Despite strong bullpen, SF Giants struggling to fill key role

The SF Giants still have the best bullpen in baseball with a 2.95 ERA. Despite this, the closer role has been tough to fill as the Giants blew their 12th save of the season on Wednesday night.

Despite strong bullpen, SF Giants struggling to fill key role

The Giants began the year with Ryan Walker as the closer. When he struggled, Camilo Doval was elevated back into that role.

Walker has not found any consistency this season. At this point, he is likely best suited for low-leverage opportunities or a stint in the minors until he regains the command that made him so effective.

In his place, Doval has filled in nicely in a rebound season. Overall, he has posted a 3.03 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 1.13 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, and a 2.24 SO/W rate in 39 outings. He has also converted 13 saves in 17 opportunities. No closer is perfect in this, and they will blow a save from time to time.

That said, it is hard to ignore the decline in Doval's strikeout rate this season. His 8.8 K/9 is well below his career mark of 11.1 K/9. Closers need to have strikeout stuff, and Doval has that with a fastball that sits comfortably in the high 90's with a power slider. However, he is not getting the swings and misses that he generally induces.

The hard-throwing righty is coming off a rough month of June, where he posted a 6.00 ERA in 12 outings. Much of that damage was limited to two tough outings at the end of June. Doval has allowed at least one run in three of his last four outings.

This includes a blown save in Wednesday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Doval allowed the Diamondbacks to tie it in the bottom of the ninth inning. To his credit, he managed to secure a win in the 10th inning.

The Giants are not at another closer controversy just yet. They may not even reach those crossroads anytime soon, but Doval is not far removed from being supplanted in the closer role by Ryan Walker.

Doval has been much better this time around. And, I think the Giants want to see him stick at closer. It is hard to envision Walker reclaiming that role with how he has performed.

Of course, Randy Rodríguez would be the logical replacement. However, he offers a lot of value in his current role, whether he is coming in during the middle of an inning or to start a new one. Sometimes, the most important spot for a reliever is not the final three outs, and that is where Rodríguez comes into play. For now, the Giants hope Doval can work out of his recent slump.