Ty Blach, starting pitcher, San Francisco Giants
Blach showed a lot of promise in 2016, which we expect will translate to even bigger things in 2017. But before we get into the positive, the biggest negative needs to be addressed.
If healthy, San Francisco’s top four starting pitchers will be Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, and Matt Moore, leaving only one spot open in the rotation. If Matt Cain remains healthy through spring training, expect that spot to go to him. Bruce Bochy has shown extreme loyalty to veterans nowhere near as accomplished throughout their careers as Cain.
But Cain hasn’t had a healthy season for a long time. At some point, a spot is going to open up. That’s where Blach comes in.
In 2016, Blach pitched 162.2 innings in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. In those innings, he accrued a 3.43 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. Upon getting called up to the Giants, he posted a 1.06 ERA and 0.76 WHIP. Included in that was a simply dominant performance against Clayton Kershaw in a must-win game.
Congratulations to former Creighton ace Ty Blach on outdueling Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw for his first MLB win! #GoJays #ProJays pic.twitter.com/DNTZQ0J60B
— Creighton Baseball (@CU_Baseball) October 1, 2016
The knock on Blach is that he pitches to contact. But he’s throwing to a Gold Glove-winning catcher in Buster Posey, and has Gold Glove-winning middle infielders behind him in Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik. Additionally, if you have to pitch to contact, the spacious AT&T Park is a great place to do it.
At some point in 2017, Blach is going to get his chance. When that happens, look for good things.