The 2024 season has quietly been a positive year of development for one area of SF Giants roster

Overall, the SF Giants bullpen has not been good in 2024. That said, it looks to be a positive year of development with the emergence of relievers like Erik Miller, Spencer Bivens, Randy Rodríguez, and Sean Hjelle.

The 2024 season has quietly been a positive year of development for one area of SF Giants roster

The Giants started the year with more questions than answers in the bullpen. They knew that Tyler Rogers, Ryan Walker, and Camilo Doval would serve as the team's top leverage options. Outside of those three, there did not seem to be much of a plan in place.

Of course, Doval struggled badly as the team's closer and has since been optioned back to Triple-A. Walker has slotted in as the new closer while Rogers continues to be the go-to leverage reliever in the seventh or eighth inning.

Those are two relievers that the Giants can pencil into next year's bullpen as the primary leverage arms. Perhaps, Doval works his way back into that conversation as well. A good bullpen needs to have length to it with five or six quality relievers.

The Giants' 4.15 bullpen ERA might not suggest that they have many reliable arms, but you can start to see the makings of the bullpen being better next season compared to this one.

Erik Miller, Sean Hjelle, Randy Rodríguez, and Spencer Bivens have all taken positive steps this season. Miller has emerged as Bob Melvin's first lefty reliever out of the bullpen with a quality 3.54 ERA in 55 outings. Both Bivens and Rodríguez have shown a knack for attacking the strike zone.

In a small sample, Bivens has been a bit too prone to the long ball, whereas Rodríguez has made a few too many location mistakes in the middle of the zone. That said, Bivens has a 2.16 ERA in 25 frames for San Francisco. On the other hand, Rodríguez has shown improvement in his strike-throwing ability and feels like one small developmental step away from being a leverage reliever as soon as next season.

Lastly, Hjelle may have found his niche in the bullpen. After working out of the rotation for much of his pro career, the 6-foot-11 reliever has shown improved command in shorter outings while adding a cutter to his mix.

I tend to think of leverage and reliable relievers as being in two different categories. The leverage arms are those that you can use in the biggest spots of the game while being confident that they can get the job done more often than not. However, reliable relievers are those that can substitute in place of the leverage relievers at times and tread water. There are going to be games where the top leverage options are not available, so teams need to find ways to preserve the lead. A good bullpen needs a mixture of leverage and reliable relievers.

I would not call Miller, Rodríguez, Bivens, or Hjelle leverage relievers just yet, but they have all been reliable this season. Plus, there is enough variability here to mitigate some performance risk. Relievers have volatile career arcs, so it is tough to project what a reliever's year-over-year numbers will be.

The bullpen is probably the toughest area for front offices to construct. That said, if one or two of these relievers take another step forward next season, the bullpen should be in a better spot than when this year began.

This is to say that the bullpen may not be a pressing need for the Giants in the offseason. They should look to augment it, but spending money on this unit rarely solves the issue.

In a weird way, it feels like the nucleus of the bullpen got weaker with Doval's struggles, but the core has gotten bigger thanks to some unlikely names.