Sabrina Kamble/Associated Press

For a short period last week, the team went through its full rotation and started putting out some good performances. For another three weeks leading up to last Sunday, they have had one rotation and one starter for every three games played. Now that the rotation is settling down, the team is once again going out and using that to start their two-deep.

With four days between games and two starters each night, the team has been putting out quality starts all year. Last week went like this, per a baseball analytics site:

The Giants used nine different starting pitchers on Friday in the only two games after the rotation settled down. They went 0-2 (7.2 IP) with two hits and 13 strikeouts. They used four different starters on Saturday in the only two games and took a 9-4 lead over the Rockies. They went 4-1 (8 IP) with three hits and 13 strikeouts on Sunday in the only two games after settling down. The pitching staff had a record of 6-3 and is now a game back of the Dodgers for second place in the NL West.

This is amazing, considering that their first base is so poor already. The team could only use the one starter they had on the roster when the rotation settled down. A team like Houston should be able to turn to another starter on their bench in three or four days.

Instead, they will keep using the three starters on the roster so the starting pitcher on the roster will have to play the whole game at the expense of the rest of their starting lineup. This isn’t something you can do just because we want to look good.

The Giants aren’t the Dodgers, so of course they should be better. But what we are seeing is not just what the Dodger rotation can offer, but what this bullpen can do.

The Dodgers’ pitchers have been putting together some of the best pitching performances this season. Over the last five years, they have pitched an average of nearly six shutout innings per season. A closer who throws five shutout innings should have a better record than this Giants bullpen would, but it isn’t quite there.

Last year, the bullpen went 15-8 thanks mostly to Brandon League. This season, it has been much worse. Last year, Clayton Kershaw had a 2.52 ERA. This season, he has an 11.18 ERA.

That