The Giants’ Bullpen Is Built to Keep the Ball on the Ground - But Is That Enough?
The San Francisco Giants have made a few calculated moves to reshape their bullpen this offseason, bringing in left-hander Sam Hentges and righty Jason Foley. Both arms fit a clear theme: keep the ball on the ground and limit the long ball.
It’s a strategy that’s worked for the Giants in recent years - and they’re doubling down on it. But there’s still one critical piece missing from this relief corps: strikeouts.
Let’s talk about what the Giants do well first. San Francisco has quietly become one of the best teams in baseball at inducing ground balls.
In 2025, their pitching staff posted a 45.3% ground ball rate - third-highest in the league - and gave up just 0.90 home runs per nine innings, the lowest rate in MLB. That’s no accident.
This is a staff built to limit damage by keeping the ball out of the air, and it’s paid off.
The bullpen, in particular, leaned heavily into that identity. Giants relievers led all bullpens with a 48.6% ground ball rate.
That’s elite. But it came with a trade-off: their 7.93 strikeouts per nine innings ranked near the bottom of the league - fourth-lowest, to be exact.
And when the season wore on, the cracks started to show.
Down the stretch in 2025, the Giants’ bullpen became a liability in high-leverage moments, especially after trading away Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval - two of their most reliable late-inning arms - and losing Randy Rodríguez to injury. Without those key pieces, the bullpen lacked the kind of swing-and-miss stuff that can shut down rallies and escape jams.
That brings us to the offseason additions.
Sam Hentges: A Balanced Arm With Upside
Hentges brings a little more balance to the mix. He’s not just a ground ball guy - he also misses bats.
Over the past four seasons, he’s posted a 53.4% ground ball rate and a solid 9.71 K/9. That’s the kind of profile that plays in today’s game, especially in leverage spots.
As a lefty, Hentges could be deployed situationally, but he also has the versatility to handle full innings and face both sides of the plate. He’s not just a specialist - he’s a potential late-inning option if the Giants want to lean on him that way.
Jason Foley: Power Sinker, Low Whiff Rate
Foley, on the other hand, is a different story. He throws hard - his sinker sits in the upper 90s - but it’s not a swing-and-miss pitch.
In 2024, that sinker generated just a 13.8% whiff rate. That’s low, even for a power arm.
But Foley isn’t trying to miss bats. He’s trying to induce weak contact, and he’s done that effectively.
He served as the Tigers’ closer last season, converting 28 of 32 save chances. So while he doesn’t fit the mold of a classic strikeout reliever, he’s proven he can handle pressure.
Still, the Giants are walking a fine line here. Bullpens that rely on contact can be effective - until they’re not.
Even the most reliable ground ball pitchers can get burned by a seeing-eye single or a bad-hop infield hit. Giants fans have seen it before, even with someone as consistent as Tyler Rogers.
When you pitch to contact, you’re trusting your defense and the baseball gods in equal measure.
The Missing Piece: More Whiffs
There’s no one-size-fits-all blueprint for building a bullpen. Some teams lean on velocity and strikeouts.
Others, like the Giants, lean on movement and contact management. But in today’s game, where late-inning matchups often come down to one pitch with runners on and everything on the line, having a few arms who can miss bats is more than a luxury - it’s a necessity.
The Giants have done a solid job reinforcing their bullpen with arms that fit their identity. But if they want to take the next step in 2026 - especially in a division that’s not getting any easier - they’ll need to find a little more swing-and-miss to complement their ground ball game.
Because when October rolls around, soft contact doesn’t always cut it. Sometimes, you just need a strikeout.