San Francisco Giants: Is Southpaw Heavy the Way to Go in the Bullpen?

The San Francisco Giants will have to figure out their opening day bullpen soon, but could three southpaws in the ‘pen be the way to go?

We’re in the home stretch of Spring Training, with just a few more games before the San Francisco Giants break camp and head back home for the last few exhibition contests. The roster is starting to come into focus, with some jobs seemingly locked up while others are down to a certain few candidates.

One of the more interesting battles remaining on the Giants’ roster is the bullpen. Most of the back-end is pretty set, but the earlier-innings are still up for debate. With the way things have shaken out so far in the Cactus League, the stage is set for the Giants to do something a bit untraditional in keeping three left-handers in the bullpen.

No one in Giants’ camp has been throwing as well as Josh Osich. The southpaw that has struggled mightily the past two seasons looks like a brand new pitcher, commanding his arsenal well and going back to what made him so successful as a rookie in 2015. He’s using his changeup more while backing off the curveball and cutter, but most importantly, he’s attacking the strikezone.

The results have been stellar. His latest outing was a 2.1-inning shutout affair, allowing just a single while hitters pounded the ball into the ground for easy outs to the infielders behind Osich. He’s gone seven innings this spring and hasn’t allowed a run while giving up four hits (three singles, one double) and a walk with seven strikeouts. He’s getting 2.5 outs on the ground for every flyball out.

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Osich once again looks like the pitcher that figured to be a big part of the equation as a rookie back in 2015. He’s always had incredible stuff, buoyed by a hard, sinking fastball in the mid-to-high 90s, and it looks like he may be tapping into that potential again.

While Osich is having the best Spring of his career, another pitcher is dealing with the opposite. Derek Law figured to be a part of the opening day bullpen as the last righty, but he’s having a tough go of the Cactus League this year. Much like his 2017 season, Law is having trouble putting away opponents and giving up far too many hits.

If Law doesn’t turn his spring around in the last couple weeks, it could open up the possibility for three southpaws in the season-opening bullpen. Tony Watson is guaranteed his spot and will probably be the go-to lefty, at least until Will Smith is back and pitching at a high level, and Osich is certainly pitching like a guy who deserves to start the year with the big league club. Alongside those two, Derek Holland has made a strong case to crack the opening day roster.

Holland’s performance, and the way the staff has talked about him, indicates that he is a very likely candidate to be on the opening day roster. That’s a good thing for the pitching staff, because it gives them a versatile option to use in a variety of different ways.

Ty Blach and Chris Stratton seem to be the two to fill out the backend of the rotation, so Holland likely won’t be needed to start, especially in the first few weeks when San Francisco has three off-days in the first 19 days. But if the need comes up, if someone gets sick or rain forces a doubleheader, Holland has the starter experience to fill in and give them five or more innings.

He can also come out of the bullpen in a few ways. If a starter has to be yanked after two or three innings, Holland can save other arms and eat innings. If the opposing lineup is lefty-heavy and the Giants need a pitcher to get through those lefties, Holland could be a short-inning pitcher in the fifth or sixth. Even in a career-worst year in 2017, Holland was still fairly effective against left-handed hitters.

The Giants will need to make the decision with their bullpen, and they will have to do it fairly soon. Holland has an opt-out clause in his contract on March 24th, just a few days before the season opens. If the Giants plan to keep Holland, that’s a decision they’d have to make before the end of Spring Training.

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Law hasn’t done much to inspire confidence, and most of the other right-handed relief candidates that are still in camp haven’t blown the doors off either. As things stand now, it seems their best option is to go with three lefties rather than the more traditional two. Of course, there’s still time for things to change, but it will be interesting to see how they start the season.

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