San Francisco Giants: How the second-half bullpen audition impacts 2020

The San Francisco Giants have used the expanded September rosters as an opportunity to evaluate all of the bullpen arms on their 40-man roster.

All season, San Francisco Giants team president Farhan Zaidi has scoured the waiver wire, placing claims on any and all hard-throwing relievers that become available. That has included bringing Kyle Barraclough, Burch Smith, Wandy Peralta, and Ricardo Pinto into the organization.

Who are these guys? Their track record is limited, but they throw hard and should be able to rack up the strikeouts.

In addition, Zaidi has also brought up a number of relievers who were already in the organization, including Tyler Rogers, Enderson Franco, Sam Selman, and Jandel Gustave.

This is typical of how Zaidi builds a bullpen. He does it through minor league signings, waiver claims, and minor trades. Rarely will he bring in a reliever on a lucrative contract.

The team’s bullpen depth has been hit hard by trades and injuries. At the July 31 trade deadline, the San Francisco Giants traded away Mark Melancon, Drew Pomeranz, and Sam Dyson.

Meanwhile, Tony Watson, Trevor Gott, and Reyes Moronta all sustained season-ending injuries, making Will Smith the longest-tenured pitcher in the current Giants bullpen to work strictly as a reliever.

Behind him is Sam Coonrod, who made his major league debut just over three months ago.

That means the Giants have turned over nearly their entire bullpen. The current bullpen configuration is far less effective at holding leads, but that does not mean it is devoid of intriguing arms.

Many of these arms are not long-term pieces. Rather, they were brought in to audition their services. If they do well enough, they will stick.

Excluded from the mix are Conner Menez, Andrew Suarez, and Dereck Rodriguez, as their long-term roles are still being determined.

Ricardo Pinto is also not included. He was claimed by the Giants in August but finished the season at Triple-A.

The Giants are in the midst of a full-blown audition for future bullpen roles. Who will definitively return? Who is on the bubble? And, who will be playing for another organization next season?

There are very few locks in the 2020 bullpen for the San Francisco Giants.

Closer Will Smith is set to become a free agent at the end of this season. He’s had an impressive season that includes a 2.76 ERA to go along with 34 saves while pitching his way onto the National League All-Star team.

There will be no shortage of suitors for Smith’s services in free agency, and the Giants could certainly increase their leverage by tendering him a qualifying offer. Given that he may be the most expensive reliever on the free-agent market this winter, it seems possible that the Giants will look elsewhere to bolster their bullpen depth.

Behind Smith, Sam Coonrod, Jandel Gustave, Shaun Anderson, and Tyler Rogers all seem to be locked into spots on the 2020 roster.

Coonrod has looked good for much of the season. He has struggled in September, but this could be due to fatigue as this is his first full season back from Tommy John surgery.

Nonetheless, he has impressed to the tune of a 3.29 ERA in 27.1 innings of work. The 4.94 FIP is a bit concerning, but he has limited hard contact and given up only 18 hits since being called up.

Similar to Coonrod, Gustave recently recovered from Tommy John surgery. His repertoire features a 98 mph fastball that opposing hitters have struggled to barrel up.

Despite being brought in on a minor league contract, the hard-throwing righty has recorded a 1.96 ERA in 23 frames. If there is a red flag, it is that Gustave has only produced 12 strikeouts. Regardless, he has done enough to crack next year’s Opening Day bullpen.

Similar to many of his youthful teammates, Anderson struggled in his tryout as a starter this season. However, he has quickly separated himself after being sent to the bullpen. He’s seen a spike in his fastball velocity, which now sits at 95 mph. Since moving to the bullpen, Anderson has recorded a 3.55 ERA to go along with 14 strikeouts in 12.2 innings of work. His stuff is playing up and the results have followed.

Anderson is likely to start next season as a high-leverage reliever. Depending on the Giants offseason strategy, he could even be the team’s closer.

Lastly, no reliever has improved his stock as quickly as Rogers in such a short period of time. He has earned the trust of Giants manager Bruce Bochy, and Bochy has, in turn, rewarded Rogers by using him in high-leverage spots.

The submariner has appeared in 15 games and posted a 1.15 ERA in 15.2 innings of work. In addition to this, he has struck out 13 batters and yielded only nine hits, including zero home runs.

Like Anderson, Rogers should begin next season as a high-leverage reliever in the San Francisco Giants bullpen.

Those four pitchers seem to be penciled in as part of the 2020 relief corps. Others have a far more precarious situation.

Lastly, Fernando Abad, Wandy Peralta, and Sam Selman could be with another organization next season.

Abad has struggled to the tune of 4.50 ERA in 12 frames across 20 appearances. Bochy has been using the veteran southpaw in a situational role against left-handed hitters, and the results have been mixed. Regardless, the situational lefty role is one that will not exist next season as pitchers will be required to face a minimum of three hitters.

Abad still flashes a 93 mph fastball, but he has been barreled-up a little too frequently. Given his veteran status, Abad can elect to become a free agent at the end of this season. It seems likely that he is auditioning for a future team at this point.

Peralta is an intriguing left-handed reliever since he is capable of consistently throwing a mid-90’s fastball. Despite that, he has had trouble with command and keeping the ball in the ballpark for much of his career.

He has been used so infrequently this month that it seems like a foregone conclusion that he will not be kept beyond this season. Similar to Abad, he has been used as a situational lefty, giving up two earned runs in 3.1 innings spanning six appearances.

Lastly, Selman has not been able to effectively make the jump to the majors. The left-handed reliever excelled at Triple-A where he struck out 81 batters in 48 innings, but he has not found the same kind of success with the big club.

In only seven innings, Selman has posted a 6.43 ERA and yielded two home runs. That includes seven strikeouts against five walks. Command has plagued Selman for much of his career before this season, but he seemed to have turned the corner since joining the Giants organization.

Selman’s Triple-A stats from this season may be enough for him to be retained. However, Zaidi tends to be aggressive in player movement, and it is possible Selman could be joining a new organization next season.

With all this being said, many of the judgments are made on extremely small samples, which can be misleading. Zaidi will want to keep open a handful of 40-man roster spots this offseason to give him some flexibility.

The San Francisco Giants are looking to build a better bullpen, and have found a few arms who should make the Opening Day roster next season. Since this has effectively become an audition, not every reliever will be retained. So, don’t get too comfortable seeing some of these relievers in a Giants uniform. It may only be for a short time.