The San Francisco Giants actually haven't had a good rotation for a few years now. Even last year's group was basically Madison Bumgarner and a bunch of mediocre veterans. Luckily in the postseason, Bumgarner had a run for the ages, the bullpen was amazing and the offense was good enough to carry the rest of the starters.
This year, the Giants rank seventh in the National League in rotation ERA, but remember that they pitch in maybe the best pitcher's park in the NL. They're third in home ERA at 3.02 but 14th in road ERA at 4.82. Bumgarner has been his usual solid self -- although nowhere near as dominant as last October -- and rookie Chris Heston has been a pleasant surprise. Those two are a combined 22-10 with a 3.15 ERA, but everyone else is a combined 23-25 with a 4.35 ERA.
Enter Mike Leake, acquired from the Cincinnati Reds for Class-A pitcher Keury Melia and Triple-A first/third baseman Adam Duvall.
Leake is on a level below all the aces that have been traded this week, but he's pretty good, a reliable No. 3-type starter who has posted a 3.56 ERA in Cincinnati's band box in 2015 and 3.54 ERA over three seasons. He's not a big strikeout guy, as he relies on a two-seamer with good sinking action to generate ground balls as opposed to whiffs. He throws that about 45 percent of the time, mixing in a cutter, curveball, slider, changeup and occasional four-seamer.
Among 94 qualified starters, Leake ranks 89th in swing-and-miss rate, so he's obviously a pitch-to-contact guy who does need good defense behind him. He goes from one good defense to another and into a better park, so he's a good bet to match what he's done with the Reds. Importantly, he has a good health history; there's not the same risk involved in acquiring him as there was with his old Reds teammate Johnny Cueto. Overall, he's probably worth an additional win over Tim Hudson, whose place he presumably takes in the rotation.
In order to keep pace with the Dodgers, however, the Giants will need to get solid work from Matt Cain and Jake Peavy as well. The two veterans have only returned from the DL this month -- Cain has made four starts with mixed reviews while Peavy has posted a 2.84 ERA in five outings.
Bumgarner/Heston/Leake/Peavy/Cain doesn't quite match up with Clayton Kershaw/Zack Greinke/Brett Anderson/Mat Latos/Alex Wood, but if Peavy keeps throwing well it will be a better rotation than what the Giants have received so far.
The Giants are also about to enter a brutal slate on their schedule: After road series in Texas and Atlanta, they then begin a stretch of 26 consecutive games against winning clubs, a stretch that ends with three games against the Dodgers -- a team they've gone 9-3 against this year.
As for the Reds, they got MLB.com's No. 1 Giants midseason prospect in Mella, although he's the best of what is considered a weak farm system. He's a 21-year-old Dominican right-hander in Class-A with a 93-95 fastball and a power curveball. He's further from the majors than some of the other pitching prospects traded the past few days, but the Reds added another good arm to go with the three lefties they got in the Cueto deal.
Duvall is an older guy, 26, who has hit .279/.323/.548 with 26 home runs for Sacramento, playing first base, third base and a little left field. He profiles as a possible bench player due to poor plate discipline and shaky fielding percentages at third throughout his minor league career.