When discussing team's with bright futures, the conversation is often surrounded by a team's solid young pitching staff. The Rays have a rotation of Kazmir, Shields, Garza, Jackson, and Sonnanstine with Price on the way, the Yankees have Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain, and Phil Hughes joining Wang, the Red Sox have Masterson, Lester, and Buchholz, and of course, the Reds have Cueto, Volquez, and Bailey. However, the one team that is rarely mentioned in the same breath, but has an equally impressive rotation on the rise, is the San Francisco Giants. In fact, the Giants may just have the most talented group of young pitchers of any team. Because they're on the west coast, and not making much noise in the NL West race, very little is mentioned about their young pitchers.

Tim Lincecum (9-1), Jonathan Sanchez (8-4), and Matt Cain (5-6) are three of the most talented pitchers in baseball. They are perhaps the hardest throwing young pitchers as well. All three pitchers have more than 100 strikeouts this season. Lincecum leads the NL in strikeouts, Cain is 3rd, and Sanchez is 6th in the league in strikeouts. Against those three, the NL is hitting a mere .235 against them. This is as talented a trio as there is in baseball today. If Kevin Correia can find his game, there's no telling how high the ceiling is for this impressive rotation.

Despite all that has gone wrong for the Giants this season, the emergence of these three pitchers has definitely been a high note for the team. And they figure to stick around for quite a while. Sanchez is the oldest of the three at just 25 years of age. If this team had an offense, the Giants would be making some serious noise in the NL West. The three pitchers combined are currently 22-11, and that's with a very below average team behind them. They also pitch in a pitchers ball park, which makes them even more dangerous, though all three have performed well on the road as well this season.

The Giants are still a few years from being a contender, but if they can acquire offensive talent, and with these three leading the rotation...contention for the NL West may just come sooner rather than later.



Court Adjourned!