Looking at this outing as a spot start from a non-prospect might help this hurt a little less. But the truth is Kickham is the consensus No. 3 pitcher in the Giants farm system and, at 24, is eight months older than Madison Bumgarner. On the scatterplot of outcomes I had drawn up for this game, this one falls under “AW FRICK C’MON JEEZ”.

Kickham looked steady early, slowly unleashing an arsenal of breaking pitches to back up his 91-94 MPH fastball. Two straight sliders made Chris Young looks silly and a third did the same to Nate Freiman. His curveball and changeup were let go in the third inning, with both pitches getting swinging strikes.

Now on to the bad. After a challenge fastball to Derek Norris was sent into the left-field bleachers, Kickham earned himself a big-league ERA. He was behind in the count 3-1, and Norris easily caught up to 91 over the plate. Then things fell apart in the third inning when his command abandoned him, with Kickham issuing a walk to Chris Young. A Cespedes double and an intentional walk later, Kickham had his opportunities against Jed Lowrie with the bases loaded. But a 3-2 walk on a close pitch sealed the fate for the young lefty.

A Nate Freiman single would end Kickham’s night, with Bruce Bochy removing the starter with this line:

2.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3K

As was mentioned earlier, Kickham is a lock to get at least one more start. The Giants have several off-days in early June and could make do with a four-man rotation, but a lot of that will come down to all five starters’ performance over the next week. If the bullpen can get rested by June 3rd, I don’t see any reason to push Kickham any further.

Giants center fielder Angel Pagan’s MRI showed brusitis on his injured hamstring, reports Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area.

MRI on Pagan showed bursitis, Bochy said. He’ll do light activities. Might be available to pinch hit.

— Andrew Baggarly (@CSNBaggs) May 29, 2013

Pagan has been out since his miraculous home run on Saturday, with Gregor Blanco starting in center and Andres Torres getting the regular duties in left.

The fact that he may be available to pinch-hit makes me optimistic that Pagan will start when the A’s series moves to AT&T Park tomorrow.

Pagan hasn’t been spectacular in the first year of his four-year contract. His .314 OBP is below his career average, and Pagan has been successful on just six of his ten steal attempts. Combine that with bad route-running in the outfield and the results have been underwhelming.

Take that last paragraph with a grain of salt. Pagan’s BABIP is .286, which should normalize toward his career total of .316. I believe Pagan will earn every dollar of his contract in the first two seasons of his deal, though it may be a drain on the Giants economy in years three and four as his speed evaporates.