SF Giants 2026 Player Review: Philip Abner may have been the worst reliever of them all

The 2026 SF Giants season is over and while many understandably want to wash the memory of the season down the drain, we at Around the Foghorn (mainly myself) want to wallow around in the filth a bit. The team went 65-97 on the season and cycled through 71 different players which tied an MLB record for most players used in a single season.

They should have broken the record by giving Zach Morgan an opportunity, but you can take a crack at naming all 71 players in a Sporcle quiz created by Justice Delos Santos of the San Jose Mercury News. 

We are going to do a player review for every single player who appeared in a game for the Giants last season. Why? Masochism maybe, or as some form of punishment for watching that team play baseball nearly every day for six months. But also as an exercise to see what exactly went wrong with this team and see how they can get better for next season.

So if you’re a freak like me, join me on this journey as I take a look at every Giants player from the 2026 team in alphabetical order by last name. That’s why we’re starting with Philip Abner.

SF Giants bullpen was bad, and Philip Abner may have taken the cake

San Francisco picked up left-handed reliever Philip Abner off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 24-year-old had a 6.98 ERA in eight outings with Arizona so expectations were not high when the Giants scooped him up, but he was somehow even worse than expected.

Abner had a 9.64 ERA in five outings with the Giants. The worst of all came in Los Angeles against the Dodgers when he gave up four home runs in one inning. Then, manager Tony Vitello chose to go with Abner again the next night in a tied game in the fifth and the tie was quickly broken after Abner gave up a hit.

To be fair, in his first three outings with the Giants he didn’t allow any earned runs and the fact that the New York Mets claimed him off waivers after the Giants designated him for assignment suggests he’s not as bad as those outings in LA suggested, but Vitello’s decision to go back to Abner needs to be a learning lesson for next year.

Maybe it's an "unwritten rule" to not bring in a reliever the night after he gave up four home runs and if it is maybe Buster Posey needs to write that one down for Vitello next season and staple it to the brim of his cap.

The Giants shouldn’t shy away from claiming relievers off waivers as they had some success with that approach by picking up Dylan Smith from the Detroit Tigers, but they also have to be willing to move on quickly if they don’t work out like they did with Abner.

Still, in a season where the bullpen was so bad as a whole the fact that Abner’s back-to-back bad outings in Los Angeles stood out speaks to just how much he struggled in 2026.

Be sure to check out our next installment of 2026 Giants player reviews. If you know the alphabet you know who is next so we will take a look at shortstop Willy Adames.

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