Brad

Hennessey

Hennessey hasn’t been effective, but you could do worse than facing the Brewers in San Francisco.

Left-hander Wayne Franklin is expected to come off the DL in time to start the other game. FYI if you are setting your roster for next week.

Outside of Jason Schmidt, who is? The Giants will need a fifth starter only six more times this season, and Hennessey could get the call in some of those games. The rest of the rotation is filled by Kirk Rueter (6-9, 4.93 ERA), Brett Tomko (5-6, 5.01 ERA), and rookie Noah Lowry.

There are not a lot of other choices for manager Felipe Alou at the moment, so Hennessey will get another chance.

And even then he was bailed out by reliever Jeff Fassero after departing with runners on first and second with two outs in the third. In 11 starts for the Giants this year, Hennessey has recorded seven quality starts while posting a 19.89 ERA in his other four outings. He’ll get the Marlins on Sunday, a team he surrendered eight runs over 4 1/3 innings against on July 23.

Hennessey gave up six hits, walked four, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. His stuff is hardly so good that he can afford such poor command. He might get bumped from the rotation if he doesn’t pitch better next time out.

Hennessey pitched shutout ball for 7 1/3 innings. It’s the second time he’s been flat-out terrific against St. Louis this season, although he still has a 5.09 ERA overall. He’s at 6.39 in his 11 starts against the rest of the league.

Hennessey isn’t a particularly good long-term bet as a starting pitcher, but he’s worth using in NL-only leagues right now. He could even be an option in mixed leagues next week while pitching at Petco Park and at home against the Dodgers.

Hennessey allowed three runs in the first and four more in the second. He had surrendered just one run and four hits in 11 1/3 innings versus the Dodgers this season. Hopefully, it was just a bad night. If he struggles again next time out, the Giants could have Jonathan Sanchez replace him in the rotation.

Hennessey, Steve Kline, Mike Stanton, Vinnie Chulk, Jack Taschner and Armando Benitez combined on a five-hitter in the 1-0 win. The Giants waited way too long to have Hennessey replace Jamey Wright in the rotation. Hennessey isn’t as good as the 2.71 ERA indicates, but the Giants likely would have a couple of more wins had they placed him in the rotation from the start of the year.