The Giants spent plenty of the season searching for answers in the bullpen, and most nights that search came up empty. San Francisco ran through 34 different relief arms, and only 13 of them were better than replacement level by FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement.
On paper, the group didn’t look disastrous. The bullpen posted a 4.14 ERA, good for 20th in the majors, and allowed just 0.95 home runs per nine innings, which ranked seventh. But that home run number comes with a caveat at Oracle Park, where the marine layer and the wind can tilt things in a pitcher’s favor.
The deeper numbers painted a rougher picture. Giants relievers were 23rd in walks, 22nd in hits allowed, and dead last in strikeouts per nine innings. The overall stuff just wasn’t playing consistently enough.
Still, not every arm blended into the mess. Dylan Smith, Sam Hentges, Caleb Kilian, and Keaton Winn each did enough to help steady things at times. And among that group, Trent Harris emerged as one of the season’s best stories.
Harris is the kind of pitcher who makes you appreciate how long the climb can be. He went undrafted out of high school, then went through five college seasons split between High Point and UNC Pembroke without hearing his name called in the 2023 draft. The Giants brought him in as an undrafted free agent in July 2023, and he started turning heads from there.
The right-hander put together a strong run in the minors, logging a 2.68 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over 120 relief appearances and three starts. By 2025, MLB Pipeline had him ranked as the Giants’ 11th best prospect.
That momentum carried into this past season. Harris got the call on August 7 and made his major league debut the next day at home against the Detroit Tigers. Once he arrived, he didn’t waste time showing he belonged.
Across 23.1 innings out of the bullpen, Harris delivered a 2.31 ERA and 1.16 WHIP while striking out 28.7% of hitters and walking just 7.4%. The underlying numbers backed it up too, with a 2.24 FIP and 2.41 xERA. Opponents hit .230 against him, though Baseball Savant’s expected batting average sat much lower at .197.
What really jumps out in Harris’ profile is how he keeps hitters from squaring him up. He allowed barrels at just 1.7%, and only 25% of the balls put in play against him were classified as hard-hit. He also produced ground balls at a 51.7% clip.
It was a small sample, but Harris made the most of every inning. After all that work, he gave the Giants a real reason to believe he can become a steady part of the bullpen moving forward.
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By September, Chapman was already rehabbing with a spring training return on the horizon, and the Giants are counting on more than just his glove when he comes back. They need the bat to rebound as well, because the reduced hard-hit and barrel rates, along with a career-low OPS, left a clear hole in the lineup that becomes hard to ignore over a full season. [Read more 🡒]