Josh Osich Quickly Ascending the Giants’ Bullpen Depth Chart

With the San Francisco Giants bullpen in flux, Josh Osich is quickly becoming one of Bruce Bochy’s most reliable pieces.

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San Francisco Giants‘ relief pitcher Josh Osich had big shoes to fill coming into the 2016 season. With Jeremy Affeldt, a left-hander that was one of the members of the Giants’ bullpen “Core Four”, along with Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo, and Santiago Casilla, retiring after 14 years in the major leagues and seven with San Francisco, Osich was pegged to be the new Affeldt.

There’s some similarities between Affeldt and Osich. Both are left-handed pitchers. Both are hurlers who can get both lefties and righties out and pitch for multiple innings. Both are big dudes that are built like guys who could be playing for the San Francisco 49ers instead of the Giants (Affeldt was listed at 6’4″, 220 pounds while Osich is listed at 6’2″, 230 pounds). The way they get outs on the mound, however, is quite different.

Affeldt used a heavy sinker and big, looping curveball to deceive hitters and keep them off-balance while getting groundballs. Osich is a power pitcher, throwing fastballs that zoom through the strike zone in the high 90’s, complementing that with a hard-breaking slider, one that routinely touches the 90’s on the radar gun and sweeps out of the strike zone before a hitter can make good contact.

The styles are different, but the results have been quite similar.

In a bullpen that has been shaky and inconsistent through the early goings of the season, Osich has been a bright beacon of hope for the Giants. The second-year left-hander has been near lights out coming out of the Giants’ bullpen. He’s been given a heavy workload early in the year, pitching in 15 of the team’s first 27 games, but has responded extremely well.

In 13 innings of work, Osich has allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits, while striking out eight and walking four. Like his predecessor Affeldt, Osich is proving to be an extreme groundball pitcher, getting nearly five groundball outs for every flyball out (23 groundouts, five airouts). He is sporting a 2.08 ERA and 0.846 WHIP on the season.

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One big blemish on Osich’s record came on April 24th against the Miami Marlins. In the eighth inning of a tied ballgame, Osich allowed a one-out solo home run to Marlins’ catcher J.T. Realmuto. That blast was the difference as the Marlins won 5-4, and Osich was hung with the loss.

But since that swing of the bat, Osich has been nearly unhittable. In 3.2 innings since that home run, Osich has allowed just one hit, a single, while pushing memories of the blemish out of everyone’s mind.

Manager Bruce Bochy has taken notice of Osich’s great performances, and is using his 27-year-old lefty in increasingly more high-leverage situations. In his most recent appearance on Monday, Osich entered with one out in the seventh inning of a two-run ballgame, and the tying run at the plate for the Cincinnati Reds. The first batter Osich faced was Joey Votto, the former National League Most Valuable Player that took starter Johnny Cueto deep for a three-run home run in the third inning. After a battle, Osich got Votto to bounce out to shortstop Brandon Crawford, starting the inning-ending double play. He then retired the side in order in the eighth inning, needing just seven pitches to discard his opponents.

There are a few guys that have been pegged as “future closers” in the Giants’ bullpen. Hunter Strickland, another hard-thrower, has had this tag since his initial call-up in September of 2014, but hasn’t been as lights out early in 2016 as he has been in the past. Derek Law was given the label in 2014 when in big league camp with the Giants during Spring Training before Tommy John Surgery took him out of the equation for the time being. Osich is jumping ahead of them all.

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Osich has taken Affeldt’s past role in the bullpen, but is making his own name in his second season. If the Giants want to continue their postseason success, Osich will have to be very Affeldt-like come October. Bochy should have all the trust in the world that Osich can do just that.