The Giants bullpen has a much different look in 2017 than the group that blew an MLB worst 32 saves last season. San Francisco addressed the closer position by adding Mark Melancon for $62 million this offseason. They also let three veteran relievers, Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez and Santiago Casilla, walk in free agency, opening up a number of opportunities for young relievers to slide into those roles.
Perhaps the biggest difference in this year’s bullpen is that it only features one left-handed arm in youngster Ty Blach. Reliever George Kontos spoke with Joe Castellano during the latest episode of the Inside China Basin podcast, an explained that the number of versitile arms in this year’s pen have allowed the Giants not to worry about only having one left hander.
“We’ve got some guys who can get both lefties and righties out,” Kontos said. “We have guys who have been there before, who have pitched late in the game before. So, I see a lot of what we’ve come to expect from the bullpen…It’s more of an old-school bullpen, just guys who can get both (lefties and righties) out, not as specialized.”
First-base coach Jose Alguacil also joined the podcast.