Young SF Giants pitcher has chance to boot Adrian Houser out of starting rotation

The SF Giants will take on the San Diego Padres tonight and they will give the ball to Trevor McDonald. With how Adrian Houser has struggled as of late, this could serve as an audition if the Giants plan on replacing Houser in the rotation soon.

The Giants brought McDonald to join them in Philadelphia for their series against the Phillies as their 27th man for the doubleheader. Surprisingly, they didn’t use him at all and instead let Houser pitch that game.

Houser, who was signed to a two-year, $22 million deal in the offseason, gave up home runs to the first two batters of that game. To his credit, he calmed down and battled after that and made it into the fifth inning but his 7.12 ERA is alarming to say the least.

If he keeps on turning in bad starts, the Giants are going to have no choice but to replace him in the rotation. They sent Blade Tidwell down to Triple-A and will stretch him out as a starter so there’s a chance he could be a replacement, but the Giants may go with whoever their most promising arm is.

Houser may be out of the rotation soon if young arms impress

McDonald certainly impressed in the few starts he had late last season. He had a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings pitched and entered this season seeming like a legitimate candidate to make the Opening Day roster. He got off to a great start in spring training but completely fell off towards the end which probably did cost him a roster spot.

Those struggles carried over to his first few starts with the Sacramento River Cats in Triple-A. His last start was his best though as he pitched five scoreless innings. He’s looking more like the guy we saw late last season so if he has a strong outing on Monday night and Houser struggles in his next outing don’t be surprised if there is chatter about McDonald replacing him.

If the season keeps on going south for San Francisco, they should definitely get rid of some of their pitchers and make room for their young starters. If this season goes off the rails in 2017 fashion don’t be shocked if Houser, Tyler Mahle, and Robbie Ray get traded and the Giants plug in McDonald, Tidwell, and Carson Whisenhunt.

Landen Roupp has shown the young homegrown starters in the organization that there is a path to being a solid part of the rotation so maybe McDonald can follow in his footsteps on Monday night. 

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