A season after the Giants blew 32 saves and suffered an epic second-half collapse, San Francisco now has two of the most effective closers in baseball from the 2016 season.
The problem? It’s 2017.
Mark Melancon and Sam Dyson combined to save 85 games last year, and if you knew nothing about this year’s Giants, you’d think management has done more than enough to solidify a woeful bullpen.
But if you do happen to know anything about the way things have gone for a 26-45 team that sits 19.5 games out of first place in the middle of June, you know San Francisco’s late-inning issues are once again a serious concern.
This offseason, the Giants spent a record sum –$62 million over four years– to acquire Melancon in free agency. The ninth-year Major League veteran boasts a 2.69 career earned run average and has recorded more than 125 saves since the start of the 2014 season, but this year, Melancon hasn’t been the same pitcher.
On Sunday, the former Washington Nationals’ stopper suffered his latest meltdown, a Father’s Day failure that allowed the Colorado Rockies to secure their second walkoff win of the weekend. Melancon entered with a 5-3 advantage, and allowed four consecutive hits including a three-run home run to Giants’ killer Nolan Arenado that helped the Rockies to their first four-game sweep of the Giants in franchise history.
The loss marked the sixth consecutive defeat for the Giants, their eighth in the past nine games and their 19th in the past 25 games.
Though Melancon hasn’t been called upon often –he was pitching for just the third time in the month of June– his last two outings have done little to inspire confidence.
Since an early May trip to the disabled list for elbow tendonitis, Melancon pitched three times in his first four games back, but has taken the ball just four times in the last three-plus weeks. Whether Melancon is healthy enough to throw on back-to-back days remains a serious question, as Bochy has proven reluctant to use him in any non-save situation.
It’s possible a Giants team that could enter a massive rebuilding phase in the coming months will look to trade Melancon at the deadline, acknowledging it miscalculated both what the right-hander could offer and what the franchise was capable of achieving this season. However, such a decision would likely require the Giants to take on a significant portion of Melancon’s salary, or require the Giants to take on less desirable prospects because of lingering injury and performance concerns.
In the coming weeks, a Giants team that entered the year with playoff hopes may need to trot Melancon out to the mound more frequently, as his upcoming appearances could serve as an audition for contending franchises willing to take a risk. But if Melancon can’t recapture the magic that carried him to his record-setting contract, or the health he needs to pitch on a more regular basis, the Giants’ investment, much like their season, could be sunk.
Pregame Notes
- Giants’ set-up man Hunter Strickland received word from Major League Baseball Monday that the appeal for his six-game suspension was denied. Strickland was suspended for hitting Nationals’ star Bryce Harper with a 98-mile per hour fastball in a Giants’ loss on May 29, and his suspension hearing was held last Tuesday. Most verdicts are reached within a day or two, but MLB dragged out the decision before finally ruling on Monday. Strickland will begin serving his appeal immediately, and will be eligible to pitch again on Sunday.
- Giants’ pitching prospect Joan Gregorio was scratched from his start on Thursday night for AAA Sacramento in the event that the Giants needed to make an emergency call-up this weekend, but those plans were scrapped. Gregorio returned to the River Cats rotation on Sunday and threw five innings of shutout ball, dropping his earned run average to 3.04, which puts him in the top three among starting pitchers in the Pacific Coast League.
- The Giants will play their first ever series at the Atlanta Braves’ new ballpark, SunTrust Park. San Francisco has lost six consecutive series dating back to late May, when the team took two out of three from the Braves at AT&T Park.
- Madison Bumgarner threw 25 pitches in a simulated game at the Giants’ spring training facility in Scottsdale on Saturday, and he’s expected to throw again on Wednesday. Bumgarner is recovering from bruised ribs and a sprained AC joint in his shoulder that he suffered in an April dirt-biking accident.
- Giants’ outfielder Jarrett Parker will begin a rehab assignment with AAA Sacramento on Monday evening. Parker broke his collarbone crashing into the wall at AT&T Park in April.
