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Duane Kuiper provides theory on how Giants can buy more time with Julian Fernandez

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With the regular season quickly approaching, what the San Francisco Giants are going to do with Julian Fernandez is one of questions remaining this spring.

As a Rule 5 Draft selection, the only way the Giants can keep Fernandez is if they give him a spot on their roster all season. If they don’t, the Giants will have to offer him back to the team they drafted him from, the Colorado Rockies.

There’s no easy way for the Giants to hang on to Fernandez without a significant leap of faith, but while appearing on Murph & Mac Wednesday morning, Duane Kuiper came up with a plan that would buy the organization more time to evaluate the 22-year-old flame-thrower.

“It might be that he’s the odd guy out because Holland is going to make the team,” Kuiper said. “The only thing you could possibly do is if you can work a deal with Holland and say, ‘look, you’re going to make the team, but we don’t need you for the first week.’ And then you keep that kid for a week, giving you another week to figure out what you’re going to do.

“But that’s probably about the only scenario.”

After a rocky start to spring training, which bumped his ERA up as high as 216.00, Fernandez has since settled down and is coming off a string of strong appearances. Over his last 3.2 innings pitched, Fernandez has allowed one run, four hits, and one walk with six strikeouts.

Fernandez comes with a fastball that consistently touches triple digits, which is the crux in his argument to make the roster.

Yet, after the second wave of roster cuts, there are only four open spots in the bullpen with Mark Melancon, Sam Dyson, and Tony Watson as the only shoo-ins. Ordinarily, there would be three, but Will Smith won’t be available until at least May 1 when he’s expected to be fully recovered from his recent Tommy John surgery.

That leaves Cory Gearrin, Derek Holland, Hunter Strickland, and Josh Osich — all of whom have had phenomenal springs — ahead of Fernandez in the bullpen pecking order.

What Kuiper is suggesting is for Holland, who is vying for a rotation spot, to start the season in the minor leagues; since Osich, Strickland, and Gearrin are all true relievers. If the Giants play their off-days right, they won’t need a fifth starter until the third week of the regular season, which allows them to send Holland down and keep Fernandez in the bullpen.

It’s a long-shot and Kuiper believes the Rockies would take Fernandez back in a heartbeat, but it’s a way for the Giants to see how the young pitcher’s stuff will translate to the major leagues and determine if he can help them contend this season.

“I think they’d love to keep this kid Fernandez, obviously,” Kuiper said. “But at what expense do you do that? If there’s no room for him then you can’t, unless you try to work a deal with the Rockies to keep him. In all honesty, the Rockies probably want him back.

“I don’t think you can get really creative by putting him on the DL. None of that works.”

To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 3:32 for Kuiper on Fernandez.