Next SF Giants bullpen addition is glaringly obvious after recent moves

As the SF Giants assemble their bullpen for the 2026 season, there seems to be a clear theme with their early additions: adding relievers coming off injury. If they want to continue that theme, signing Evan Phillips would make a ton of sense.

As Grant Brisbee of The Athletic noted, all the relief arms the Giants have added this offseason are coming off injury. Sam Hentges did not pitch at all in the majors in 2025 and neither did Jason Foley. Gregory Santos pitched just a handful of innings in 2025 with the Seattle Mariners as he dealt with injury as well.

SF Giants can add Evan Phillips to continue trend of adding injured relievers

The benefit of this strategy is that a team can get these pitchers at a discount, the downside is that maybe these guys are not the same coming back from injury and are not all that effective. Building a bullpen is an imperfect science, so the approach the Giants are employing is not the craziest strategy.

Phillips would make a ton of sense after he was non-tendered by the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this offseason. He is coming off Tommy John surgery which he underwent in June so if he was to return in 2026 it would probably be around midseason similar to Foley.

The 31-year-old Phillips is just a few years removed from being an effective closer in Los Angeles so teams looking for bullpen help may be willing to take a chance on him to see how he looks coming off surgery.

Phillips is reportedly looking for just a one-year deal so he can hit the market again next winter. That means if the Giants were to sign him they would probably just get him for half a season and then they would have to try to re-sign him which may be tough if he shows promise.

The problem with the Giants adding a lot of relievers coming off injury is that their second half bullpen may look promising, but they are still going to have to find a way to get outs in the first half of the year.

Basically all of the high-priced closers and relievers are off the board so the Giants are not signing a big name to stick in the ninth inning. Instead, they are clearly opting for a low-budget approach to bullpen construction and will probably have a competition in Scottsdale to determine who will pitch the late innings.

Phillips could be an interesting arm to add and would be consistent with the Foley addition.