1 SF Giants reliever who could help stabilize the bullpen in 2025

The SF Giants know what to expect from Ryan Walker, Tyler Rogers, and Erik Miller. They hope for a rebound year from Camilo Doval, but Randy Rodríguez could be the reliever who gives the bullpen more stability.

1 SF Giants reliever who could help stabilize the bullpen in 2025

When I say stabilize, I mean to give the bullpen a foundation. Walker is the closer, and there is really no debate about that. The bullpen roles outside of him are still up in the air to some degree.

Rogers and Miller have fluid roles in the bullpen. They could be used in the sixth inning, seventh inning, or eighth inning. The matchups might determine that, especially in the case of Miller. Not surprisingly, manager Bob Melvin has leaned on the lefty pitcher when there is a good lefty at the plate.

Rogers is a pretty versatile arm, and not just because he is capable of throwing nearly every day. The Giants have used him to get a ground ball with runners on base, as a multi-inning reliever, and as the set-up man. More often than not, Melvin will use Rogers in the eighth inning because he has been such an effective reliever during his Giants career.

This might be where Randy Rodríguez could reduce some of the variability in roles. The hard-throwing reliever has typically flashed a good pitch mix with a high-90's four-seam fastball and a slider. Both pitches were tough on the opposition, especially the slider as opposing hitters registered just a .181 batting average against it last season.

On the other hand, the fastball has a good pitch shape that rides and carries through the zone. The limiting factor has been control, and it is why it took several years for him to debut with the Giants despite being on the 40-man roster.

The 25-year-old pitcher did show improvement in that category in Triple-A last season. He continued demonstrating that improvement last season with the Giants, as he walked only 18 batters in 52.1 frames.

It did feel like there was an intentional effort to get some pitchers like Rodríguez to just throw more pitches in the zone. This led to too many pitches catching the middle of the zone. Major league hitters will take advantage of those mistakes, and it is why he had a 4.30 ERA last year, but it felt like he pitched better than that.

Control and command are different qualities. Control is the ability to throw strikes, usually represented by dividing the number of strikes by the total pitches thrown. Command is a little more difficult to measure, but it reflects a pitcher's ability to command his pitches in all four quadrants of the zone.

Perhaps, one of the better ways to evaluate this is by looking at whether a pitcher is hitting the spots where the catcher is setting up. Rodríguez might never have above-average command, but his control did show improvement last year. If there is improvement in his command, the ceiling rises from a leverage reliever to a potential closer.

The results have been encouraging so far this year. Yes, it is a tiny sample, but the hard-throwing pitcher has tallied 4.2 scoreless frames with eight strikeouts and zero walks. If this continues, there is a good chance that he becomes a trusted arm in Bob Melvin's bullpen. This would give the Giants more stability in leverage spots, and more of an ability to shorten the game if they have a lead late. Shortening the game to six innings is going to be how they win quite a few games this year.