Mike Leake to make Giants debut Sunday in Tim Hudson's rotation spot
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Mike Leake is replacing Tim Hudson inSan Francisco's rotation, and the newly acquired right-hander will make his Giants debut in their series finale Sunday atTexas.
Leake joined the Giants on Friday, the same day the struggling 40-year-old Hudson was put on the 15-day disabled list with a shoulder strain.
"Just stunned. Kind of a stunned reaction," Leake said of his trade fromCincinnati. "I didn't expect it to be them because I knew how many pitchers they had. I'm glad I'm in. ... I'm excited. It's abunch of proven players."
San Francisco sent two prospects to the Reds for the 27-year-old Leake, who allowed only two earned runs winning his past four starts. He threw eight scoreless innings in a win atSt. Louison Tuesday and is 9-5 with a 3.56 ERA in 21 outings this season.
"He's a quality starter who's going to help us. He's excited about being here. He's been throwing the ball well, good athlete," manager Bruce Bochy said. "That's a great move for us to give us some depth in the rotation."
Hudson, who plans to retire at the end of this season, is 6-8 with a 4.80 ERA and hasn't gone seven innings in a game since June 3. Hudson won his first championship after 16 major league seasons last year with the Giants, who won their third World Series in five seasons.
While Hudson said he could have pitched Saturday, he expressed no issues with Leake taking his spot in the rotation and said he would do what he could to help in other ways.
"I wish I would have been pitching better and going out there and giving us a better chance to win, but it hasn't been the case," Hudson said.
Leake said he used to watch video of Hudson pitching and learned a lot.
"Just because he attacked the ball in the zone and had a lot of movement on his pitches that were moving outside of the zone rather than into the zone." Leake said. "I look forward to actually working with him and talking with him, and picking his brain a little."
As a preteen, Leake played on a travel team out of San Diego that also included Bochy's son Brett and Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, the first overall pick of the 2009 draft.
"He was a good athlete then. He could pitch and played short. It was a really good club. Mike, he stood out," Bruce Bochy said. "He was the best player on the field, whether it was pitching, playing short, swinging the bat. He was their best player."
