Despite depth concerns, SF Giants are excited about their pitching

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.— Justin Meccage saw plenty of former colleagues Sunday when the Giants hosted the Brewers, where he was their Triple-A pitching coach last year.

His previous stop was in Pittsburgh, where he worked with Paul Skenes.In other words, Meccage knows young pitching.Perhaps not coincidentally, the Giants are putting an inordinate amount of their eggs in their own basket of young arms.“I’m more excited now about this group than I was coming in,” the Giants’ new pitching coach said Sunday.

“I think they’re all high-level arms.”Meccage was specifically talking about the group that includes Hayden Birdsong, Landon Roupp, Carson Seymour, Carson Whisenhunt and Trevor McDonald.They were supposed to shoulder a larger load last season.But Roupp was the lone one to log 100 innings.

Altogether they produced a 0.1 bWAR.The Giants missed the postseason and finished the year with three reliable starting pitchers.“We’ve done some things with a few of them that have elevated their status a little bit,” Meccage said, citing Whisenhunt as one example.

His fastball was up to 97 mph with better carry.He also introduced a power slider.

“Everybody’s in a little different spot.Some guys it’s being in-zone more.

Some guys it’s just getting their stuff better.Because if their stuff is better, then their confidence is better and they go out and they feel really good about competing.”The strides haven’t quite yielded results this spring for Whisenhunt or Seymour.

But Roupp and McDonald look poised to break camp as the No.5 starter and bullpen swingman, respectively.

Birdsong isn’t likely to be an option after an MRI showed structural damage in his elbow.“I think the depth, just if you’re talking about the whole group, is still strong,” manager Tony Vitello said after Birdsong’s injury.“If you’re gonna boil it down to a bigger-picture question, I do feel good about the competitiveness and the depth.”One reason for optimism h...