Odd Man Out: Giants Send Peavy To Bullpen
After a busy trade deadline, the Giants were left with a problem in their rotation: they had too many pitchers.
After acquiring pitcher Matt Moore from the Tampa Bay Rays for Matt Duffy and a couple other prospects, the Giants had six starting pitchers, but still only five spots to fill.
Madison Bumgarner is still the team's ace, followed by Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. Moore, the new guy, is expected to pitch fourth in the rotation, leaving Matt Cain and Jake Peavy for spot No. 5.
Head coach Bruce Bochy settled the debate, saying he's already talked with Peavy about sending him to the bullpen for the time being.
"I talked to Jake and he's all in," Bochy said in an interview Tuesday. "Whatever we need him to do to help the ballclub, he's willing to do. He's got a great attitude and he's on board. He's ready to go to the bullpen."
Moore is expected to make his Giants debut in a start against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.
The case between Peavy and Cain for the final starting spot was marginal - they have both slumped for most of the year with mid-5 ERAs. Cain may have gotten the upper hand due to his injury rehab - the organization still believes he's improving and throwing harder each start.
The next-best option to send to the bullpen, as we all know, was Bumgarner (See: 2014 World Series, game 7), but I don't think Bochy ever considered him a good choice.