The San Francisco Giants need to make more additions if they hope to compete in the stacked National League.
If there was any doubt that the San Francisco Giants were all-in on competing in 2025, the shocking trade for Rafael Devers solidified them as true National League threats.
Yet if the Giants have a roster capable of challenging the Los Angeles Dodgers, they sure haven’t played like it. The club has gone just 9-11 since the trade, including series losses to the lowly Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins. And while much of the attention has focused on a new-look offense that has yet to click, the Giants' starting rotation depth has become a glaring issue as well. Through the first two months of the season, the Giants were able to ride All-Stars Robbie Ray and Logan Webb and the league’s best bullpen, but as is so often the case, the 162-game gauntlet has exposed the roster’s shortcomings.
To be fair, Landon Roupp has given the Giants as much as they could have hoped for in his first season in a Major League Baseball rotation, but spotty command (16 walks in his last 22 innings) has prevented him from working deep into games. And while Roupp has at least been able to keep the Giants in games, the same cannot be said for Hayden Birdsong and Justin Verlander, with the former posting a 5.10 ERA after moving to the rotation in May and the latter yet to record a win in any of his 14 starts.
Though none of the aforementioned trio has been disastrous, their inability to work deep into games has put even more pressure on a dominant-yet-overtaxed bullpen. Their shortcomings are particularly obvious when stacked up against the elite rotations of the Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres and a healthy Los Angeles Dodgers, which is why Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller identified the starting rotation as the Giants’ biggest need at the deadline.
“While you can get by in the postseason with 2.5 quality starters, the Giants need to actually get to the postseason first,” Miller wrote. “To do so, sprucing up the back of the rotation is a near must.”
One potential fit for the Giants is Kansas City Royals ace Seth Lugo. The 35-year-old has followed up his Cy Young runner-up season with another fantastic campaign in 2025, allowing three earned runs or less in all but two of his 16 starts. Like cavernous Kauffman Stadium, Oracle Park is a great fit for Lugo's pitch-to-contact approach, and his ability to eat up innings would be a welcome addition to the rotation.
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Category: Baseball
