One Surprising Name Has Stepped Up for the San Francisco Giants This Season

The San Francisco Giants have been able to avoid a letdown so far after a strong first couple of months of the season.

This year, the Giants weren’t a team that figured to be a contender in the ultra-competitive National League West. However, those expectations might have been incorrect.

With the reigning World Series Champions and two other playoff hopefuls, San Francisco figured to be the fourth-place team in the division. While that might end up being the case, the Giants are still appearing to be a contender as of now.

Even though San Francisco has shown a lot of improvement in the win column so far, they are a team that does have some issues. While the lineup might have its flaws and the starting rotation could use some upgrades on the back end, the Giants do feature one of the best bullpens in baseball.

This unit has been key for their success this season, and it has largely been a team effort. However, one young relief pitcher has emerged as one of the best in the game.

Who Has Stepped Up for San Francisco?

Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report recently wrote about Giants relief pitcher Randy Rodriguez as being one of the best relief pitchers in baseball this season.

“25-year-old Randy Rodríguez has emerged as one of the best relievers in baseball this season. His 0.68 ERA is tied for the best mark among all qualified relievers, while his 1.16 FIP is tops in the game.”

Up and down the unit for San Francisco there are relief pitchers having strong years, but it has been the 25-year-old who has stood out. So far this campaign, he has totaled a 0.64 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP in 28.1 innings pitched.

These are some elite numbers for the young right-hander, who has shown a lot of improvement in both his strikeout rate and control. In 2024, he totaled a 2.9 K/BB. This year, that number is a ridiculously good 13.7 K/BB.

At just 25 years old, the future is still very bright for Rodriguez, and the Giants will likely continue to test him out in more high-leverage situations.

In addition to the young right-hander performing well and arguably being the best pitcher out of the bullpen, Camilo Doval has also performed well in a bounce-back campaign. Getting Doval back into All-Star form has helped provide the anchor at the back end of the bullpen that the team needs with Ryan Walker struggling.

Overall, the performance of Rodrguez has been key in San Francisco having one of the best bullpens in baseball. If the bullpen can continue to be one of the best in the league, the Giants might remain a contender.