ogc thoughts
I understand why some are concerned about the bullpen, but I feel the concern is a bit overblown.
Bad Name for Closer, But Has the Skills
Walker is one reason why I haven’t been as worried as others about the bullpen. I have liked what he’s been saying and Baggarly’s in depth interviews and discussion on the Athletic further assured me. He appears to be in a good spot mentally as well as physically.
It’s no guarantee, of course, but as Baseball Forecaster’s annuals teach, once a player performs well, he owns that skill and then it becomes a matter of him figuring out how to execute that consistently. It sounds like he’s taking that stance head on and building the confidence to do that. And the closer is the key position to secure first. I feel good having him in that position.
Set Up Relief Easily To Find
And, to me, set up, while important, is easier to find pitchers to do because it’s still mostly like any other inning before the ninth. There isn’t that do or die energy involved. Hence Bochy teaching relievers to think of themselves as the closer of that inning.
Also, I think Beck and/or Winn should be able to perform well in set up roles, they have had success pitching for the Giants in 2023, when healthy, and yet isn’t mentioned much in articles. And ZiPS projections are good for pitchers we aren’t as familiar with, Sanmartin, Gage, Brubaker are all projected around 4 ERA, and Butto in the 3’s (not sure why he’s almost always left out of bullpen discussions, he’s proven himself to be good so far). Plus Hentges and Foley at some point. NRI’s showing good stuff include Caleb Killian, Juan Sanchez, and Gregory Santos. Add in the SP pushing for a role in McDonald, Whisenhunt, Birdsong, Tidwell, and I think we have enough options for a decent bullpen.
Concern is Understandable But…
But I get the angst: when things aren’t a sure thing, or even close, when it is extreme shades of gray, most people are very uncomfortable with such uncertainty. And there are likely bumps in the road. But the bullpen is a volume business and often the final pieces come by the trade deadline, like it did in 2010 when the Giants acquired Lopez and Ramirez (and Casilla was an NRI in spring). We should have enough to have a decent average (or perhaps better) bullpen.
And, of course, things could go sideways early on and changes the calculus. Still, there are a lot of quality choices, just mostly unproven or unheralded. But, for now, I am not too worried about the bullpen and think there’s the potential for it to even be pretty good.
No comments:
Post a Comment