Projecting the San Francisco Giants' 2015 Opening Day Roster
It seems like just yesterday that the San Francisco Giants were defeating the Kansas City Royals in the seventh game of the World Series. That victory gave the Giants their third world championship in five years.
Visions of Madison Bumgarner shutting down the Royals and earning a five-inning save are still fresh in the minds of Giants fans. We can still vividly see Pablo Sandoval making the catch and falling on his back in triumph when the final out was recorded.
However, time marches on, and that is the timeless beauty of baseball. We are only a few weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training.
The Giants have lost two key players from the 2015 championship team, as Sandoval and Michael Morse have departed via free agency. Now, it is up to Giants general manager Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy to construct a roster capable of defending the 2014 title.
One other departure that bears mentioning is that of third-base coach Tim Flannery. He and Bochy are close friends and confidants. Flannery was well-liked and respected throughout the organization and will be missed.
After winning three world championships and having no desire to manage, Flannery opted to retire in order to spend more time with his family and devote more energy to his music. Flannery's retirement and farewell words to the Giants and their fans is noted on mlb.com.
Let's take a closer look at what the 25-man roster will look like to open the 2015 season.
All stats are courtesy of baseball-reference.com.
Starting Pitchers (5)
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The San Francisco Giants starting rotation appears set with five starters penciled in but is not without several question marks.
Madison Bumgarner is the ace of the staff and in 2014 once again proved his worth as a big-game pitcher. However, Bumgarner did throw a career-high 270 innings last year, and although he is durable, one must be a little concerned about how that workload will affect him in 2015.
Nevertheless, Bumgarner, who is still only 25 years of age and strong as an ox, should be primed for another big season.
In the 2014 regular season, Bumgarner threw 217.1 innings, allowed 194 hits and 43 walks while striking out 219. He led the Giants with 18 wins against 10 losses and had an ERA of 2.98 and WHIP of 1.090. Bumgarner earned the second All-Star selection of his career.
It was in the postseason where Bumgarner shined the brightest. He was the MVP of both the National League Championship Series and the World Series. In 52.2 innings of work, Bumgarner allowed just 28 hits and six walks while striking out 45. His ERA was 1.03 to go along with a WHIP of 0.646.
Bumgarner's performance in the seventh game of the World Series was epic. He pitched five shutout innings of relief on only two days of rest, earning the save and setting of another wild celebration in San Francisco.
Bumgarner will lead the rotation, but four major question marks come after him.
A key to the 2015 season is the healthy return of Matt Cain. He underwent two surgical procedures in 2014. In August, Cain had elbow surgery to remove bone chips. In September, he had surgery on his right ankle to remove a bone spur.
Cain started only 15 games in 2014, and his performance was below expectations. He went 2-7 with an ERA of 4.18 and WHIP of 1.251. The ERA was the highest of Cain's career.
A strong season from Cain, who is now 30 years of age, is critical to the success of the 2015 Giants.
Jake Peavy returns after signing a two-year, $24 million deal. The Giants pursued Jon Lester, but when he signed with the Cubs, San Francisco opted to retain Peavy.
The question about Peavy in 2015 is whether we will see the pitcher that started the season with Boston or the pitcher that came through for the Giants in the second half of 2014.
In Boston this past year, Peavy was terrible. In 20 starts, he threw 124 innings, allowing 131 hits and 46 walks for a WHIP of 1.427. He struck out 100 but had a record of 1-9 and an ERA of 4.72 when he was traded to the Giants.
Peavy was rejuvenated upon his return to the National League. Peavy was also reunited with Bruce Bochy, who was his manager in San Diego.
Peavy made 12 starts during the regular season for the Giants and had a record of 6-4. In 78.2 innings of work, he allowed only 65 hits and 17 walks while striking out 58. His ERA was a stellar 2.17, and his WHIP was also good at 1.042.
If Peavy can come close to duplicating what he did for the Giants in 2014, it will go a long way to solidifying the starting rotation. However, he will be 34 years of age in May, and one must wonder if age is beginning to catch up to him.
Tim Hudson started the 2014 season well. The Giants won 11 of his 13 starts, and Hudson had a record of 7-2 and an ERA of 1.81. He was selected for the All-Star Game for the fourth time in his career.
However, Hudson's fortunes turned beginning with his start on June 18. He would make 18 starts from that date to the end of the season, and he threw 100 innings, allowing 125 hits and 21 walks. His ERA over that span was 5.13, and he went 2-11 over that period.
Hudson will be 40 years of age in the summer, and his poor second half of the 2014 season casts doubt over his ability to stay strong for the entire year.
The fifth starter, at least for now, is Tim Lincecum. He had some good moments for the Giants in 2014, including the second no-hitter of his career, which came against San Diego. However, Lincecum was wildly inconsistent and eventually lost his spot in the starting rotation.
Lincecum ended the year in the bullpen and only had one appearance in the postseason. If he struggles again in 2015, look for Yusmeiro Petit or Ryan Vogelsong to take his spot.
Relief Pitchers (7)
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The San Francisco Giants will likely carry seven relief pitchers to open the season. However, depending on the strength of Matt Cain and Tim Hudson, who are both coming off surgeries, there is a chance they could carry an eighth reliever.
