Glaring SF Giants roster weakness could still sink playoff chances

The SF Giants have been playing great baseball as of late. They have a chance to make a push at the playoffs, but their neutered bullpen may end up being their downfall down the stretch.

San Francisco has almost a five percent chance at the playoffs according to FanGraphs. That feels somewhat unbelievable given how bad they looked just about a month ago. They have been powered by their hot offense, but their roster probably does not have the overall strength to make the sort of run necessary to sneak into the playoffs.

SF Giants bullpen may not be strong enough to make playoffs

It is no fun to be the buzzkill when the Giants are playing so well, but a dose of reality is needed every now and then. San Francisco sold off two of their best relievers at the trade deadline. Tyler Rogers has continued to be great for the New York Mets while Camilo Doval has had a rough time with the New York Yankees.

If the Giants had Rogers, that would make the bullpen much more stable. However, it is a bit of a catch-22 because if the Giants had not traded Rogers they would not have their spark plug in the young outfielder Drew Gilbert who has brought some unique energy to the table in addition to a hot bat as of late.

If the team still had Randy Rodríguez they would probably feel better about things. Unfortunately, he is out for the rest of this season and likely all of 2026 after likely undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Their bullpen is now in a weird spot. They can feel decent at closer since Ryan Walker has looked a lot better as of late and was an elite reliever last season. After that, things get a little hairier. José Buttó, who was also acquired in the trade with the Mets, has been respectable with the Giants as he sports a 3.38 ERA in 13 appearances. He is their best bet at a reliable 8th inning arm.

The rest of the arms in the bullpen have shown promise at times this season, like Joey Lucchesi and Matt Gage, but the bullpen is nowhere near the near shutdown level it was at in the first half. They have decent arms like Spencer Bivens or hard-throwers like Joel Peguero, but no one who would be considered elite.

The irony, of course, is that the team's awful play is what led to them selling bullpen pieces and one could argue that what they got in return has helped ignite the team.

The Giants need a lot to go right the rest of this month as they try to make the playoffs. However, their bullpen does not seem quite strong enough and even if the team made the playoffs it is questionable whether their bullpen could get them very far.

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