The San Francisco Giants have a pretty good rotation top to bottom. Even better, they are all under team control for multiple years. Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardjza, and Matt Moore together on the same team? The Giants are set to be contenders for years to come. Now what about that fifth spot? With a rotation that I just mentioned above you might think it doesn’t matter who the fifth starter is.
That fifth starter is just as important as the other four. Sure you only need four starters for playoffs, but if the team just goes 15-15 in 30 starts that he pitches in it could mean the difference between first place and second place.