The top five spots in the bullpen appear set. The bullpen will be left-handers Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez and right-handers Sergio Romo, Yusmeiro Petit and closer Santiago Casilla.
The final two spots in the bullpen are up for grabs. Look for Jean Machi to grab one of the spots, as he pitched well last year until he wore down late in the season.
The final spot will likely come down to Ryan Vogelsong or Hunter Strickland. The slight edge goes to Vogelsong, as Strickland needs to work on the command of his slider and develop an off-speed pitch.
After an initial run of success in September, opposing hitters sat on his fastball and hit Strickland hard. In 8.1 postseason innings, Strickland allowed six home runs.
Vogelsong, who signed a one-year, $4 million deal to return to the Giants, gives Bochy and pitching coach Dave Righetti some valuable insurance. If anything were to happen with the starting rotation, Vogelsong and Petit can step in.
Erik Cordier and Steven Okert will both get a long look in spring training but will likely be sent down to Triple-A for more seasoning.
Catcher (2)
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Buster Posey will start the catching position for the Giants. In 2014, he started 109 games and played in 111 games at catcher. He also started 30 games and played in a total of 35 games at first base.
During the regular season, Posey hit .311 with an OBP of .364 and OPS of .854. He hit 22 home runs and drove in 89 runs.
Posey caught all 17 games of the postseason for the Giants. The heavy workload caused Posey to slump offensively in the postseason. In 69 at-bats, Posey hit only .246 with no home runs and seven RBI.
Look for Posey to catch between 105-110 games for the Giants in 2015. He will also play another 30 games at first base. In 2014, Posey got 15 total games off. Look for that number to increase slightly in 2015, as Andrew Susac proved to be a capable backup.
Susac has the inside track to beat out Hector Sanchez for the backup catching duties this year. Susac was promoted from the minors last season after Sanchez had multiple concussions and was forced out.
In 88 at-bats, Susac hit .273 with an OBP of .326 and OPS of .792. He hit three home runs and had 19 RBI.
Susac did a good job defensively, also. He handled himself like a veteran even though this was his first experience in the big leagues.
2014 was a lost season for Hector Sanchez. He began the year as Posey's backup but repeated concussions ended his year.
Sanchez played in 66 games last year and had 163 at-bats. He hit only .196 with an OBP of .237 and OPS of .538. Sanchez had three home runs but did deliver some clutch hits, driving in 28 runs.
Sanchez will need to have a monster spring, and Susac will need to falter in order for Sanchez to win the backup job. Although it is possible, Susac has definitely moved ahead of Sanchez based on his play in 2014.
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Infield (6)
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The starting infield for the Giants is set with Brandon Belt at first base, Joe Panik at second, Brandon Crawford at shortstop and newly acquired Casey McGehee at third.
Sabean was able to get McGehee from the Miami Marlins in exchange for two minor league pitchers, Kendry Flores and Luis Castillo.
McGehee replaces Pablo Sandoval, and although he does not have as much power, he actually had more RBI than Sandoval last year.
In 2014, McGehee had a career high of 616 at-bats. He hit .287 with an OBP of .355 and OPS of .712. He hit only four home runs but did have 76 RBI.
In comparison, Sandoval had 588 at-bats and hit .279 with an OBP of .324 and OPS of .739. He hit 16 home runs and had 73 RBI. Outside of the difference in home runs, the numbers were similar, and McGehee will cost a mere fraction of what the Giants would have paid Sandoval.
Joaquin Arias and Matt Duffy will be the reserve infielders. Look for Arias to spell McGehee at third base, while Duffy can play either shortstop or second base.
Outfield (5)
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For the second consecutive year, Hunter Pence played in all 162 games for the Giants. He will once again be the Giants right fielder.
In 2014, Pence had 650 at-bats, which led the National League. He hit .277 with an OBP of .332 and OPS of .777. Pence blasted 20 home runs and had 74 RBI. He was selected to his third All-Star Game.
In center field, the Giants are hoping for a full season from Angel Pagan. When healthy, Pagan is a catalyst for the San Francisco offense; however, he played in only 96 games last year due to injuries. In 2013, Pagan played in only 71 games.
To expect Pagan to play a full season is foolish, and the signing of free-agent Nori Aoki was a much-needed move. Aoki will start in left field, which will free up Gregor Blanco to spell Pagan in center field. In 2014, Blanco played in 146 games, a career best.
Aoki replaces Michael Morse in left field and will give the Giants more speed, a higher on-base percentage and much better defense. However, the Giants will miss Morse's power. He blasted 16 home runs and had 61 RBI. By contrast, Aoki had just one home run and 43 RBI.
With Blanco serving as the fourth outfielder, that leaves one remaining roster spot. NLCS hero Travis Ishikawa will compete with Juan Perez for the job.
Ishikawa acquitted himself nicely in left field in 2014 even though he had never played the position before. He is a better hitter than Perez and provides more punch off the bench as a pinch hitter. Unless the Giants opt to carry 13 pitchers, look for Ishikawa to win that last spot.
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