SF Giants Press Clips Friday, July 14, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle Madison Bumgarner’s impact on ‘psyche of club’ John Shea SAN DIEGO — The ace officially is back in business. Manager Bruce Bochy announced his newly aligned rotation, and Madison Bumgarner will pitch Saturday, his first Giants start since April 19. “We missed his voice ... and his BP,” Bochy said as Bumgarner took his hacks in batting practice during Thursday’s workout at Petco Park. Johnny Cueto, who started Sunday in the Giants’ final game before the All-Star break, gets the ball for Friday’s opener against the Padres, followed by Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija. Matt Moore will start Monday’s homestand opener against Cleveland, and Ty Blach will pitch Tuesday. Matt Cain, the odd man out, took the high road with his move to the bullpen. He has 325 career starts and eight relief appearances, including four in September and one Sunday. As a starter this season, he has a 5.58 ERA. 1 “I’m looking forward to it,” Cain said. “I’ve got to go about this like it’s a new challenge. ... There’s no issue with going down there. It’ll be a good thing.” Bumgarner made just three starts before injuring his shoulder and ribs in his April 20 dirt-bike accident in Colorado, and the Giants showed very little in his absence. They’re 34-56 and 27 games behind the first-place Dodgers, five back of the fourth-place Padres. “It’s great to have Bum back,” Cain said. “It was definitely odd not having him in the rotation, so we’re excited having him back and having him around the clubhouse more.” The rotation is set up so that Cueto gets four starts before the trade deadline July 31. Cueto, who can opt out to free agency after the season, would need to pitch better than in the first half (4.51) to improve his trade value. On Sunday, he gave up six runs on six hits with six walks in six-plus innings. Bumgarner is coming off his best rehab start, Monday’s six-inning, 86-pitch effort for Class A San Jose. “His intensity, his presence, all that, trust me, I’m hoping things like this are a shot in the arm for the club,” Bochy said. “We just had really a horrible half. Getting guys back hopefully will do a lot for the psyche of the club.” Nuñez update: Eduardo Nuñez (hamstring) was set back in his rehab assignment with San Jose when drilled in the calf during batting practice Wednesday. The Giants hope to add him to the roster Friday. 2 San Francisco Chronicle Giants midseason report Henry Schulman As baseball resumes Friday night, the player bazaar begins in earnest. Between now and the trade deadline July 31, contenders will try to add productive, established players to make them stronger. Rebuilding teams will seek to restock their systems with high-level prospects and move high-priced players. The Giants reside in a murky middle. They enter the second half with the second-worst record in the majors, at 34-56, clearly needing to look beyond 2017. But they also possess a large core of players who are signed well beyond this season in whom the organization still believes. Team officials do not see a championship window that has closed, but a badly cracked window that needs to be repaired. The Giants hope to win in 2018 and compete for October again, if not next year, then in 2019. “I don’t want to underestimate the talent we have,” general manager Bobby Evans said this week. “But we also have to be honest about the struggles we’ve had as a team and what we can do to improve upon it, and get more out of our core guys, as well as how we can add to the club in the future so we can play winning baseball and fight for a playoff spot.” The Giants’ blueprint is not the Cubs or Astros, who succeeded after multiyear rebuilds, but rather the Giants of the recent past, who began to see light in 2008 after they cut ties with Barry Bonds, broke a four-year streak of losing records in 2009 and then won a World Series title in 2010. “We’re not looking to take five steps back to take one step forward,” Evans said. “But we understand there may be steps we have to take short term.” Those short-term steps will not be easy. Some would be painful for the fans. 3 Despite his struggles this year, Johnny Cueto is a trade chip because of his postseason history, but he also has that pesky opt-out in his contract that complicates trade negotiations. The Giants have hinted they might not deal Cueto if they are fairly sure he will not opt out after this season. Cueto is not ready to declare those intentions, but he is clear on how he feels about San Francisco. “I want to stay here,” he said Sunday. Potential free agent Eduardo Nuñez could help a contender, but given his leg issues, how much could the Giants’ expect in return? An injured rental will not attract a difference-making prospect. Beyond Cueto and Nuñez, the Giants must be — and are — at least willing to listen on most core players. If Brandon Crawford, Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey are untouchable, the Giants have to be open-minded about others who helped them win titles, as painful as their departures would be. As a Gold Glove second baseman who can hit and is still three years from free agency — in other words, inexpensive — Joe Panik stands out as a player who might be worth a good outfield or pitching prospect to a contending team. Year in and year out, teams have asked the Giants about Panik, and they said, “Hands off.” The interest is out there. Denard Span, who has a year left on his contract, has played well enough to land in trade conversations, but if the Giants dealt him, who would become their center fielder? They have no immediate answer from the system. Prospects Steven Duggar, who has lost more than half a year of development to injuries, and Bryan Reynolds are not close. Brandon Belt could be desirable to a contender that plays in a smaller park and does not need him to be a middle-of-the-order hitter. (Hello, Yankees!) The nearly $70 million left on his 4 contract is a hindrance, but if the Giants were willing to eat a chunk of that money and move Belt, they still could gain financial flexibility and a piece or two for the future. However, if the Giants are serious about a quick turnaround, do they dispatch one of their best defensive players who also ranks first or second on the team in most offensive categories? The same question applies to improved starter Jeff Samardzija, who might be the most attractive starting pitcher (non-Bumgarner division) to a contender. Could the Giants easily replace his power arm and the 200-plus innings per season he could provide over the next three years? No. Do the Giants have to listen? Yes. Injuries that all but ended the seasons of left fielder Austin Slater and third baseman Christian Arroyo will cost the Giants several months of valuable evaluation time, complicating their decision-making at the trade deadline and even into the offseason. “Those are huge hits,” Evans said. “They’re not just prospects, but they’re major-league ready, or close to it. It does put a hurt into your system and your opportunities to evaluate them at a higher level.” Slater’s injuries could open the door in 2017 for Chris Shaw, the Giants’ best power prospect, who is hitting .304 with nine homers in 161 at-bats since his promotion to Triple-A. The Giants are not convinced Shaw is ready to play left field at the major-league level. Only recently was he moved to the outfield from first base, but Evans said Shaw could force the club’s hand. “He could be part of the conversation,” Evans said. Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected]: @hankschulman 5 3 hits 1. Buster Posey: The Giants’ lone All-Star elevated his game offensively and behind the plate during what could be a 100-loss season. 2. Prospects: Who knows how many losses the Giants would have without the lift that now- injured Christian Arroyo and Austin Slater provided? 3. Cheap seats: Season-ticket holders might not like it, but the price plunge on the secondary market has made wonderful AT&T Park more accessible for less money. 3 misses 1. Mark Melancon: The Giants spent $62 million for a closer who has spent two stints on the disabled list and rarely pitched when healthy because they had so few ninth-inning leads. 2. Off-field despair: The Hunter Strickland suspension saga, Bruce Bochy’s latest heart scare, Madison Bumgarner’s dirt-bike crash, reports of clubhouse disharmony and several deaths in the Giants’ family — a far more personal and significant matter — have cast a near-continuous pall over the team. 3. Left field: Even Spinal Tap drummers are frightened to stand in a spot where 13 men have played and several, including Austin Slater, Jarrett Parker, Michael Morse and Eduardo Nuñez, incurred significant injuries. Unit reports Rotation: The Giants used only seven starters in the first half, normally a positive sign, but the five who combined for 86 of the 90 starts had ERAs ranging from Johnny Cueto’s 4.51 to Matt Moore’s league-worst 6.04.