When you think about the Giants seasons between their third title and their stunning 107-win season, you probably think quite a bit about bullpen failures.
The 2016 run was completely derailed by an inability to close out games, culminating in the Game 4 disaster against the Chicago Cubs. Five years later the Giants finally got back into contention, but the push to make the expanded playoffs in the 60-game season came up short in large part because of ninth-inning failures by a group that never had a set closer.
Looking at that recent history, what the bullpen did in 2021 is even more remarkable. The front office and coaching staff rebuilt the bullpen on the fly, and Giants relievers led the Majors with a 2.99 ERA.
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The Giants became the second team in MLB history to have six relievers make at least 50 appearances with an ERA under 3.00, and just two of them were on the roster the previous season. They had two guys -- Jake McGee and Camilo Doval -- get named NL Reliever of the Month and neither was on the roster in 2020.
In a short time period, their bullpen was built into a strength, a deep complement to the starting rotation that we looked at yesterday. Today, we look at a bullpen that will be ready to roll whenever the lockout ends ...
Already On The Roster
The 2021 Giants had six relievers make at least 50 appearances and all six remain on the roster and in position to be on this season's opening day roster. The group, ordered by number of games pitched: Tyler Rogers, Jose Alvarez, Zack Littell, Jake McGee, Jarlin Garcia and Dominic Leone. Those are also the six guys who all had an ERA under 3.00.
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Doval enters camp as the favorite to be the closer. Kervin Castro will be in the mix and Gregory Santos is back on the 40-man roster after serving a suspension.
John Brebbia was brought back on a one-year deal with the hope that he looks closer to his old self in his first full year back from Tommy John surgery. The 40-man roster is rounded out by Caleb Baragar, offseason additions Hunter Harvey and Yunior Marte, and two younger pitchers -- Sammy Long and Randy Rodriguez -- who could be weapons as relievers but should be stretched out to be rotation options, with Long ready now and Rodriguez at least a year away.
Who Will Be Missing
The Giants had eight relievers on their NLDS roster and all eight are still on the 40-man.
The only reliever who made at least 25 appearances for them last year and isn't still a Giant is Tony Watson, part of a deadline reunion. A shoulder injury kept Watson out of the NLDS but he was pushing hard to be ready by the next round, so he should be available to someone if he still wants to pitch when the lockout ends. Watson is 36, but still showed he has something left in the tank.
The only other notable departure is Jay Jackson, who was traded to the Atlanta Braves in November.
"He was a guy we would have liked to hold onto, but in the bullpen we just feel like that's an area of depth for our team," Farhan Zaidi said at the time.
Reyes Moronta, who once looked like the future closer before having major shoulder surgery, elected to become a free agent. He nearly made it back at the end of 2020, but was never in the plans last season.
What You Might Have Forgotten
Doval will come into camp looking to lock down the ninth inning, but don't ignore the other two young right-handers who have been with him every step of the way. The Giants put Doval, Castro and Santos on the 40-man roster at the same time after the 2020 season, and all three debuted in 2021.
Castro had a run of success that went just about completely under the radar because of Doval's emergence. In 10 September appearances, he allowed 13 hits in 13 1/3 scoreless appearances and struck out 13. That put him on the postseason roster, and he had two scoreless outings against the Dodgers.
Before the lockout, the Giants talked about potentially moving Castro -- a promising starter pre-pandemic -- back into a rotation, and they have a lot of flexibility with the right-hander. They don't need Castro in their opening day bullpen and can put him in the Sacramento rotation if they want, or see if he can go two or three dominant innings at a time. At the same time, the 23-year-old has the stuff and poise to quickly emerge as a late-innings arm for Gabe Kapler if the Giants keep him in that role.
In his debut in April, Santos looked like he might be the best of the group, but his season went off the rails after that first outing:
Santos gave up three runs in each of his next two appearances and tested positive for Stanozolol in June. He didn't pitch again, but the Giants did send him to the Fall League, where he allowed six runs and struck out 12 in 13 innings. Santos will be far off the radar whenever camp starts, but he actually might be one of the more interesting pitchers in the organization.
Santos is only 22 and has the stuff to be a dominant big league reliever, but the Giants are so deep now that they can send him back to the minors -- even down to a lower level if they want -- and let him take all the time he needs to figure things out.
Prospect Watch
The Giants were so aggressive with their top young relief arms last year that they enter 2022 in a funny position: Their best relief prospects have already gotten a taste of the big leagues, and Doval -- who still has eligibility -- has a decent shot at Rookie of the Year if he becomes the closer.
So, who's next in line? R.J. Dabovich looks like the best bet after striking out 62 of the 127 batters he faced last season. The former fourth-rounder out of ASU finished last season at Double-A and likely will return there to keep working on his command. Dabovich was joined in the Fall League by Cole Waites, who has the best fastball in the organization according to Baseball-America, but hasn't pitched above Low-A.
There are plenty in the low minors who could be good relief prospects if the Giants moved them out of a rotation, but given how good they've been at finding veterans for their bullpen, there's really no need to do that with anyone yet.
What They Need
Nothing, really.
The Giants will add non-roster relievers when the lockout ends because accruing depth is just kinda what they do, but they don't need to spend any more guaranteed money on their bullpen. They're also in a perfect spot to wait and see if a McGee type is looking for a new home really late in the offseason.
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If the season started today, they could feel confident that they have a closer (Doval), right-handed setup man (Rogers), left-handed setup man (McGee), and plenty of different arms (Leone, Alvarez, Garcia, Littell) to get the ball to the seventh and eighth. If Doval takes a step back, they have a guy with 31 saves (McGee) waiting in the wings.
The caveat with a bullpen is always that relievers are weird, and you should go into a season knowing that a few guys will take a huge step back and others will get hurt. But the Giants are well covered there. Brebbia had a 3.14 career ERA before last season's struggles, Castro is ready to contribute and Harvey is the next potential reclamation project. Baragar allowed four earned in 25 appearances last season and is on the outside looking in right now. That's a lot of depth.
The Giants are in this position because of how they've developed guys once they got into the organization, but also because of how they've acquired them. They smartly targeted experienced relievers who still had arbitration eligibility like Leone and Garcia and the shrewd signings came with flexibility. Alvarez's one-year deal included a $1.5 million club option for 2022 that was a no-brainer to pick up and McGee's two-year deal includes an option for 2023.
Add it all up and you have a good bullpen that's just about completely intact. It's a group that's come a long, long way in the last 12 months.
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