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With Madison Bumgarner likely out for at least a couple months with a broken left hand, the Giants will need a number of young pitchers to pick up the slack. But it’s not just fresh faced starters like Ty Blach and Chris Stratton who will need to shoulder a heavier load. San Francisco will also likely need at least a handful of their bullpen arms to step up, and throw longer than they normally would.
Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow was asked by Murph & Mac on Monday morning who he expects to help compensate for the absence of Bumgarner (and Samardzija for three weeks). Krukow said two players in particular stood out during spring training.
“I thought two of the great stories that came out of camp this year were Josh Osich and Hunter Strickland,” Krukow said. “They’ve had pretty good numbers, but we’ve watched them, and they weren’t consistant, and Strickland didn’t have a kill pitch. Well he does now. He did that homework with John Smoltz in the offseason and he’s a different cat. He’s a believer now. He’s throwing this slider that’s much quicker, it’s much harder, and it sets up his fastball now, so he’s throwing with a lot of confidence.
“But Josh Osich went back to his motion he had when he was a rookie and this guy is twirling. He’s throwing with a lot of confidence. So I think those are two. The significance of those guys is you can give each of them an inning. They don’t have to be considered specialists. Give them and inning, they can get out lefties and righties. I like that.”
Both Osich and Strickland were lights out in Arizona, with neither giving up a single run in a combined 17 appearances. It’s a breath of fresh air for Giants fans who watched both struggle in 2017. Strickland posted an impressive 2.64 ERA last year, but had an inflated WHIP of 1.43. Osich was routinely shelled, posting a 5.21 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP that was the highest on the team.
In addition to Osich and Strickland, Krukow believes that the Giants bullpen as a whole is much improved this season, and sees it as a strength of the team.
“Then you have (Tony) Watson, (Sam) Dyson, and (Mark) Melancon is throwing the snot out of the ball right now,” Krukow said. “Despite the fact that he’s not 100 percent yet he’s nasty again. He’s not getting squared up, a lot of balls are getting hit on the ground. I like all that. Then right around the 1st of May you get Will Smith back, that’s a pretty good bullpen right there. Cory Gearrin threw the ball well. I don’t see any weak links down there, I really don’t.
“So I like all those things I see happening in that bullpen. It has been redefined and I think it’s a strength of this ball club. Whenever the bullpen gets the ball, whether it be the 4th, 5th, or 6th inning, they have the arms to close it out.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Krukow on the bullpen, skip to 2:20.