Aug 23, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Ryan Walker (74), right, and catcher Curt Casali (2) celebrate after a game Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports

San Francisco Giants Bullpen Has Been Elite in This One Statistic

Originally posted on San Francisco Giants on SI
By Kenneth Teape | Last updated Aug 30, 2024 5:00 PM ET

The San Francisco Giants haven’t consistently been able to put everything together during the 2024 season. It has resulted in a disappointing campaign that looks like it will be three in a row without a postseason appearance.

Based on how aggressive the team was during the offseason spending money, changes will be made during the upcoming winter. But, if there is one consolation to take away from the 2024 campaign, it is the bright future of this pitching staff.

In the 2024 rookie rankings, the Giants didn’t have any of their pitchers crack the top 25, but five of them were listed as honorable mentions. Three of them were out of the bullpen.

Erik Miller, Randy Rodriguez and Spencer Bivens deserved the recognition that they received. All three have done an excellent job out of the bullpen for Bob Melvin this season.

Overall, the entire staff of relief pitchers has gotten the job done more often than not. Despite some mishaps along the way, San Francisco has been able to rely on those guys to come in and shut the door with authority.

In fact, their bullpen has been dominant when it comes to striking out their opponents. As shared by BrooksGate on X, there isn’t a team in baseball that has racked up strikeouts at the rate that the Giants have.

here is one stat every MLB team leads the league in pic.twitter.com/hGawKRN3SU
— BrooksGate (@Brooks_Gate) August 27, 2024

San Francisco relievers have recorded 550 strikeouts this season, which is the most in the Major Leagues. The Miami Marlins are right on their heels, as they have recorded 545. Only eight other teams have reached the 500 mark thus far this season, but a handful of others will assuredly reach the mark.

Leading the way for the Giants is Ryan Walker. Walker has made 66 appearances this season with one start as an opener against the New York Mets on April 24th.

He recorded two strikeouts in that start over one inning. That means in his 68.1 innings of work out of the bullpen this season, he has struck out 88 batters.

To put into perspective how dominant his stuff has been this season, Walker is only five strikeouts behind Jordan Hicks for fourth most on the team. Hicks, who is currently on the 15-day injured list and began the season as a starter, has thrown 39 more innings than Walker this season.

The Giants have four relievers, Walker, Camilo Doval, Miller and Taylor Rogers, who have a double-digit SO/9 ratio this season. Rodriguez, who is currently on the 15-day injured list, was also averaging more than one strikeout per inning this season.

This article first appeared on San Francisco Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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