It’s been a rough couple of seasons for Giants starter Matt Cain.
Since signing a five-year, $112.5 million contract extension in 2012, Cain has only put together one sold season, with injuries causing him to miss significant playing time in each of the last three campaigns.
The 2016 season was no exception, with Cain starting just 17 games due to hamstring and back injuries. When Cain did take the hill he was largely ineffective, racking up a 5.64 ERA in just over 89 innings.
Still Giants general manager Bobby Evans is confident Cain can regain his previous form if he is able to stay healthy and be himself in 2017, and told Tom Tolbert on KNBR that Cain should be the Giants’ fifth starter if he can keep it together in the final guaranteed year of his deal.
“Well we’re going to create some competition, but if Cain is Cain, that’ll be an easy decision,” Evans said when asked who the frontrunner is for the fifth rotation spot. “If Cain scuffles with command or just doesn’t seem to have the stuff, that’ll be different. But I think now as he gets more and more removed from surgery and has had a typical offseason to prepare, I think he’s gonna be much stronger for us.”
Regardless of if he wins the final spot or not, the Giants once again look to have one of the strongest rotations in baseball with Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and Matt Moore all in their primes. Cain’s biggest competition will likely come from youngster Ty Blach, who impressed down the stretch last season, tossing a memorable eight inning shutout against the Dodgers in a must win game.
Other potential candidates will be minor-league prospects Tyler Beede and Chris Stratton, as well as Spring Training invitee Michael Roth. Stratton is the only to have pitched in a Major League game with the Giants.
“We’re gonna have a number of guys whether it be Blach or Beede, or a number of guys that will actually get in there and show what they can offer, but it won’t be handed to anybody,” Evans said. “It’s going to have to be earned. It’s going to have to be an evaluation, but I think Stratton makes a strong statement for himself, obviously Blach did at the end of the year. We signed a minor league free agent Michael Roth who pitched a fair number of innings in the minor leagues last year, who’s probably an outside chance – but he’ll get some innings there.”
“For me it’s just an opportunity for those guys to showcase themselves and hopefully it’s a chance for Cain to just get comfortable and get locked in.”
Listen to the full interview below.