Bumgarner, Samardzija injuries are death blow to Giants' season
All the optimism the San Francisco Giants gained from a productive offseason was shattered in the span of a couple hours Friday afternoon.
Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija are both scheduled to start the season on the disabled list, serving as a death blow for a team hoping to make one last postseason run with its veteran core.
Samardzija, a perennial innings eater who's made 64 starts over the last two seasons, will be sidelined the next three-to-four weeks with a pectoral strain. That was enough to put a club devoid of rotation depth behind the eight ball, and that wasn't even the worst news of the day.
Making his final start of spring training - just six days before he was set to make the Opening Day start in Dodger Stadium - Bumgarner was smoked with a line drive, suffering a fractured left hand, with an expectation he'll be sidelined the next six-to-eight weeks.
With that devastating news, it's safe to say the Giants' season is now over before it even started, as this team on the Bay was built with little margin for error.
No money, mo problems
The Giants were deservedly praised this winter for adding Andrew McCutchen, Evan Longoria, Austin Jackson, and Tony Watson while remaining under the $197-million luxury-tax threshold.
While the front office worked wonders, it also left the team vulnerable to injury, with little wiggle room under the cap. The club heads into the season with a $196.8-million payroll, according to Cots Baseball, leaving almost no flexibility to add without going over the tax and essentially ruining the entire offseason plan to remain under to reset penalties.
So now, the club will have to push on with what it has internally, and looking at the roster, it's not much. Remember, this was an organization willing to take on almost all of Giancarlo Stanton's remaining contract because it didn't have the pitching prospects the Miami Marlins desired. The Giants were willing to go over for Stanton, but he appeared to be the lone exception.
PROJECTED ROTATION (2017 STATS)
| PITCHER | IP | ERA | WHIP | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Cueto | 147.1 | 4.52 | 1.45 | 136 |
| Derek Holland | 135 | 6.20 | 1.71 | 104 |
| Chris Stratton | 58.2 | 3.68 | 1.48 | 51 |
| Ty Blach | 163.2 | 4.78 | 1.36 | 73 |
| Tyler Beede (AAA) | 109 | 5.61 | 1.47 | 83 |
The financial crunch prevented the Giants from adding any starting pitchers aside from Derek Holland on a minor-league deal. The 31-year-old left-hander, who posted a 6.20 ERA over 135 innings last season, is now a lock to make the club and will likely be the team's No. 2 starter. He owns an ERA north of 4.00 this spring and hasn't thrown more than 150 innings in a season since 2013.
Johnny Cueto steps in as the interim ace, but there's even concern with him. After coming off his worst season since his rookie year, the veteran right-hander has posted a 5.79 ERA over 9 1/3 spring innings, with opponents hitting .308 and three home runs off him.
The Giants collapsed without Bumgarner a season ago, going 29-46. And while the offense has improved, it won't score enough to keep up with the number of runs the pitching staff allows.
Wild wild NL West
San Francisco may have been able to survive these two injuries if it resided in a different division, but there's little margin for error in the National League West, and even the most optimistic of prognoses have Bumgarner and Samardzija missing a combined 13 starts.
Three teams from the division made it to the postseason a year ago, including the 104-win Los Angeles Dodgers who fell one win short of winning the World Series.
The Arizona Diamondbacks claimed the first wild-card spot despite winning more games than the Chicago Cubs, while the Colorado Rockies are coming off an 87-win season and compliment a strong core with the additions of Wade Davis, Bryan Shaw, and Chris Iannetta.
Earning a wild-card spot should be even more difficult this season, too. The St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers both made major improvements to their rosters this winter and should be 85-plus win teams.
PECOTA projected the Giants as 83-game winners prior to spring training with a healthy roster, and both Bumgarner and Samardzija having strong seasons. Remove those two from the equation and San Francisco is buried from the start.
"Horrible news for us. That's all you can say about it. There's nothing you can do but push on," Bochy said after announcing the injuries.
Horrible news, indeed.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)