San Francisco Giants add yet another former Cincinnati Reds pitcher
By Nick Stevens
Anthony DeSclafani joins a long list of players to make the transition from the Cincinnati Reds to the San Francisco Giants.
What do three-fifths of the projected 2021 starting rotation for the San Francisco Giants have in common? At one time, they pitched for the Cincinnati Reds.
As first reported by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Giants added a veteran starter they had been in the market for by signing RHP Anthony DeSclafani to a one-year deal worth $6 million. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was the first to report contract numbers.
DeSclafani becomes the third projected starter to make the move from Cincinnati to San Francisco, joining Kevin Gausman and Johnny Cueto. Cueto took a slight detour through Kansas City before joining the Giants, but Gausman signed on with San Francisco to a one-year deal after working almost exclusively out of the bullpen during his brief time with the Reds.
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Gausman now finds himself as the ace of the Giants pitching staff, pitching to a 3.09 FIP and a career-high 32.2% strikeout rate in 12 appearances last season (10 starts).
The Giants are hoping their newest starting pitcher can find the same sort of success after making San Francisco his new home.
The 2020 season wasn’t the best of seasons for Anthony DeSclafani. The 30-year-old starter went 1-2 with a 6.10 FIP, a career-low 15.8% strikeout rate, and a career-high 10% walk rate. Opponents hit .295 against him and he was worth -0.1 Wins Above Replacement in his final season in Cincinnati.
But for the most part, DeSclafani has been a reliable backend starter at the major league level. From 2015-2019, DeSclafani was worth 2+ fWAR in all but one season (2018) and he’s posted a FIP under 4.00 in three of his six seasons at the major league level.
If the San Francisco Giants can work a little magic with DeSclafani, he will be a solid signing to round out their starting rotation. Eno Sarris of The Athletic believes part of that fix could be fairly straightforward.
Last year, the difference between Anthony DeSclafani’s slider and curve was lesser than ever before, and the curve responded by having the worst results of his career. Maybe he can have more success by going back to the more cutter-like slider (harder, less drop) he had before. pic.twitter.com/tdyzImris0
— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) December 16, 2020
DeSclafani, Gausman, and Cueto aren’t the only current members of the San Francisco Giants who recently played for the Cincinnati Reds.
Recent bullpen addition Matt Wisler also used to wear red. As did LHP Wandy Peralta and catcher Chadwick Tromp. Giants hitting coach Donnie Ecker was once drafted by the Reds and was a hitting coach on Cincinnati’s staff back in 2018 and 2019.
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Could Trevor Bauer join this list? It’s a long shot, but at this rate, don’t count the San Francisco Giants out.