Ryan Borucki’s 2026 run with the SF Giants was brief, uneven, and ultimately revealing - not just about the left-hander himself, but about what Tony Vitello was learning on the job.
The Giants brought Borucki in on the eve of the regular season after he had been released by the Chicago White Sox, then placed him on the Opening Day roster in a move that raised a few eyebrows. He opened the year as one of three lefties in the bullpen alongside Matt Gage and Erik Miller, but it didn’t take long for Borucki to separate himself from that group in the wrong direction.
Part of the problem was usage. Borucki was thrown into spots that didn’t suit him, including an early matchup against Aaron Judge in the season’s first series, and that decision went about as badly as expected when Judge launched a mammoth home run.
Across the season, Borucki posted a 4.94 ERA for San Francisco, and the split data told the story plainly. Right-handers hit .373 against him, while left-handers managed only .195.
Vitello eventually adjusted and started deploying him almost entirely against lefties, where Borucki had some success. Even then, the results were mixed, with a few shaky outings mixed in with the good.
The final blow came at the end of May, when Borucki was tagged for three earned runs in two innings. The Giants released him in early June, and the Cleveland Guardians picked him up on a minor league deal. He was sharp there, too, putting up a 0.79 ERA in 13 appearances, but he never made it back to the majors.
In the end, the Giants probably should not have signed Borucki at all. He’d posted a 4.63 ERA the season before, and San Francisco got more or less the same pitcher. The staff never managed to push him to another level, and that’s not exactly a surprise.
If there’s a larger takeaway, it’s that Borucki became part of Vitello’s education as a first-time big league manager. Managing a bullpen is a feel job, and 2026 was clearly a season of learning. The hope now is that Vitello has a better read on which relievers belong in which spots in 2027 - though the bigger swing, as always, is whether the front office can give him better arms to work with.
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