SF Giants Player Review 2026: Sam Hentges' return from injury left a bit to be desired

The SF Giants player review series continues and today we are going to take a look at the tall lefty San Hentges. The Giants signed him in the offseason knowing he was coming off several ailments which caused him to miss all of the 2025 season and he had a decent 2026 campaign overall considering the fact he hadn’t pitched in the big leagues in a while.

Hentges recorded a 3.19 ERA on the 2026 season in 45 appearances. He had a 1-7 record so he had a propensity for blowing games which probably stuck in the mind of many fans, but he did strike out 41 batters in 36 and 2/3 innings so it seems like his stuff was there on the whole.

He did walk 25 batters though and that number is a bit alarming. We saw lefty Erik Miller thrive in 2025 even though he walked a ton of batters but usually a pitcher can usually only skirt by for so long until the walks begin to catch up with them.

Hentges was a solid reliever with the Cleveland Guardians as he recorded a 2.93 ERA in 138 innings. The Giants signed him probably thinking 2026 would serve as him getting back in the swing of things and then they could keep him for relative cheap in 2027 and hope he takes another step forward.

MLB Trade Rumors predicts that Hentges will earn $2 million in arbitration so if the Giants sign him to a deal in that neighborhood that would be completely fair. They opted to send Jason Foley through waivers, another reliever who was coming off injury in 2026 and was arbitration-eligible, but I’d be surprised if they did the same thing with Hentges.

Hentges can play a role in Giants' 2027 bullpen plans

Hentges should not be San Francisco’s only lefty option in the bullpen next season, though. If he is then that’s a major problem especially with how bad the bullpen was in 2026. 

I am really into the idea of the Giants signing free agent JoJo Romero, a left-handed reliever who pitched really well for the Milwaukee Brewers in the playoffs especially against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. If they could sign Romero to be their high-leverage lefty for the late innings while Hentges is used as their low-leverage lefty, sort of like how Taylor Rogers was used a few years ago, that should give San Francisco two solid lefty options in the bullpen.

Hentges wasn’t outstanding in 2026, but he did fine considering the circumstances and could definitely be part of the 2027 bullpen. 

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