The Giants’ bullpen search can’t stop with the ninth inning.
Yes, the lack of a dependable closer is the loudest problem on the staff, but San Francisco also needs arms that can handle the middle and late innings before anyone gets to the ninth. That means setup help matters just as much.
Maybe Camilo Doval returns. Maybe Randy Rodríguez gets back to where he was before surgery.
But banking on that alone would be a risky way to build a bullpen.
If the Giants want real stability, they need more than one answer. They need relievers who can take the seventh, the eighth, and the pressure that comes with both. Here are five non-closer options who fit that mold.
Bryan Abreu has been one of the more quietly dominant bullpen arms in the game. The Astros have had Josh Hader finishing games, but Abreu has done plenty of heavy lifting behind him.
Last season, he posted a 3.73 ERA in 66 appearances, and after a rough start he settled in nicely. Zoom out a little further and the numbers pop even more: from 2022 to 2025, he put up a 2.30 ERA overall.
The strikeout stuff is exactly what makes him so appealing. From 2023 to 2025, he worked more than 70 innings in each season and topped 100 strikeouts every year.
He has 25 career saves, including nine last season, though he’s only converted 25 of 47 save chances. The Giants could use him as a closer, but if the goal is to build a truly nasty bullpen, he might be even more valuable as an eighth-inning weapon.
JoJo Romero is another name worth circling. I have written about him before, and he still looks like the kind of lefty setup man who can make a bullpen better fast.
He picked up 23 holds in 2026 while pitching for both the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, which tells you he’s already being used in the kind of spots San Francisco needs covered.
Sean Newcomb is also in the mix, and he brings a different look. He spent a brief stretch with the Giants in 2023 before being traded to the A’s for Forever Giant Trenton Brooks.
Last season, he logged a 3.09 ERA in 60 appearances and 90 innings. The year before that, he posted a 2.73 ERA in 48 appearances and 92 innings.
That kind of workload makes him stand out, because he can give you multiple innings at a time.
That’s part of why Newcomb is so interesting. After watching Aaron Ashby do that for the Milwaukee Brewers in the playoffs, it’s hard not to picture Newcomb in a similar role. For a Giants bullpen that needs more than one type of answer, he makes a lot of sense.
Steven Okert is another left-hander the Giants know well. His first three big league seasons came in San Francisco, and since then he’s developed into a solid reliever with the Astros. He turned in a 2.13 ERA in 2026, and he’d give the Giants another high-leverage lefty option.
Then there’s Evan Phillips, who would bring a different kind of familiarity. If San Francisco wants to take a shot at a longtime Dodger, Phillips could be a fit.
He posted a 3.46 ERA in 26 innings last season, and he should come relatively cheap. That alone makes him worth watching.
The closer conversation will grab the headlines, but the Giants have a whole bullpen to rebuild. These five relievers could help them do exactly that.
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Giants Bullpen Fix Could Hinge On An Intriguing Overseas Gamble
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For a player whose career stretched across more than 22 seasons and helped define baseball excellence, the stamp feels like a fitting nod to a legacy that still resonates in San Francisco. It also adds another layer to the way Mays is remembered, with one of the sports most iconic images now headed for a place in everyday circulation. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Suddenly Have A More Urgent Closer Question
The Giants search for late-inning help may have just taken a new turn after Atlanta added veteran reliever Evan Phillips on a three-year, $35 million deal. Any move that reshapes the Braves bullpen is worth watching in San Francisco, where the front office has been looking closely at the closer market and sorting through the best path to stabilize the ninth inning.
Raisel Iglesias has long been the kind of proven finisher the Giants could use, with a track record that makes him an obvious fit if he becomes more attainable. Atlantas bullpen picture now looks different, and for the Giants that means a closer pursuit that already had urgency attached to it may have picked up even more. [Read more 🡒]