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SF Giants Player Review 2026: Joel Kuhnel flashed a big sinker but it wasn’t enough

It was worth a shot, though.
ByNick San Miguel
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San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Joel Kuhnel (54) delivers a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the second inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Joel Kuhnel (54) delivers a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the second inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The SF Giants cycled through quite a few bullpen arms in 2026. They really didn’t have any other choice given all the injuries and poor performance and one of the arms they acquired off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers was right-hander Joel Kuhnel.

He is a big man at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, and he also displayed a big sinker which had very heavy movement and clocked in around 95 miles per hour most of the time. It was a pitch that induced a lot of contact.

In 10 appearances with San Francisco he had a 2.79 ERA in 9 and 2/3 innings of work. He struck out six and walked six and his 5.07 FIP suggests that he got a little bit lucky with the Giants.

It’s not a huge shock that Kuhnel ended up being a 40-man roster casualty. He looked solid at times but he was not good enough for the Giants to keep him on the 40-man roster the entire offseason.

He went unclaimed after the Giants put him on waivers and is now officially a free agent. It would not be the worst idea in the world to bring him back on a minor league deal so the Giants have a little more depth in the bullpen in case other guys get hurt or underperform, but he may choose to pursue a different opportunity.

Giants had the right idea claiming Joel Kuhnel

It wasn’t necessarily a bad idea for the Giants to scoop him up off waivers from Milwaukee. The Brewers have a way of getting the most out of arms so maybe the Giants thought they sprinkled some magic fairy dust on him and he would become elite. Yet, he had a 6.52 ERA in 10 appearances with the Brewers so maybe he was beyond their help. 

The Giants should remain active on the waiver wire, though. While guys like Kuhnel and Philip Abner did not work out, that’s still not a bad way to try to pick up some bullpen talent out of nowhere so San Francisco should definitely sign some legit relievers in the offseason but the team should definitely peruse and see if there are promising pitchers out there who can be claimed. Dylan Smith is a good example of what can happen positively when a team scoops a guy up.

The 2026 bullpen was really bad so the Giants don't have much of a choice other than to employ all means to ensure the 2027 bullpen is not a repeat of 2026.

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