Giants’ free agent pitchers turn into their greatest strength

This past offseason, the San Francisco Giants made two big free agent signings to replenish their starting rotation. They snatched up Johnny Cueto, who had spent 2015 with the Kansas City Royals and the Cincinnati Reds, and Jeff Samardzija, who pitched for the Chicago White Sox in 2015. They joined Giants’ rotation mainstays Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, and Jake Peavy.

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Signing Cueto and Samardzija wasn’t without risk. Their 2015 seasons had been less-than-ideal — Cueto had a 4.76 ERA with the Royals, and Samardzija a 4.96 ERA with the White Sox — and bounce-back years were far from a sure thing. But a quarter into the 2016 season, and in the middle of a stretch of games where they’ve won 12 of 13, the Giants’ free agent pitchers are their greatest strength, while Cain and Peavy have struggled, and struggled mightily.

You can watch Peavy try to get his season back on track against the San Diego Padres today in Yahoo Sports’ Free Game of the Day. First pitch is at 3:45 p.m. ET, and you can stream it on Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home. Local blackouts apply, according to MLB rules.

Peavy, who was traded to the Giants in 2014, is having a nightmarish season. Nine starts in, he’s carrying an 8.21 ERA. He’s averaging just 4.2 innings per start, and he’s walking a ton of batters (17 in 9 starts). He’s made it to the seventh inning just once, back on April 23, and not since. If there’s one positive, it’s that his strikeouts are actually up. His rate of strikeouts per nine innings is at 7.8, higher than it’s been in a few years.

As for Cain, he’s just trying to put a full season of starts together without getting hurt. His last two seasons have been shortened by injury, leading to just 26 starts over those two years. He started 2016 free of elbow and forearm issues, but he couldn’t stop giving up runs. Cain’s 5.37 ERA doesn’t tell the whole story though, and he might be emerging from the darkness. His last three starts have been his best of the season, giving up just four runs total and notching 17 strikeouts.

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Meanwhile, Cueto and Samardzija, along with Bumgarner, have been absolutely killing it on the mound. Cueto looks like the pitcher he was in his best years with Cincinnati, with a 2.38 ERA in 10 starts and 75.2 innings. Samardzija, who’s had great seasons sprinkled in with mediocre ones, is pitching like the starter the Chicago Cubs wanted to keep, with a 2.54 ERA in 71 innings. And Bumgarner, of course, is an absolute machine.

It’s not hard to believe that both of the Giants’ free agent pitcher signings would work out — 2016 is an even year, and the Giants have been an unstoppable force of nature in even years. Remember, the Giants have won three World Series’ in the last six years, all of them even numbered. Is this even-year magic, or is it smart signings and talented pitchers? It could quite possibly be both.

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