Giants Making Unusual Move to Get All-Star Closer Work After Season

The San Francisco Giants knew there was little chance for closer Randy Rodriguez to return this season.

That was considering when he suffered the elbow injury that ended his All-Star campaign last year. After he went on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow strain, it turned out he needed elbow surgery to correct the problem, and recovery was going to take at least a year.

There just isn’t any runway left for Rodriguez to return to the Giants. There’s also no reason as the season is done in a week. But the Giants are taking a creative approach to getting him some innings this offseason — he’s going to Arizona, as in the Fall League.

Why Randy Rodriguez is Heading to Arizona Fall League

San Francisco Giants pitcher Randy Rodríguez prepares to throw a baseball to a hitter during a game. — San Francisco Giants pitcher Randy Rodríguez. Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Arizona Fall League is usually reserved for prospects. In some cases, it’s about sending a team’s top prospects to face other top talent. In other cases, it’s about getting players that missed at-bats or innings some more work before the offseason takes over in November after the playoffs.

It’s the latter for Rodriguez, who if he doesn’t pitch now would have to wait to get innings in the Dominican Winter League. He may still go there — after all he is a Dominican Republic native and many play in the league in the offseason regardless of their MLB status. But he’s ready to start his build-up now and, as general manager Zack Minasian told MLB.com, Rodriguez was the one that suggested this unusual set-up.

““He passed basically everything you could pass medically,” Minasian said to MLB.com. “He's been throwing ‘pens. The other thing that encouraged us as much as anything was Randy really wants to do it.”

That means he’ll be stealing a few innings from other prospects. That would include four of his Giants AFL teammates, two of which are Top 30 prospects per MLB Pipeline — right-handers Miguel Mendez (No. 16) and Alexander Fuentes (No. 26).

Those pitchers probably won’t help the Giants next season. Rodriguez is, and if he can return to his 2025 form, he would go a long way toward solidifying the biggest issue on the team in 2026 — the bullpen.

He went from set-up man to closer during 2025 as he went 3-5 with a 1.79 ERA in 50 games, with 13 holds and four saves in seven chances before he suffered the injury. He struck out 67 and walked 11 in 50.2 innings as batters hit just .187 against him.

Yes, the Giants missed him and getting him ready for 2027 is paramount to getting back into NL West contention. If that requires a few AFL innings, so be it.

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