San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: Potential Reliever Targets

On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss a few potential relief pitcher trade targets and more about the injured Giants.

More from Golden Gate Sports

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
• Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve

Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Sunday, the Giants dropped another one to the New York Yankees, 5-2, to finish off a 1-7 road trip. Nathan Eovaldi was the winner while Jeff Samardzija took the lose, moving both men’s records to 9-6. Rookie Chad Green finished it off for his first career save.

The Los Angeles Dodgers won on Sunday, shaving another game off the Giants’ lead in the National League West. The deficit sits at three games now.

The flame on the hot stove is burning bright, and an Aroldis Chapman trade taking him to the Chicago Cubs is supposedly all but done. The Giants are in the market for a relief pitcher, preferably a top-notch late-inning guy, but they may have been smart to stay away from Chapman, given his less-than-stellar off field track record. He doesn’t seem like a Giants’ type player. But with Chapman off the board, let’s check out some more reasonable relievers the Giants could soon acquire.

1A – Jeremy Jeffress

Jeffress has quietly been a very good relief pitcher for about two season for the Milwaukee Brewers. But before that, he was more of a journeyman in the game. He began his career with 10 games for the Brewers in 2010, and was traded to the Kansas City Royals that offseason, where he would spend another two years. He was designated by Kansas City following the 2012 season and subsequently traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. After three games north of the border, he was designated again, and signed back with the Brewers as a free agent, where his breakout began.

Since re-debuting with Milwaukee on July 23rd, he’s been solid in both a set-up role, and a closing role. In 137 innings over 143 games, he has a 2.36 ERA and 1.255 WHIP. That WHIP is a bit high, but Jeffress can make up for it because he is an extreme groundball pitcher. He has induced 24 groundball double plays with Milwaukee, and has a groundball percentage of 57.9, well above the league average of 44 percent.

Jeffress’ strikeouts are done quite a bit this season, as his 6.7 strikeouts per nine innings rate is well below the career 8.6 per nine he entered the year with. The Giants are already using a lot of contact pitchers out of the bullpen, and Jeffress would be more of the same.

1B – Tyler Thornburg

A teammate of Jeffress could fit more with what the Giants need, in Milwaukee reliever Tyler Thornburg. Thornburg is another solid piece in what has been a good Brewers’ bullpen, and is enjoying the best season of his young career. In 40 games and 38.2 innings, the converted starter has a 2.33 ERA and 0.931 WHIP, and is striking out a career-best 12.3 batters per nine innings.

His control has been improved, as his three walks per nine innings is the lowest rate since his rookie year. Home runs have been a problem, as he’s allowed five so far. But he has shown a great ability to get hitters to swing and miss, as 27.2 percent of swings result in misses (league average is 21.7 percent). He can also make people chase, as 30.3 percent of opponent’s swings are at pitches outside the zone (league average is 29.7 percent).

More from San Francisco Giants

• Thank you SF Giants for a fun, wild, surprising 2020 season
• SF Giants lose in heartbreaking fashion and miss 2020 MLB playoffs
• SF Giants: Mike Yastrzemski named 2020 Willie Mac Award recipient
• SF Giants: Chadwick Tromp placed on IL with shoulder strain
• SF Giants: Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners postponed

Thornburg comes with a lot of team control time left, as he will be arbitration eligible for the first time this coming offseason. It won’t be easy to take him away from Milwaukee because of that, but he could be worth giving up some guys for.

1C – Huston Street

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman reported that the Giants are inquiring about Los Angeles Angels’ closer Huston Street. This is a risky move, as Street has been having the worst year of his career so far, with a 5.03 ERA, 1.932 WHIP, 11 strikeouts and 11 walks in 19.2 innings.

Street’s groundball rate is 37.7 percent, right about at his career rate, but the percentage of balls hit hard by opposing hitters is 37.1 percent, well above his career norm. A .358 BABIP is a sign that maybe things can turn around for Street, but that doesn’t seem like a risk the Giants should take.

2 – Injury Updates

• Buster Posey started as designated hitter on Sunday, but that’s mostly because he caught 12 innings the day before, and he usually gets a day out of the squat when the opportunity arises. The foot that forced him to leave the game on Friday doesn’t appear to be an issue.
• Speaking of injured feet, Ehire Adrianza played shortsop in Sacramento again on Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader. He had one hit in three at-bats, but it was an infield single. He then stole second and third base, and scored on a throwing error. His foot also seems fine. He played all seven innings at shortstop (minor league doubleheaders are seven innings apiece), and did not play game two.
• Hunter Pence joined Adrianza in game one, and tallied a base hit and RBI in three chances. He was scheduled for seven innings even if this was a regular game, so it worked out as a complete game for Pence. He was also out for game two.
• Good news came on the Joe Panik front before Sunday’s game. Manager Bruce Bochy said he “turned a corner” in his recovery and there was a chance he could play for the River Cats on Sunday. Alas, he didn’t make his way into either game.

Next: Giants Morning Minute: Mac Giveth, Mac Taketh Away

And that will do it for another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants start a seven-game homestand with a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday. Jake Peavy takes the hill for the Giants, squaring off against tough young right-hander Anthony DeSclafani.