a mess recently as well. They have three established starters with Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and Justin Verlander. Kai-Wei Teng is the fourth starter and has done well at times but has been inconsistent. That fifth spot is anyone's guess at this point as the team will have to rely on some sort of hodgepodge of bullpen games or openers in the final week and a half of the season. Carson Whisenhunt could be a reinforcement soon as he made a rehab start with Sacramento but his return is not a guarantee.

What has made matters worse is that the typically reliable arms in the rotation did not deliver their last time through the rotation. Both Webb and Ray got roughed up against the Dodgers and did not go deep into the game which put a strain on the bullpen.

The bullpen is already weak as it is, but if they are tired as well that is only going to make matters worse. The pitching staff is beleaguered right now and even if the Giants can pull off a miracle and make it into the playoffs, it is fair to wonder if they have anywhere near the pitching depth to make any sort of run in October.

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