SF Giants reunite with Santa Rosa native on a minor league deal

The SF Giants bolstered organizational pitching depth this week. According to the team's transaction log, they have reunited with Santa Rosa native Scott Alexander on a minor league deal and assigned him to the Sacramento River Cats.

SF Giants reunite with Santa Rosa native on a minor league deal

The move gives the Giants an experienced left-handed reliever that they could leverage down the road. Bolstering that side of the bullpen is a need, and Alexander was even mentioned as a potential solution.

Of course, the Giants' bullpen has been fantastic this season, leading baseball by a comfortable margin with a 2.36 ERA. Erik Miller has been the team's primary southpaw reliever, but righty reliever Randy Rodríguez has also been effective against left-handed hitters.

Miller has had an interesting year. Overall, he has posted an excellent 1.23 ERA with 17 strikeouts and 17 walks in 22 frames. While the ERA looks great, the underlying numbers do suggest considerable regression.

This is where Alexander could pitch his way into the Giants' plans in 2025. The veteran reliever began the season with the Colorado Rockies, but struggled to a 6.06 ERA in 19 outings before being released.

Alexander is only one year removed from having a strong season with the A's, where he tallied a 2.56 ERA in 45 appearances. Overall, he has pitched to a 3.34 ERA across 11 major league seasons, including parts of two years with San Francisco.

The Giants signed the lefty reliever to a minor league deal early in the 2022 season. He reached the majors by the end of the year and put up quality numbers during his two-year run with the Giants.

Effectiveness has rarely been an issue for Alexander, but he has spent considerable time on the injured list during his career. He has completed more than 40 innings just three times in his career, and two of those years came in back-to-back seasons with the Kansas City Royals in 2017 and 2018.

Alexander has been a solid matchup reliever, limiting left-handed hitters to just a .581 OPS in his career. Plus, he has an excellent 66.6 percent ground ball rate, which is a skill set that tends to do well in San Francisco.

For now, Alexander will pitch for the River Cats. If he is throwing well, he will quickly become a candidate to help the Giants down the stretch.