Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, through Los Angeles media Saturday morning, accused Gabe Kapler of “a little bit of gamesmanship,” in revealing the Giants starting pitcher as late as possible.
Kapler declined to respond without knowing the full context. The issues that stem from the tactic, though, are two-fold: Through two games, it’s not working, and through two games, Giants starting pitchers would prefer a more established routine.
Johnny Cueto has known since March he would start the season opener. Drew Smyly was a surprise reliever behind him. Tyler Anderson became Friday’s surprise starter, but he only lasted 1 2/3 innings, with presumed starter Kevin Gausman later providing four innings of relief.
It was Logan Webb who publicly got the nod Saturday morning, and who will be following him: Jeff Samardzija? Shaun Anderson?
Kapler has said he will remain in constant communication with his staff, gauging comfort levels and balancing the competitive advantages the Giants aim to exploit. The starters will be relied upon more once their arms are stretched out, a process the Giants are handling very carefully. But how much reliance does that mean? And is this a tactic saved for high-powered teams like the Dodgers?
There are not fires for Kapler to put out just yet, but the surface is heating up.
“In my career, in my 12 years in baseball, it’s the first time that I’m seeing this,” Cueto said, through translator Erwin Higueros, after Kapler cited pulling him after four innings in part because he didn’t want Cueto to see the Dodgers’ lineup for a third time. “It’s uncomfortable. As a pitcher, you want to face the lineup as many times as possible. But then again, it’s something that you have to get used to and adapt to it.”
Tyler Anderson has been open about preferring to start. He did just that, but he was wild and removed after five outs and 38 pitches, saying he “wasn’t really sure” how quick that hook would be.
Gausman spoke his mind as well, a star reliever last season who signed as a Giant in part so he could return to the rotation.
“I’m kind of more of an old-school mentality, where I think there should be starters and there should be relievers,” Gausman said over Zoom on Saturday. “I think the whole opener kind of just gets a little tricky. It just kind of complicates things more than I think it needs to be. But I have no problem doing it.”
Gausman said he thinks openers and piggy-back pitchers would be spliced in rather than permanent. Kapler has said starters will go longer once their arms catch up — and perhaps once they’re out of Los Angeles — but “longer” is relative.
“I love that about Kevin,” Kapler said, referring to the honesty. “…We want pitchers and players to express themselves. We want them to share what’s on their minds. It doesn’t come as a surprise to me that Gausman would prefer to start games, and I support that. I support that ambition. And many times this season Gausman will be handed the ball, and he will start games and we will take him deep into games, and I think he’s going to be satisfied.”
Kapler promised/warned these conversations will be ongoing; he spoke to Tyler Anderson on Friday night about his comfort level. He and Gausman will continue talking, though Kapler said, “We don’t have to agree on these things.”
The Giants, at all turns and in all manner, want to maintain flexibility. They do not want to box themselves in, and that has extended to even formally announcing a starting pitcher ahead of time.
Kapler was asked if he sees advantages to continuing to scheme and rely on pitchers for short bursts or whether things would change when the arms are ready. Predictably, he could not be nailed down.
“I see it as a combination of the two,” the manager said. “There are times and against specific lineups where it can make sense to kind of split a game between two starters. I think there are times when it makes sense to start a game with a reliever, and I think there’s a time and a place for a traditional, five-man rotation.
“A lot of that has to do with personnel, a lot of that has to do with build-up, a lot of it has to do with roster construction. Just going to keep carefully examining it from every angle.”
The rotation — or what would qualify as a rotation — is doing the same examining.
“I hope that next time I come out and pitch I go past five innings,” Cueto said. “But that’s going to be a decision for the manager.”