Like us on Facebook here

 Tuesday, May.21/ 2013

Ryan Vogelsong has been struggling this season, but finally looked good again in his last start.

By Jon Schifferle ( Giants Correspondent – visit his own personal website here.)  Follow @jonschifferle

Ryan Vogelsong was having his best start of the season, and finally looked like his old self.

And then he fractured his pitching hand.

While many could look at this situation and see a few options to replace him like Chad Gaudin, who has been great out of the bullpen as a long reliever and has experience starting, and Chris Heston who led AA in ERA last season, the clear option that I see is Michael Kickham.  

Mike Kickham has been pitching much better for the Fresno Grizzlies lately. He has strung together four good starts, and has gone 2-1 in those starts.

Lets look at the option of Chris Heston.

While Chris Heston has been very good, even dominant, at some levels in the minor leagues, it looks like that is about where he will peak.  He has a mid-high 80’s fastball, good command, and an average curveball and changeup.  While that may get by in the minor leagues, it will likely never bring him consistent success in the MLB.

Chris Heston has also shown issues with pitching in AAA.  He has a 5.33 ERA in AAA this season, and opposing batters are hitting .320 off of him.  When a young pitcher is struggling this much in his first season at a new level, you definitely don’t want to call him up for an extended period of time, if even at all.

Now the next option would be Chad Gaudin.  

He looks like a good option for a few reasons.  He has pitched well this season out the bullpen, currently owning a 2.10 ERA, and has gone more than one inning in 9 of his 14 appearances this season. Unfortunately there is one serious thing counting against him.  He gets knocked around by lefties.  

This season, left-handed batters are hitting .333 off of him, and have a .455 OBP against him.  While some may say that this is a small sample size because it’s early in the season, his stats last year look extremely similar.  Left-handed batters hit .322 off of Gaudin last year, and had a .396 OBP against him.  He just couldn’t handle a starting spot until Vogey gets back.  He’s also a great asset out of the bullpen that you wouldn’t want to lose.

The final option is Mike Kickham.  Kickham struggled to start the season at AAA, but has been much better lately, posting a 1.80 ERA over his last 4 starts, with 25 IP, 25 K’s, and 6 BB’s.  While his future isn’t as an ace, he could be a solid back-of-the-rotation guy for a few seasons.  

The decision of who should replace Ryan Vogelsong is much more clear-cut than it may seem.  Kickham is obviously the best option, and while it is not ideal to have a guy like Kickham starting in a rotation on a contending team, he is the best option to get the Giants where they want to go.  

Vogelsong was hit in his right hand while batting tonight. He will have surgery on May 21st, and is expected to be out for six weeks plus rehab time. Can the Giants overcome all of their obstacles from the pitching staff in order to make another run at a World Series?

***The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners***

A big thank-you goes out to Our ‘Giants  Correspondent’ Jon Schifferle for preparing today’s featured article. Jon is a college student that grew up in Northern California and he has been a Giants fan for as long as he can remember.

Two of his greatest memories were going to Game 1 of the 2010 World Series, and Game 2 of the 2012 World Series.  he loves to watch prospects and the draft, and started his own blog called A Giant Perspective here.

Jon loves to write about all aspects of the game.   His dream is to eventually work in baseball in some capacity. Being a West Coast guy, he is able to watch all of the late games out there and have a vast knowledge of the AL and NL West especially.\

Feel free to follow Jon on Twitter and talk about the game of baseball  Follow @jonschifferle

Jon is on the left and his brother is on the right.

Please e-mail us at: mlbeports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback.  To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.

Like us on Facebook here