SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The adjectives used by Gabe Kapler to describe Anthony DeSclafani’s spring so far leading up to his first start Friday embodied the type of person DeSclafani is, and why the Giants are confident the new $36 million dollar man can build upon his bounce-back campaign last season.
Methodical. Professional. Calm.
“Nothing really to report,” Kapler said. “He’s doing well. … He’s not searching for a spotlight. … He wants the ball and wants to go as deep into the game as he possibly can. He wants to be very communicative and wants to be communicated with.”
DeSclafani’s spring debut Friday certainly didn’t go overlooked. He threw three shutout innings, worked out of a bases-loaded jam and debuted a curveball that he hopes can round out his arsenal this season.
“I was focusing on my curve today and thought I threw a bunch of really good ones,” DeSclafani said. “I made a couple tweaks in the offseason … and it’s felt good during camp. Coaches have been happy with it. I’ve been happy with it. Really wanted to see what it was going to be like in-game today, how hitters were going to react … really encouraged by it. I think it’ll be a good pitch for me this year.”
Nobody returning to the Giants rotation threw more innings last year than DeSclafani. And few were more reliable, with his 3.17 ERA and the only two shutouts on staff. Yet, the attention often went to Logan Webb and Kevin Gausman, rightfully so as one emerged as one of the top young arms in baseball and the other revitalized his career while earning Cy Young votes.
But the Giants front office was paying attention. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi rewarded DeSclafani with the longest contract he has given to a pitcher since taking over in San Francisco in 2018. The Giants ponied up $36 million over three years for DeSclafani while balking at the five years and $110 million the Blue Jays gave Gausman.
“I think it took all of us until after the season to kind of appreciate how good he was for a sustained period of time and how dependable of a major league starter he was for us,” Kapler said. “I think there’s a full appreciation for what he did for us last year, now, in this camp.”
With one successful season in San Francisco under his belt, DeSclafani has turned from reclamation project to expected workhorse — and an example to follow for their new crop of under-the-radar arms. This year, DeSclafani said, he felt comfortable begin working a new offering into his repertoire: a curveball that he debuted Friday that, sitting in the low 80s, adds a change of pace and downward movement to his two-seam and slider-focused arsenal.
“I’ve been messing with it for a while,” DeSclafani said. “There was a time in ’16 that I felt really good with it, and it made my games a lot easier because I had another pitch to go to that had depth and was slower. It made the effect on everything else greater.”
Last year, DeSclafani started throwing his slider more often and more effectively than ever before, resulting in the highest whiff percentage of his career (24%), more than twice as much weak contact as he had ever induced (6.5%) and the lowest ERA of his career. His move to Oracle Park allowed him to reduce his home run rate from 1.7 per nine innings in his final three years in Cincinnati to 1.0 per nine last year, despite generating fly balls at the same rate.
“I came in here last year and kind of just gave myself up in a sense,” DeSclafani said. “Everyone here is good at communicating and relaying information. I think they’re top notch at that stuff.”
All that coming off a final four years in Cincinnati that were marred by injuries, ending on a disastrous note in 2020, when he pitched only 33⅓ innings with a 7.22 ERA and was left off the Reds’ playoff roster.
The Giants picked him up from the bargain bin that winter and put him through the regimen that is now becoming commonplace for pitchers who pass through San Francisco. Kapler and pitching coach Andrew Bailey peppered him with questions, and DeSclafani was a willing participant.
How are feeling?
How are you doing?
How are you recovering?
What do you think you have today?
How many pitches should we throw in this bullpen?
The constant communication allowed DeSclafani to make 31 starts for only the second time in five seasons. His 167⅔ innings were the most of anybody on staff not named Gausman — and the second-most of his career, his highest total in five seasons.
It’s the same model the Giants hope to employ with newly signed Carlos Rodón, another starter whom they believe injuries have prevented from reaching his full potential, who dazzled in his spring debut Thursday. Count oft-injured starters Matthew Boyd and Carlos Martinez among the other hopeful pupils this year, too.
On a staff that features four starters with serious injury history — not even accounting for Boyd or Martinez — and an ace who hasn’t completed a major-league season, the the Giants believe that kind of communication will be paramount to entering the postseason with the same group of five starters they start the season with.
“We’re going to continue to push the envelope in this regard,” Kapler said. “Players need to be a part of their own development strategies. … We want to take that model … we had with Anthony last year and apply (it) to the conversations we want to have with Carlos this year.”
