San Francisco Giants: Strickland Isn’t the Answer at Closer

Well, that was a disaster. After sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend—at the tail end of a 10-game road trip, no less—the San Francisco Giants have lost all momentum. Suffering yet another shutout on Monday was bad, but it was just one game after three consecutive wins. And the result was the product the game’s flow…

…opposed to the product of a complete meltdown in the ninth inning.

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Obviously, Santiago Casilla wasn’t working out in the closer role. But at least there was hope in the alternative, any alternative, moving forward. When Strickland nailed down a four-out save on Sunday, it brought a sense of relief, if at least just temporarily. Strickland didn’t necessarily become the new darling of Giants fans because of that performance, but he offered a glimpse of what it’s like when the Giants are rewarded for eight innings of solid baseball with a final inning of shutdown pitching.

After Tuesday night, when Strickland effectively turned a 4-1 win into a 6-4 loss, the Giants are back to square one. It’s not just that Strickland blew the save. It’s that he was late to cover first base on ball to the right side of the infield, allowing for the bases to load up. Then he followed that by walking in a run.

Sure, Steve Okert technically got the blown save after replacing Strickland, by giving up the decisive three-run home run to Padres rookie second baseman Ryan Schimpf. But it never should have come to that. Strickland was tasked with closing out the game, but he just didn’t look capable of handling the closer role—especially at a time when the Giants are desperately looking for answers to their second-half collapse and trying to cling on to their spot in the postseason.

So, what now?

Before suffering a knee injury, Will Smith was supposed to be Milwaukee’s closer this year. However, he only has one career save. Sergio Romo has been an effective closer before, but he lost the gig to Casilla a couple years ago. The recently signed Joe Nathan is one of the most prolific closers of all-time, but he’s 41 years old and hasn’t been dominant in three years. George Kontos has great stats, but he doesn’t seem to have the bulldog mentality the role demands. Derek Law is probably the best candidate, but he’s injured.

Unfortunately, every candidate has a “but” attached to him. (Take a moment to allow your inner adolescent to chuckle…)

The Giants have 14 games left. They’re down four games to the Dodgers in the divisional race. And while they currently hold the top wild-card seed, they’re one of three wild-card hopefuls within a game of each other. And they’re closer situation is a dire calamity.

Manager Bruce Bochy needs to find the remedy no later than, say, Wednesday.