SF Giants may have a closer competition on their hands for rest of season

The SF Giants have already had two closer shakeups this season. With recent developments in the bullpen, namely Randy Rodríguez struggling and Ryan Walker's solid pitching as of late, perhaps there will be another shakeup.

Walker began the year as the team's closer. He was coming off a really strong 2024 season in which he established himself as one of the filthiest relievers in the game. Unfortunately, the expert command he had on his pitches last year abandoned him early this season which led to him being demoted from the closer role in favor of Camilo Doval.

SF Giants may have yet another closer shakeup in 2025

Doval did fine reprising the closer role he lost to Walker in 2024, but he ended up getting traded to the New York Yankees where things have not gone well for him. To fill the vacuum in the ninth inning, San Francisco turned to an obvious choice in Rodríguez who earned an All-Star nod this season after being the most dominant reliever in baseball the first half of the season.

Unfortunately since taking over closer duties Rodríguez has struggled. In his last seven games he has an 0-4 record with a 7.71 ERA and seven hits, three walks, and six earned runs allowed in that span. His overall numbers on the year are still great as he has a 1.78 ERA, but it is clear that he has had some trouble adjusting to this new role.

Meanwhile, Walker has begun to look a little more like his 2024 self as of late. His stuff has looked much more sharp and in his last seven games he has a 1.23 ERA.

Of course, relievers are a fickle breed so it is easy to overreact to a good or bad week or two. However, what may be of greater concern with Rodríguez is the fact that he has seemed to have trouble throwing on consecutive days. In fact, in the series against the Milwaukee Brewers after he gave up a walk-off home run on Friday he was still not available to pitch on Sunday despite having a day of rest due to arm soreness.

The Giants turned to Walker to record the save on Sunday and he got the job done. Perhaps the Giants just wanted to be careful with the 25-year-old Rodríguez in a lost season, but this has been a recurring theme for him. If he has trouble pitching on consecutive days then it is tough to imagine him being the full-time closer.

Maybe for the rest of this season manager Bob Melvin should employ a co-closer approach similar to the one he toyed with early in the year between Walker and Doval. By allowing both Rodríguez and Walker to close out games based on whoever is better rested it gives them both a chance to prove themselves ahead of 2026.

The Giants still have a lot to figure out in their bullpen after trading away Doval and Tyler Rogers so opting for a mini-shakeup at closer could help provide some more clarity going into next year.

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