Ah, starting pitching. It has long been a single-checkmark staple of this era’s San Francisco Giants. It propped up mediocre-to-bad offensive production. It notched four no-hitters and a perfect game in just five seasons. It helped the team win three World Series.
This year’s starting rotation, however, leaves a lot to be desired. They rank in or near the bottom half of the entire league in just about every category. Three of the five starters (Derek Holland, Dereck Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz) have lost their job in one sense or another.