TORONTO -- The Giants were "TBA" for their Thursday starter until midnight the night before the series finale, which has become the norm. The announcement of the next day's opener often comes late at night, and several times, the Giants have announced the pitcher on the same day he started.
But when Kapler sat down with reporters on Thursday afternoon at Rogers Centre, he made it clear that surprise choice Keaton Winn was not being viewed as the new John Brebbia or Ryan Walker. This wasn't a bullpen game, but rather an opportunity for a young player who hopes to grab a rotation spot for years to come.
"I think it's a good general time for us to consider the guys who have performed well in these multi-inning bullpen roles as guys who can reach out and grab a rotation spot and make it impossible not to just have them start every time through the rotation," Kapler said.
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The Giants have plenty of guys who are waiting for that shot, from a fellow rookie like Tristan Beck to veterans like Ross Stripling, Sean Manaea and Jakob Junis. Earlier this week, even Alex Wood found himself coming in after an opener.
In choosing Winn, Kapler cited his raw stuff, but also his physicality and mental toughness. Winn had pitched well in three extended relief appearances and Kapler pointed out how some of the roster's more established pitchers had also come up in similar roles.
"It's fine for (young pitchers) to earn it and make it unequivocally clear that they belong in the rotation," he said.
Was Winn's first start unequivocal? Did he make it "impossible" for the Giants to change their mind five days from now? This is where we come to another trend.
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Just as they won't tip their hand with openers, the Giants won't give anything away with their actual starters until they absolutely have to. But Kapler was certainly impressed with Winn's six innings in a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
"He was lights out," Kapler said. "Unfortunately I had to watch it from inside (after getting ejected) but that gave me a different perspective of how well he was executing his fastball, particularly to Brandon Belt, and how many good splits he threw. I think towards the end you could see that maybe there was a little fatigue setting in because the split didn't have quite as much bite, but overall I thought it was as good an outing as we could have hoped for."
Winn knew the Blue Jays would be aggressive and he took advantage, pounding the zone and getting quick outs. He was through the first three innings on just 28 pitches and he made it through five -- tying his season-high at any level -- on 47 pitches.
"I was just trying to make quality pitches in the zone, and see if I could get them out early," he said.
Winn ended up throwing 67 pitches in six innings. He topped out at 98.5 mph and averaged about 96. He also threw his splitter more than half of the time, landing 26 of 35 of them for strikes and getting five swinging strikes. The one mistake was a middle-middle split to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that left the yard in a hurry, but that might have been the result of fatigue. Winn hadn't pitched in the sixth inning all year but he was so effective that the staff stuck with him a third time through the order.
Asked what can allow Winn to duplicate that every five days, Kapler pointed to the quality of the stuff he threw at the Blue Jays.
"A guy that can throw a split for a strike is a really unique pitcher in this game," Kapler said. "We have one (Alex Cobb) and they have one on the other side (Kevin Gausman), but Keaton, I think he has a chance to be an excellent major league starter, because he has stuff and command."
That combination has allowed Winn to jump the line. He started the season behind the veterans, along with Beck, Sean Hjelle and even his former Triple-A teammate Kyle Harrison. Most of those pitchers haven't gotten a recent chance to start, and Winn had to adjust after moving back into his more familiar role. He was surprised that he wasn't as nervous as he had been coming out of the bullpen.
His first MLB start came a year after his first one in Double-A. It's been a meteoric rise, but on Thursday, he might have solidified a role in the big leagues this summer.
The Giants have some time to decide whether Winn will get another start next Tuesday or they'll go back to their bullpenning ways, but the audition couldn't have gone much better for a young pitcher who has very quickly become a key piece of a staff with postseason aspirations.
"It's wild to look back at," he said Thursday night. "Me and my wife were just talking about it. It's crazy what can happen in a year."