SAN FRANCISCO — The 2018 season was the year we learned about the “taxi squad.” Many of the Giants’ roster moves were not announced in advance, but rather discovered when a player walked into the clubhouse with an equipment bag tucked under his arm and a suitcase dragging behind him. That was the case with Andrew Suarez. On April 10, he walked into AT&T Park and strolled past a group of reporters. He said he wasn’t sure if he was an active player.
“I guess I should find that out,” Suarez said smiling.
The left-hander would make his debut a day later. Three weeks after that, he returned, again as a taxi squad member and had an intriguing start against the Padres. He never returned to the minors, and now looks like a solid rotation piece moving forward. Suarez’s rookie season was one of the bright spots of another lost year for the Giants. Here are the highs and lows:
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What Went Right
Suarez has a slight frame, but ended up being a workhorse. He led all NL rookies in starts (29) and innings pitched (160 1/3) and finished fifth with 130 strikeouts, the most by a Giants rookie since Tim Lincecum in 2007. The command was as advertised. Suarez walked more than two batters just five times in those 29 starts and walked two or fewer in each of his first 14 starts, the longest streak by a Giants rookie since 1933. He finished third in the NL in groundball-to-flyball ratio and tied for second by inducing 22 double plays.
He went at least six innings 14 times and made it through seven on six occasions, tying Madison Bumgarner for the team lead. When he was good, Suarez was really good. In those seven-inning starts, he allowed just five total runs. In late August, he had back-to-back starts of seven innings and no runs.
Suarez doesn’t show much emotion on the mound, but the staff found him to be sneaky-competitive, and he displayed that when Bruce Bochy pulled him from a game at Petco Park late in the season. He also handled the Cainings as you would hope; Suarez received fewer than four runs of support in 22 of his 29 starts but always said the right things afterward.
San Francisco Giants
What Went Wrong
Suarez seemed to hit a wall for a stretch there in the second half, putting a dent in his season-wide numbers. He gave up at least five earned on six different occasions, and long term, he’ll certainly need to bring that ERA down. He finished at 4.49 as a rookie.
Righties crushed him, batting .290 with a .853 OPS that was more than 300 points higher than the OPS he allowed to lefties. The slider can be really good at times, but was inconsistent, and he doesn’t have a truly dominant pitch yet. Opponents hit at least .249 off each of his pitches.
Like many Giants, Suarez had some serious issues on the road. He posted a 5.26 ERA and 1.50 WHIP away from his pitcher-friendly home park. He found a second wind late in the season, but overall he had a 5.17 ERA after the All-Star break.
Suarez didn't have much minor league hitting experience, and he has a lot of work to do there. He was 3-for-47 with 27 strikeouts and had trouble getting bunts down. In the National League, pitchers like Suarez need to help themselves a bit more.
Contract Status
Suarez made the MLB minimum in 2018 and likely will get a very small raise in 2019. He has used one option year.
The Future
If you’re watching this postseason -- or you’re a Rays or A’s fan -- you may have realized that back-end starters no longer exist in many places. But the Giants still believe in having a solid five, and Suarez certainly will go into 2019 in the fourth or fifth slot.
There is hope that the 26-year-old can be more. He has pretty good stuff, works quickly, and showed a knack for getting a groundball when he needed one. With a few tweaks and some additional consistency, team officials hope he can bring that ERA down into the threes.
The Giants had to spend more than $200 million on starters three years ago because they couldn’t develop any pitchers who could consistently go deep into games. If Suarez can turn in 200 solid innings next year for a pre-arbitration price, there’s a lot of value in that.