SAN FRANCISCO -- Ty Blach made it close, but in the end the Giants stuck with the original plan.
Matt Cain will start the season as the fifth starter, manager Bruce Bochy said, with Blach filling a swingman role on the pitching staff. Bochy said he liked what he saw from Cain late in the spring, noting that while some of the numbers were ugly, his stuff was fine and he wasn't walking hitters.
"He's healthy. He threw strikes. He got better as he went," Bochy said. "His secondary pitches came around at the end. He deserves to be our fifth starter right now.