Mary Holt-USA TODAY Sports
You can never have too much pitching, as the cliche goes.
But cliches come to be cliches for good reason.
The Giants’ surplus in their rotation — five rolling starters, with Drew Smyly and Jeff Samardzija in the wings rehabbing — was dented by Trevor Cahill exiting Saturday’s start with joint inflammation in his left hip, the club handling the righty day to day. Not only did the notion of trading Kevin Gausman take a hit, but the Giants became very minor (and literal) buyers at Monday’s trade deadline.
For the cost of just cash and a pool spot, the Giants acquired Anthony Banda from the Rays at the deadline, days after Tampa designated the lefty pitcher for assignment. It was the only move they made, adding to the pitching depth instead of subtracting Gausman or Johnny Cueto.
“Our plan is to start him out in Sacramento, let our guys work with him a little bit. He’s been up and down [with the Rays], so let things stabilize for him a little bit,” said Farhan Zaidi, who said the Giants view him as a swingman. “There’s certainly different ways that we can use him and again, knowing that a lot can happen here down the stretch with injuries, and obviously with the trade deadline passing, just not that easy to go out and backfill if you do have injuries.
“We thought he was a nice addition — and the ability to do both [start and come out of the bullpen], that kind of versatility can certainly help.”
The Rays are known for having a deep roster, which the Giants also tried to capitalize on during last year’s deadline, when they brought in outfielder Joe McCarthy from Tampa. The 27-year-old Banda has bounced between the minors and majors since 2017, first with Arizona and then with the Rays. He had Tommy John surgery in 2018 and was able to make a few appearances with the Rays in late 2019. This year he had allowed eight earned runs in seven innings before being DFA’d.
Space was created in the pool for Banda because outfielder Joey Rickard has been lost for the year, placed on the 60-day injured list with left elbow inflammation. Zaidi said he believes Rickard hurt it making a throw in the Arizona series, though Rickard was not even 100 percent sure because he didn’t know something was wrong until it “swelled up on him overnight.”
Rickard recently had been called up after he had spent the season in Sacramento, where Gabe Kapler said he was arguably the alternate site’s best player.
“Obviously it’s unfortunate,” said Zaidi of a righty outfield option who was trying to establish himself. “He had done a great job in Sacramento and was part of the outfield rotation.”
