There is something wrong with the Giants bullpen this year.
In 2021, San Francisco’s relievers were one of the strengths of the team, posting the best ERA (2.99) and WHIP (1.13) in baseball. In 2022 they’ve cratered. The bullpen is ranked 26th in MLB this year, posting a 4.42 ERA.
So what’s happened? Former Giants reliever George Kontos hopped on KNBR on Thursday to give his take, positing that a combination of being overtaxed and a lack of defined roles are the primary issues.
“They all threw quite a few innings and appearances last year and did a great job,” Kontos told Papa & Lund. “This year, it’s their second year as a kind of unit together, they’ve all had the success, but the league has also seen them as well, but their usage is also a bit different from this year to last year.
“The history of the organization since I’ve known about it, is starting pitching leads to successful everything else. When your starting pitching is doing well it allows everybody in the bullpen to get a groove and understand when they’re going to be used, what inning they’re coming into.”
The Giants bullpen was 10th in innings pitched last year and fifth in the National League, a ranking that seems high for a team that won 107 games and had some of the best starting pitching in baseball. SF has actually cut down the bullpen innings this season, but roles have been more fluid as players like Tyler Rogers, Dominic Leone, Jarlin Garcia and Jake McGee (who was DFA’d) have struggled with consistency.
“Having a routine for me is very important,” Kontos continued. “That’s why I had success in the bullpen, because I knew when I was going to be pitching. Boch did a great job of having us in established roles, understanding what scenarios we were going to come into the game in. It didn’t always go like that, but for the most part, 90 percent of the time, when the phone rang, I knew [Mark Gardner] was going to be like ‘George, get up. It’s time for you to get going.’ And I was already up, getting going and my mental preparation was there already so I could go into the game and be physically ready to go.
“These guys are pitching in different roles and they’ve had success doing it, they’ve shown they can do that, but I think mentally it takes a little bit of extra focus to be ready to go at any time.
“The one thing that you can’t control is workload. These guys have pitched a lot. I think that at some point, and the dog days of summer are here, this is when it typically starts to creep up and you see where the cracks in armor are, but August and September are when a bullpen is maybe on fumes and they need a day. I think that’s just what we’re seeing right now.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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