LOS ANGELES — Since the end of spring training when the Giants left a slew of relief pitchers with major league experience off of their Opening Day roster, the club has been chasing greatness in the bullpen.
Twenty three pitchers have appeared in relief for the Giants this season, and when the second half began on Friday in St. Louis, it seemed as if Gabe Kapler finally had the club’s best possible bullpen combination available. And when five Giants relievers combined to throw six innings of one-hit ball in a dominant 7-2 victory at Dodger Stadium on Monday, it served as a form of confirmation the front office had assembled a bullpen that could rival any in the majors.
The numbers certainly suggest the Giants’ bullpen is elite.
Aside from posting a 3.38 bullpen ERA that ranks fourth in the big leagues this season, the Giants own a 2.64 bullpen ERA since June 1, which is the best mark of any major league club since that date. Over the last seven weeks, their 2.16 walks per nine innings are the fewest of any bullpen and the 0.66 home runs per nine innings Giants relievers have surrendered also leads all major league clubs.
Most playoff contenders would dream of having the type of bullpen the Giants have had for the last two months, but after Tuesday’s 8-6 walk-off loss to the Dodgers in which the club blew a 6-1 fifth inning lead, fans are understandably upset with the state of the Giants’ relief corps.
Keep in mind, this is an incredibly knowledgeable fan base that watched the “core four” –Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo– each win three World Series rings under a manager in Bruce Bochy who built his legacy on successfully navigating postseason runs with brilliant late-game decision-making.
In other words, the bar for what makes a great bullpen is really, really high in the minds of Giants fans.
For a team that entered the 2021 season with relatively low expectations and now seems capable of making a deep October run, any bullpen hiccups –particularly one like the Giants were involved in Tuesday– are going to come under fire.
So when Tyler Rogers watched Will Smith’s flyball soar into the left field stands at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, it begged the following question: Are the Giants still one arm away from greatness in the bullpen?
As right-hander Zack Littell astutely pointed out following Monday’s win, the Giants have the best “bang-for-your-buck” bullpen in the majors. Littell, Dominic Leone and fellow righty Jay Jackson all signed minor league deals with the Giants this offseason. Lefty Jarlín García was added on a waiver claim in February, 2020. John Brebbia cost $800,000 in free agency while veteran José Álvarez’s deal set the Giants back a bit more at $1.15 million. With Rogers earning under $600,000, southpaw Jake McGee, the team leader in saves, is the only reliever making upward of $2 million.
Since June 1, McGee has made 16 consecutive scoreless appearances and struck out 14 batters while only allowing nine baserunners.
McGee’s recent success and Rogers’ struggles against the Dodgers led to widespread frustration when Kapler chose to use the lefty in the eighth inning on Tuesday and save Rogers for the ninth. The move, while mildly surprising, is relatively consistent with the approach Kapler has taken with his top two high-leverage arms this season.
The Dodgers had a pair of lefties in Zach McKinstry and Zach Reks, due up in the eighth inning, so Kapler sought the platoon advantage by using McGee. With right-hander Chris Taylor, who had already homered twice, due to lead off in the ninth, Kapler turned to Rogers, who had only given up four home runs in 89 2/3 innings entering Tuesday’s game.
Some nights, the best laid plans don’t work out. Some nights, the most consistent strike-throwers in the majors can’t find the zone. That’s what happened when Rogers walked the first two batters he saw on nine pitches before giving up a three-run homer on a slider right over the heart of the plate to Smith.
It was unusual to see Rogers struggle with his command so much, but the loss was a reminder that the Giants have blown 18 saves this season. So for as good as the bullpen has been this year, it’s possible the addition of one more quality arm would take the group to another level.
The challenge for Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris is determining how the addition of another reliever would change the bullpen composition and whether it’s worth sacrificing prospect capital ahead of the trade deadline to make a high-profile move.
Would the Giants’ front office target Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel, who owns a 0.52 ERA and is earning $16 million this season? Doing so would slide every reliever forward an inning as McGee and Rogers would become set-up men while Leone and García could provide quality in the middle innings.
Or would the Giants prefer to trade for another set-up man who could take the spot of Brebbia, a promising right-hander who still has a minor league option available and is battling inconsistent command in his return from Tommy John surgery?
After giving up a RBI double and a home run on Tuesday, Brebbia has now allowed at least one run in four of his last seven outings and could be headed to Triple-A Sacramento before the Giants consider bringing in a reliever from outside the organization.
It is still possible the Giants don’t make a move ahead of the trade deadline and continue to chase their ideal bullpen composition from within. Left-hander Caleb Baragar has a 0.49 ERA in 22 games this year, but a high WHIP and concerns about his control have kept him in Triple-A for most of the last two months. Prospects Camilo Doval and Kervin Castro have both remained on the Giants’ radar over the last few months, and it’s not out of the question each righty could join the 26-man roster down the stretch.
The questions Zaidi and Harris are grappling with in terms of the Giants’ bullpen aren’t unlike the ones fans ask on a daily basis. Is this bullpen good enough to win a division? Is this bullpen good enough to win a series in October? What’s the best way to improve the 2021 bullpen without sacrificing any meaningful part of the future?
Answering these questions is the hard part, but how they’re answered will play a big part in determining how successful the Giants will be the rest of the way.
