Post-Trade, San Francisco Giants Reliever Will Have an Expanded Role

The San Francisco Giants made a trade on Wednesday, sending one half of the Rogers twins to Cincinnati in exchange for minor leaguer Braxton Roxby. With Taylor Rogers now with the Reds, that will leave the southpaw duties in the bullpen up to former Stanford lefty Erik Miller.

San Francisco technically had four left-handers pitch in relief last season, with Rogers racking up 60 innings, Miller adding 56.2, and then Raymond Burgos and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski putting up one each.

After the trade, Roster Resource over at FanGraphs still has the Giants with just one lefty in their bullpen, so it would appear, at least for now, as though Miller will be the lone left-handed option for the Giants 'pen.

Miller, 26 for two more weeks, made his MLB debut in 2024 and held a 3.88 ERA (3.67 FIP) while striking out an impressive 30.6% of the hitters he faced. He also walked 13.4%, which is a touch high overall, but given his strikeout rate, the Giants can probably live with it.

His slider and his changeup grade as his best two pitches according to Stuff+, where 100 is league average. His fastball scored a 95, just below average, while his slider was a 137 and his change came in at a 119. That slider graded out roughly as well as the one that Tyler Rogers (the righty) threw last year, while the changeup was the best among left-handed relievers with at least 50 innings. The slider ranked third.

Miller is qualified to be the main guy out of the bullpen, that isn't a question. What could become a concern is that Miller will be unable to pitch constantly, with most pitchers unable to pitch 162 games.

Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic was told by Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey that the trade was made to create chances for younger arms in the bullpen. He also said that it didn't sound like they were planning to reinvest the money they saved ($6 million) back into the roster, with Posey saying, "We'll keep looking. I will say, we feel pretty set with the roster the way it is right now."

So if they aren't looking to add arms to the mix, then we'll have to look at who they currently have that could be an option. San Francisco currently does not have any left-handers on their 40-man roster aside from Miller and starters Robbie Ray and Kyle Harrison. To add a second lefty, a roster move will need to be made.

Burgos could certainly get another shot, given that he only made one appearance with the Giants, but held a 1.38 ERA (3.80 FIP) across 32.2 innings in Triple-A Sacramento last season. His most impressive skill in 2024 was his ability to command the baseball, walking just 4.8% of hitters. He's not a hard thrower like Miller, and comes from a slightly different arm angle, which could help differentiate the two left-handers.

Juan Sanchez is another candidate, though he's a little less likely as an early season option. He held a 3.93 ERA (5.17 FIP) in 34.1 innings with Sacramento, and while batters hit just .143 against him, he walked 18.8% of the batters he faced while striking out 23.5%. He has a terrific changeup to build upon, but he's going to have to limit the free passes.

The most likely option that the Giants could look to would be Ethan Small, whom they acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers for cash before the 2024 season. The former first rounder missed a chunk of time with a right oblique strain last year, making his debut with the San José Giants in late July. He tossed nine innings in Triple-A last season, holding a 6.00 ERA (2.28 FIP) in a small sample size, but he also struck out 30.2% of hitters, which is in line with his typical production over his pro career.

Small re-signed with the Giants on a minor-league deal this offseason. In his time with the Brewers, he made his debut in 2022 and accumulated a total of 10.1 innings pitched at the big-league level in four games (two starts) while holding an 8.71 ERA (6.07 FIP). He's been able to generate high strikeout rates over the course of his minor-league career, which gives him some upside to work with.

Entering camp, manager Bob Melvin and his staff will be evaluating all of their left-handed options for the upcoming season. One question that they'll have to answer is whether or not they need two lefty relievers. If the answer is yes, then the other question will be who gets the call.