I try not to have a bias here, but I do want to see Winn succeed in a role. He's just got good stuff when healthy.

At the very least, if Carson Whisenhunt's 3rd pitch does not become functional and he is able to maintain 95+ MPH with his fastball, that could pretty quickly lend itself to a leverage bullpen role, which the Giants are pretty light on at the moment.

...pitch mix to reduce some of that exposure with the slider to opposing hitters. In a sense, let it play up by not letting the hitter see it as much.

...If you go by Stuff+, there was a notable decline from 104 to 91. A similar trend held true for his curveball, but the curveball still had some favorable attributes (36.0% whiff, .241 batting average). Maybe one of the changes is to switch back to more of a curveball-heavy...

One of the changes Hayden Birdsong made in 2025 was pitch mix. He leaned more on his slider than he did in 2024, and there was good reason for that. He generated a 49.1% whiff rate with that pitch in 2024, but that number fell to 30.4 percent last season...

Even if all those pitchers hit those marks, that leaves about 25 starts that they will need to fill internally. More than likely, that groups does not make that many starts. The Giants will need some of their younger pitchers to step in and fill those gaps.

#SFGiants Steamer projection for games started in 2026

Logan Webb - 32
Robbie Ray - 31
Tyler Mahle - 26
Adrian Houser - 26
Landen Roupp - 23

Total - 138

This is one of the reasons I’m not too concerned about Devers’ zone contact rate declines. Dude squares up everything he makes up contact with.

😤

Rafael Devers just took Logan Webb deep during a sim game here at Scottsdale Stadium.

“God dayum!” Heliot Ramos said.

The fix might just be throwing more of the fastball that you can land for strikes, and one that was effective last year. Breakdown of wOBA pitch by in 2025:

.189 wOBA - sinker
.138 wOBA - slider
.478 wOBA - four-seamer

That might be what allows him to become a leverage arm.

...the purpose of his sinker. The four-seamer can probably be scrapped since it is not that effective of a pitch, and he does not command it all that well. Control is a problem for Peguero. Below are his strike rates by pitch:

58.3% - sinker
52.4% - four-seamer
46.2% - slider

Despite having premium velocity, Joel Peguero does not miss a ton of bats (6.9 K/9 in 2025). One of the bigger changes he made in 2025 was using his sinker more than his four-seamer, and that led to better control. He did get a ton of ground ball contact, which is generally...

.306 batting average on pitches in the zone
.178 batting on pitches out of the zone

The fix would likely be limiting the chase rate, which is easier said than done. Anyways, this is way more information than you need on a Monday night!

...Brennan also has one of the lowest strikeout rates at 12.7%. That is both good and bad. The good is that he puts the ball in play at a high rate. The bad is that he is not nearly as effective on pitches out of the zone. I will just stick with batting average for this...

...hitter, both in and out of the strike zone. His 38.0% chase rate is also among the highest in baseball. Brennan also has some of the better contact skills in baseball. This includes a 71.6% contact rate on pitches outside of the zone. Not surprisingly...

Buster Posey said last week that he wants Giants hitters to be the "aggressor' in the batter's box, and Will Brennan fits that description. His 55.9% swing rate is among the highest (Min. 500 PA) in baseball since he made his major league debut in 2022. He is an aggressive...

This is not to say that Fulmer does not have an opt-out in his deal. He probably does. There is an opt-out that is granted to players on minor league deals with over 6 years of service time who finished last season on a major league roster. He does not fit that criteria.

Minor #SFGiants detail to park for later:

I do not believe any of their non-roster invites has an automatic opt-out in his contract. Michael Fulmer might be the only candidate (more than 6 years of service time), but he also did not finish last season on a major league roster.

Even though it is a move geared toward 2027, the addition of Rowan Wick does fit what the Giants like in a pitcher:

-Healthy ground ball rate (43.9% career rate)
-Generally above-average extension (6.7 feet in 2022)

There’s no limit to the time someone needs to spend on the 40 before being moved to the 60-day. They can be signed and transferred on the same day.

For those keeping score at home, the #SFGiants 40-man roster remains full. The obvious 60-day injured list moves they had (Randy Rodríguez, Jason Foley, and Rowan Wick) have all been used.

It was easy to miss. He's been a Giant for about 48 hours.

Correct.

The #SFGiants have announced that they have signed outfielder Will Brennan to a major league deal.

In a corresponding move, Rowan Wick was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

-Vitello also shared a story from his time as a college player. After losing a big game, he was at a bar and talking to Tingler about a coach that he admired. Tingler said, "You could be better than that," and that vote of confidence has stuck with Vitello since then.

Some #SFGiants notes from Tony Vitello today

-Likes Landen Roupp's competitiveness on the mound
-Considered Jayce Tinger as a bench coach before taking the job
-Tingler helped Vitello by talking him through the decision to join the Giants

This one will get some groans, but I don't hate the idea of adding Jake Cousins (recovering from TJ surgery) and using the 2nd half of the year as an audition. Has some team control after this year. 12.4K/9 acoss 4 major league seasons.

It is pretty bare at this point. There were quite a few value-based bullpen moves that would have made sense for the Giants, but those opportunities are no longer there.

They might be able to do a MiLB deal for some of these relievers and hope you catch them in a good year.

Highlighting some remaining (value-based) free-agent relievers with something in their profile that could help the #SFGiants:

José Leclerc (Career 11.7 K/9)
Cionel Pérez (Career 55.5% GB rate)
Danny Coulombe (Career 49.1% GB rate)
Jorge López (3.80 FIP since 2024)