SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — With Tristan Beck set to undergo surgery Monday, the leak already sprung in the San Francisco Giants’ rotation morphed into a gaping hole.
Set to enter the season with a group behind Logan Webb that had combined to make 23 major-league starts, manager Bob Melvin has even less he can count on now in his inaugural starting rotation. Finding a fifth starter becomes priority No. 1 in Melvin’s first camp as San Francisco’s skipper.
The best options exist outside the organization. After working with Scott Boras to secure a discount deal with Matt Chapman, perhaps they could do the same with either of his two remaining starting pitching clients, Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery. Between Joey Bart, J.D. Davis and their glut of outfielders, the Giants also have trade chips to play with, though a top-line option such as Dylan Cease would also require a haul of prospects.
But, if they break camp with the current group intact, here’s a look at the likeliest candidates to fill the final slot.
Mason Black, RHP
Age: 24
Roster status: NRI
Experience: Triple-A
2023 stats (AA/AAA): 29 appearances (29 starts), 3.71 ERA, 123.2 IP, 155 K, 52 BB, .219 BAA
The most satisfying outcome internally would be for one of the next crop of Giants pitching prospects to step up and seize the job.
Black, the 85th overall selection in 2021, stands the best chance of the group in camp that includes Hayden Birdsong, Carson Seymour, Landen Roupp and Carson Whisenhunt. The cerebral, smiley righty from Scranton, Pennsylvania, is the only one of the five to have reached Triple-A and this spring is unburdened by workload restrictions.
Black’s two-seam fastball has some rising action, which gives it a unique profile but also means mistakes can be hit a long way, which is what Ehire Adrianza did to Black’s first pitch of spring training. He regrouped and has allowed only one run in the four innings he’s thrown since.
“When the first ball didn’t leave the yard, I was little bit happy,” Black said after going three against the Padres on Saturday. “I think regardless of who fills that role, they’re going to help the team win. If that’s me, that’s what I’m trying to do. But I’m just going to hope for the best and try to take it one day at a time.”
Sean Hjelle, RHP
Age: 26
Roster status: 40-man
Experience: MLB
Career stats: 23 appearances (0 starts), 6.17 ERA, 54.0 IP, 59 K, 21 BB, .314 BAA
Early on in camp, Melvin was asked about the 6-foot-11 former second-round draft pick.
“I’d hate to pigeonhole him,” the manager began, “but …”
And went on to do exactly that, laying out that the new regime mostly viewed him as a reliever, formalizing a transition that began last season.
In the wake of Beck’s injury, Melvin was asked again about Hjelle, 11-21 with a 5.51 ERA in 51 starts over three seasons at Triple-A.
“Well, we’re going to stretch everybody out to the point where they get a couple innings in, but I don’t think at this point we target him as a starter,” Melvin said. “Now, we’ll see where it goes.”
Spencer Howard, RHP
Age: 27
Roster status: NRI
Experience: MLB
Career stats: 38 appearances (28 starts), 7.20 ERA, 115.0 IP, 109 K, 55 BB, .290 BAA
So far, the recipients of starts in the two vacant rotation spots this spring have been Black and Howard.
While Black brings promise, Howard brings experience, though his track record isn’t necessarily a factor in his favor.
Starting games for the Rangers and Phillies the past three seasons, Howard surrendered home runs almost every four innings, or about the same rate as Ross Stripling last season. And how did he introduce himself to his new new team? By serving up consecutive homers to the first two batters he faced in Cactus League play.
“That certainly catches your attention,” Melvin said afterward, though he penciled him in for a second start Monday.
Daulton Jefferies, RHP
Age: 28
Roster status: NRI
Experience: MLB
Career stats: 14 games (10 starts), 5.75 ERA, 56.1 IP, 37 K, 14 BB, .276 BAA
Into the second rung of candidates, Jefferies faces a number of hurdles in his first season back from his second Tommy John surgery and an equally complex thoracic outlet procedure, but there’s some hope he can rekindle the potential that made him a first-round pick out of Cal.
Jefferies said he hopes to be stretched out to five innings by the end of camp, but given his health complications, Melvin said his role would be determined by how much his body can handle.
Tommy Romero, RHP
Age: 26
Roster status: NRI
Experience: MLB
Career stats: 4 appearances (2 starts), 10.80 ERA, 8.1 IP, 7 K, 9 BB, .314 BAA
One of the Rays’ many openers in 2022, Romero failed to crack the Nationals’ dreadful roster in 2023 while posting a 5.47 ERA at Triple-A and beginning to pitch more out of the bullpen.
At every stop in the minors to that point, though, Romero posted ERAs below 3.00 while starting all but a handful of his games.
Ethan Small, LHP
Age: 27
Roster status: NRI
Experience: MLB
Career stats: 4 appearances (2 starts), 8.71 ERA, 10.1 IP, 13 K, 10 BB, .370 BAA
When Small registered multiple 95 mph readings on the radar gun in his first appearance of the spring, it caught Melvin’s attention. “He’s got a lot of weapons. He’s got a lot of deception in what he does. And he’s got experience,” Melvin said.
The former Brewers’ first-round pick is expected to factor in more in the bullpen, where Taylor Rogers is the only certain lefty, but Melvin opted to throw Small for two innings in his second outing of the spring, and he had been a fairly successful starter at every level of the minor leagues until last year.
Kai-Wei Teng, RHP
Related Articles
Matt Chapman signing excites, surprises with SF Giants’ clubhouse
Kurtenbach: The 49ers, Giants get the best of both worlds with their big additions
SF Giants finally land their man in Matt Chapman: reports
She’s not the Senate race’s baseball star, but some mighty players are backing her
SF Giants-Rangers: Ahmed debuts with a bang to notch first Cactus League win
Age: 25
Roster status: 40-man
Experience: Triple-A
2023 stats (AAA):
One of three prospects acquired from the Twins for Sam Dyson in one of Farhan Zaidi’s first moves in the Giants’ front office, Teng would have been right in the middle of the competition after reaching Triple-A Sacramento, where he posted a 4.17 ERA in 16 starts last season.
But the Taiwanese right-hander only threw off a mound for the first time Sunday after being sidelined by an oblique strain to begin camp. That puts him about three weeks behind schedule, but like Whisenhunt (elbow/finger) and Roupp (back), he could be a factor later in the season.