The Giants don’t have the luxury of treating the bullpen like a finished project anymore. With the season past the midway point and the club sitting at 36-50, the rest of the year should be about one thing: finding out who might actually matter in that group beyond 2026.
That’s a pretty sharp turn from where this all started. Last year’s bullpen was already a problem, and the Giants didn’t exactly go on a full-scale rescue mission.
They brought in Sam Hentges and Jason Foley, both coming off what were described as often career-altering shoulder surgeries. They also signed Gregory Santos and Caleb Kilian to minor league deals.
None of those moves were foolish on their face. There was real upside in that kind of shopping around the edges.
But the bigger question hangs over the whole approach: why stop there? Relievers can swing wildly from one season to the next, and sometimes the difference between a mess and a useful bullpen is simply stumbling into a guy who gives you a sub-3.00 ERA over 50 innings.
If the Giants are going to spend the rest of this season evaluating anything, the bullpen has to be the place. At this point, a dramatic turnaround feels unlikely, which makes the long-term lens the only sensible one.
The list of arms that look like part of the answer is short. Kilian has been used as the closer and has the stuff to pitch in leverage spots, even if he’d be lower on the ladder in a stronger bullpen.
Keaton Winn, before his injury, was arguably the best reliever on the staff. He, too, looks more like a useful piece than a finished product, but both seem to belong in the conversation.
Dylan Smith has also flashed competence in a limited sample. The Giants picked him up in a minor trade from the Detroit Tigers at the start of the season, and that kind of move is exactly the sort of thing that can quietly pay off in a bullpen.
The left side is murkier. Erik Miller may be the default option there, but confidence in any of the three left-handed choices - Miller, Matt Gage, and Sam Hentges - is very low. It may even be that the best answer isn’t currently on the roster.
That leaves a lot of the bullpen already trending toward a simple conclusion: not the solution. And that’s why the Giants should treat the rest of the year like an open tryout. Minor league free agents, waiver claims, internal auditions - all of it should be on the table.
Yes, that kind of churn can look a lot like the previous regime. But it can also uncover real help. Good bullpens are often built with exactly these kinds of moves.
In Other News...
Giants Pitching Depth Concern Just Took Another Frustrating Turn
Wilkin Ramos is headed back to Triple-A Sacramento after clearing waivers, giving the Giants a way to keep the right-hander in the organization without using a major league roster spot. The move comes after his designation for assignment, and because he does not have enough service time to elect free agency, San Francisco can outright him and let him work to get back on track in the minors.
For a Giants club still trying to sort through pitching depth, the decision is another reminder of how quickly bullpen plans can change. Ramos was promoted to the big leagues in June for the first time, and the organization is now hoping the reset in Sacramento can help him regain form while keeping him available if the need arises again. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Just Got A Tough New Reality On Hayden Birdsong
Hayden Birdsong is already back in the Giants orbit, even if the right-hander is still a long way from a mound. Recovering from Tommy John surgery performed March 25, he is rehabbing at the clubs minor-league facility in Scottsdale and remains limited in what he can do, but the work has resumed in earnest as he tries to move past the elbow injury that ended his 2024 season.
Birdsong is not scheduled to throw until September, with plyoball work expected to begin in the next two to three weeks, so this is still the slow part of the process. Even so, he has kept a positive mindset about what comes next, and for the Giants the larger reality is simple: any hope of getting him back in the near term has to be measured against a rehab timeline that will test patience all over again. [Read more 🡒]