Giants Baseball Insider

Dodgers call up former SF Giants prospect Cyr

Long-time Giants minor leaguer Tyler Cyr is the latest former Giant to don Dodger Blue
Sean Keane|
Dodgers call up former SF Giants prospect Cyr
Dodgers call up former SF Giants prospect Cyr

In this story:

Los Angeles DodgersSan Francisco Giants

The Los Angeles Dodgers need pitching help badly after another of their starting pitchers went down with injury. They turned to Tyler Cyr, a veteran of the San Francisco Giants farm system who never made it to the big club for the orange and black.

The Giants drafted Fremont native Cyr in the 10th round of the 2015 draft. His career looked promising in 2017, when he served as closer for the AA Richmond Flying Squirrels, then made the "Fall Stars Game" after his stint in the Arizona Fall League.

But injuries derailed Cyr in 2018, where he only pitched in eight games. He was solid again for Richmond in 2019, posting a 2.05 ERA and five saves, though that was less impressive for a 26-year-old at AA. Cyr also appeared in one game for AAA Sacramento.

After a year off for the pandemic, Cyr struck out 49 batters in 36.2 innings for the River Cats, but posted a 4.91 ERA thanks to a high walk rate. He understandably chose free agency after the season and signed a minor league deal with the Phillies.

Cyr made his major league debut with Philadelphia on August 21 against the Mets, and Brandon Nimmo hit his first major league pitch out of the park.

Cyr yielded a double to Sterling Marte before getting his first major league out to end the inning. Philadelphia designated him for assignment the next day.

Next Cyr caught on with Oakland, where he pitched well in 11 appearances down the stretch. He had a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings with 16 strikeouts, but the A's still released him after the season and Cyr ended up in the Dodgers system.

Now with Walker Buehler out for the year and Julio Urias out indefinitely, last week's injury to Dustin May has left the Dodgers scrambling for arms. Cyr struck out 24 batters in 16.2 innings for AAA Oklahoma City, so he's as good a choice as any to cover low-leverage relief situations.

Cyr finished two games for L.A. this weekend. He threw a perfect ninth inning to close out a 5-0 victory on Friday, then gave up a single mopping up in the 8th inning of Saturday's loss, after Victor Gonzalez gave up a go-ahead three-run homer. So at the very least he wasn't the Dodgers' worst reliever.

He can also hang out with his old minor league teammate Phil Bickford and talk about their time with the San Jose Giants. That's what major league relievers talk about, right? But while Cyr is perhaps the definition of a replacement-level pitcher, he's in the perfect situation, where his team simply needs a replacement. Sometimes that's all the break you need.

Published
Sean Keane
SEAN KEANE

Sean Keane (he/him) is a writer, stand-up, and co-host of the Roundball Rock NBA podcast. He wrote for Comedy Central’s “Another Period,” his work has appeared in McSweeney's, Audible.com, and Yardbarker, and he's performed at countless festivals, including SF Sketchfest, the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, RIOT LA, and NoisePop. In 2014, the San Francisco Bay Guardian named Sean an “Outstanding Local Discovery,” and promptly went out of business.

Home/San Francisco Giants News