San Francisco Giants’ Added Bullpen Depth Looks Like a Strength
With David Hernandez added to the fold, the San Francisco Giants bullpen depth looks like it will be a strength for the team.
Spring Training workouts began on Tuesday, with pitchers and catchers, as well as some early reporting position players, getting back on the field. One of the big stories out of San Francisco Giants’ camp early on Valentine’s Day was the signing of free agent relief pitcher David Hernandez, who will join his new teammates in camp shortly.
Hernandez isn’t the first reliever to sign with the Giants since the end of last season, and he’s definitely not the biggest name either. Mark Melancon is the big fish that the team reeled in, but guys like Hernandez, as well as others Bryan Morris, Jose Dominguez, and Neil Ramirez give the bullpen the added depth that can really help a team throughout the season.
The Giants’ bullpen has taken great strides of the direction of getting younger this offseason, allowing 36-year-old Santiago Casilla and soon-to-be-34-year-old Sergio Romo to walk in free agency, while 39-year-old Javier Lopez chose to hang up his cleats in favor of some comfortable slippers in retirement.
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
In place of these former great Giants, younger pitchers will step into bigger roles. Derek Law, Will Smith, Hunter Strickland, Steven Okert, and Josh Osich should all figure into the bullpen plans in some way, and all are 28 years old or younger. Of guys currently on the 40-man roster, the only relievers over 30 are Cory Gearrin, George Kontos, and Melancon.
But even with these younger guys being relied on more heavily, having experienced relievers on the minor league roster is always a plus. Injuries will occur, struggles will happen, and at some point, the team will need those non-roster signees.
Hernandez becomes the most experienced non-roster reliever, with 379 big league appearances since his debut in 2009. His first two years with the Arizona Diamondbacks, 20011 and 2012, were his best years, with a 3.38 ERA and 10 strikeouts per nine innings in the former year and a 2.50 ERA and 12.9 K/9 in the latter.
He missed 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and struggled in his return in 2015. 2016 was an okay year for Hernandez as he pitched to a 3.84 ERA and 9.9 K/9, but he allowed more than a hit per inning pitched, 1.4 home runs per nine, and four walks per nine. His 94 mile-per-hour average fastball fell right in line with his career mark, and his 11.7 percent swinging strike rate was one of the better marks of his big league life. Those numbers show that Hernandez still has something left to offer in his arm, and if Dave Righetti and his crew can harness the control that wasn’t always there last season, Hernandez can help the Giants’ bullpen.
Morris is also an experienced arm, with 211 big league appearances under his belt. He’s never been a huge strikeout guy (6.4 K/9 over his career), but has always been a reliable groundball pitcher, with a 58.6 percent groundball rate to back it up. A heavy sinker has been his best weapon behind a career 2.80 ERA. If he can make it to the big league roster, the great defensive infield in San Francisco will certainly help him succeed.
Ramirez isn’t as experienced as either of the previous two mentioned, but he showed flashes of brilliance in his 2014 rookie campaign with the Chicago Cubs. In 50 games that year, Ramirez put up a 1.44 ERA, 1.053 WHIP, and struck out 10.9 per nine innings, but has only made 37 big league appearances since. As a 27-year-old with a hard fastball, Ramirez has an opportunity to become a big time piece for the Giants in the future with some work.
Next: Giants: New Spring Brings Hope for Odd Year
Manager Bruce Bochy said on Tuesday that he “feel[s] that when we leave here we’re going to have a good bullpen, a solid bullpen,” citing the glut of both righties and lefties out in the bullpen. The Giants do have a great young core with guys like Smith and Law, and the veteran closer in Melancon, but having Hernandez, Morris, and Ramirez will definitely have an impact down the road.