The San Francisco Giants need to bolster their starting pitching, especially as they are trailing the Arizona Diamondbacks by two games in the N.L. West. Currently on the Giants' radar are the Miami Marlins' Ricky Nolasco and the Houston Astros' Bud Norris.
Both of these guys have performed well for their currently clubs. Their records might not be impressive, but both teams have losing records and are in last place in their respective divisions. The Giants forked up one of the better pitching prospects in baseball when they gave the New York Mets Zack Wheeler in the Carlos Beltran trade. Now, they find themselves needing support from outside their organization as their starting pitching has been terrible in 2013.
By adding either Nolasco or Norris, the Giants aren't adding top notch pitching, but they have a potential second or third starter to add to their rotation. Nolasco is the better pitcher in the mix and he would fit well as a No. 2 guy with his numbers. Nolasco is 3-7 with a 3.80 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. As a fly ball pitcher, Nolasco would get help from the dimensions at AT&T Ball Park. Nolasco has been pitching great allowing four or more runs just four times in his 14 starts this season.
Norris is having one of his better season, record wise. At 5-5, Norris is off to one of the better starts in his career. He's only had a winning record once in his career and that was his rookie season where he finished 6-3 in 2009. Norris has a 3.43 ERA, which is better than Nolasco's, however, his strikeout/walk ratio is poor. Nolasco, not known for striking hitters out, has 72 strikeouts to 22 walks, that's 3.5 strikeouts per walk. Norris, who is considered a strikeout pitcher has 51 strikeouts and 27 walks. That's less than two strikeouts per walk.
It will be up to the Giants to decide which pitcher they would prefer to have in their rotation and it also depends on what they will have to give up for each player. Norris is currently the highest paid Astro in that roster, while Nolasco is the last part of the Marlins' big three which they tried breeding. Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez and Nolasco came up in 2006 and were supposed to bring a championship back to Florida, but that never happened. The three were disbanded in 2012 as Johnson was traded to Toronto and Sanchez enjoyed a playoff stint with the Detroit Tigers.
The important thing is that both of these pitchers can provide better stuff than the current starters in the Giants' pitching rotation.
Madison Bumgarner is the best pitcher in San Francisco right now. He's 5-4 with a 3.58 ERA. Meanwhile, Matt Cain's ERA is over 5.00, while Tim Lincecum might have truly lost his form as he's 4-5 with a 4.75 ERA. Ryan Vogelsong has been terrible posting a 2-4 record with a whopping 7.19 ERA. Finally, while Barry Zito has shown signs of excellence, he's horrible on the road. In total, Zito has complied a 4-4 record with a 4.06 ERA.