SF Giants early-season strength has turned into a potential playoff liability

The bullpen was a huge asset earlier in the year for the SF Giants. With the trades of Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval along with the injuries to Randy Rodríguez and Erik Miller, that early-season strength has turned into a potential playoff liability.

SF Giants early-season strength has turned into a potential playoff liability

Sure, it is still too soon to be talking about the playoffs. The Giants enter Monday 1.5 games behind the New York Mets for the third Wild Card spot. With 13 games to go, that deficit is not insurmountable.

The Mets have an edge in the race, as they hold the tiebreaker over the Giants. The Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks sit right behind the Giants in the standings. In many seasons, winning 82 or 83 games would not be good enough to reach the playoffs. However, the Mets' freefall has created an opportunity for other teams.

So, the odds remain low for the Giants to make the playoffs. Even if they do reach the postseason, the bullpen has become too big a liability to ignore. During the Giants' championship run, they had the Core Four, consisting of Javier López, Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, and Jeremy Affeldt. A good bullpen was a hallmark of their success in the playoffs.

This iteration of the Giants would need to win a different way. Baseball is a game of attrition, and the Giants' early-season strength has eroded to some degree. On paper, the bullpen still looks like a strength, as they are second in baseball with a 3.35 ERA.

However, the trades and injuries shed light on a unit that is closer to the middle of the pack than a strength. In the second half of the season, the Giants' bullpen is 10th in baseball with a 3.68 ERA. That is still a solid mark, but there is not much of a blueprint to success.

Currently, Ryan Walker is the closer. He has had an up-and-down season, but has been much better lately. With Rodríguez likely out for all of next season, the Giants need Walker to be an effective closer.

The rest of the bullpen is more of a question mark. Joey Lucceshi has pitched to a 2.94 ERA in 33 outings this season. He has been a pleasant surprise and has seemingly become the eighth-inning reliever lately.

Matt Gage got off to a strong start, but he has struggled more lately. Joel Peguero has made a solid first impression, but it is difficult to draw any concrete conclusions after just 10 appearances. José Buttó has done a nice job, but looks more like a middle reliever.

Keaton Winn has thrown mostly in non-leverage spots since being recalled, but he has the stuff to be a quality reliever. It would be interesting to see what he looks like in higher-pressure moments.

Those are the Giants' leverage arms at the moment. So, even if the Giants make it to the playoffs, do they have the type of bullpen to hold leads and close out games? The bullpen is such a key part for any playoff team because managers can shorten the game with a good bullpen. That is a huge edge in the postseason.

With this bullpen, Giants starters would need to go six or seven innings to have a chance at holding the lead. This is not a unit that can complete three or more innings on a nightly basis, and most bullpens are not built to do that. So, yes, it is too soon to talk about the playoffs, but even if the Giants sneak in, the bullpen likely is not strong enough to be effective.

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