3 Ways the Giants Can Still Fix Their Bullpen

To open the 2025 season, the San Francisco Giants had the best bullpen in all of baseball. Tyler Rogers was his typical, reliable self, Camilo Doval returned to the electric arm we saw in 2023, and Erik Miller stepped up as a legitimate left-handed reliever.

Not to mention, Randy Rodríguez was arguably the best reliever in the sport through the first few months of the season. Unfortunately, the Giants would have none of those four on the active roster to close the year.

Rogers and Doval got shipped off at the deadline while Miller and Rodríguez dealt with some serious injuries across the back half of the season. At the conclusion of the 2025 season, the group looked like a shell of itself.

Going into the All-Star break the group had a league-leading 3.14 ERA. From the midsummer classic to the end of the season, that number rose to a 3.92 ERA. Clearly, Buster Posey was going to need to bring in some serious reinforcements over the course of the offseason.

However, that hasn’t necessarily been the case. The first addition has been southpaw Sam Hentges, who is coming off of a significant shoulder surgery, despite being effective earlier in his career. The second is Jason Foley, who won’t be available until the back half of the season.

Due to the group looking eerily similar to the end of the 2025 season, they’re projected to be one of the worst bullpens in baseball. According to FanGraphs, the Giants can expect 1.1 fWAR from their entire bullpen. While projections are often wrong, that ranks 28th in all of Major League Baseball.

If the Giants want any chance at contention in a tough National League, they’ll need to add some more certainty to the group or hope for some huge strides from a few of the young arms. Let’s take a look at the best options for San Francisco to upgrade this group prior to Opening Day.

Michael Kopech

Kopech’s had an interesting ride in MLB but it appears that he’s finally found who he is as a pitcher. While it was a limited sample in 2025, his 2.45 ERA was the best mark of his career by nearly an entire run.

He also brings two things to the table that the current Giants bullpen doesn’t have. For one, he has real experience closing games. Kopech’s 15 saves in 2024 would have nearly led the Giants bullpen in 2025 and with the ups and downs of Ryan Walker last year, that experience could go a long way.

Kopech also boasts overpowering stuff, something the current group can’t necessarily brag about. While he only throws two pitches, the fastball holds a Stuff+ rating of 117 while the cutter has a rating of 124.

Clearly, he could bring a bit of excitement to a group that desperately needs it as we inch closer to Opening Day.

Shelby Miller

Miller is coming off a truly impressive season at age 34. He threw his second-most innings since 2016 (46.0 IP) with a 2.74 ERA and 3.44 FIP.

He wouldn’t be the flashiest addition to this group, but he would bring a better sense of certainty to a group full of the opposite. His 0.6 fWAR in 2025 would have led every current member of the Giants bullpen.

It was a slight change in pitch usage that helped Miller put together such a strong season in year 13. A jump of over 10% usage on the splitter combined with slashing the slider usage in half resulted in a career-high 10.57 strikeouts per nine.

With Miller being a more fly ball dependent pitcher, Oracle Park profiles as a perfect fit for the 35-year-old veteran. Not projected to cost too much, Miller could be yet another fit if San Francisco is looking to bolster a weak group.

Danny Coulombe

Another veteran, Coulombe proved to still be effective as he climbs into his late 30s. Lacking true left-handed depth, he could be an affordable piece to add to the Giants bullpen.

Matt Gage is the only southpaw in the current group that finished 2025 heathy while both Miller and Hentges dealt with significant injuries.

The Giants are hopeful both of those arms will be healthy to start the year, but bringing in Coulombe would provide some comfort to Posey and company.