How Should the Giants Handle Their Closer Role This Year?

The San Francisco Giants had one of, if not the, best bullpens in baseball leading up to the trade deadline in 2025. After dealing longtime San Francisco staples, Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval, the group looked like an absolute shell of itself in the second half.

Throw in an eventual Tommy John surgery for breakout All-Star Randy Rodriguez and the Giants were in trouble once their starter was done for the night. Fast forward to now, and the group looks like it’s in a similar spot.

While there’s some upside in a few young arms and some potential injury bounce-back candidates, it’s a bullpen full of uncertainty. Most notably, the Giants lack a true closer.

With that being the most important arm outside of the starting-five, they need to figure it out fast. Who should get the ninth inning on Opening Day for San Francisco?

Ryan Walker Rebound?

Ryan Walker spent significant time as the Giants closer in 2025, but was extremely underwhelming. In 61.1 innings, he posted a 4.11 ERA. While he did secure 17 saves throughout the course of the year, he also blew six of those opportunities, which is concerning.

This was a shock to the Giants after the 2024 campaign that Walker put together. In an impressive 80 innings, he accumulated 1.7 fWAR with a 1.91 ERA and 2.52 FIP. This was enough for Walker to earn the nod as the 13th-best reliever in baseball going into 2025.

The biggest change from the 30-year-old between the two seasons came in the swing and miss department. In 2024, Walker’s whiff percentage was in the 74th percentile while his strikeout rate was in the 94th. Those numbers dropped drastically, with the whiff falling into the 20th percentile and the strikeout rate dropping into the 49th percentile.

The Giants have a lot of confidence in Walker returning close to that 2024 form as does Walker himself. He recently commented on the Giants’ opening at the closer role.

“I’m coming in with the mentality of earning that spot, I’m not here to sit around and be like, ‘Oh I just want a job.’ I’m coming in with the full mentality of I’m going to earn this role and it’s going to be good. I love the role, I love the high-leverage situations, and that’s where I want to be. I have no other intentions.”

– Ryan Walker via Alex Pavlovic, NBC Sports Bay Area

Potential In-House Candidates

It may be unlikely, but the Giants do have some intriguing candidates in-house that aren’t named Ryan Walker.

Joel Peguero is an interesting name who emerged for San Francisco last season. In 22.1 innings at the end of 2025, he threw to a 2.42 ERA with an impressive 53.3% groundball rate. He doesn’t have the typical strikeout numbers of a 100 mph hurler (19.8% K rate in 2025), but showed some reliability towards the end of the year.

Erik Miller is the best southpaw in the Giants ‘pen and could be a candidate to grab this spot if the walk numbers drop in 2026. In 67.1 innings in 2024, he struck out nearly 12 hitters per nine innings. However, that number fell to just 6.60 hitters per nine throughout his 30 innings of work in his injury-riddled 2025.

On the flip side, he does have closer stuff. His sinker sits in the upper nineties and holds a Stuff+ score of 130. The slider and changeup—both above average offerings—are also effective when they’re around the zone.

Jason Foley, who the Giants signed earlier this winter, is another name that could be in the mix here. He racked up 28 saves as recently as 2024 with the Detroit Tigers. Unfortunately for the Giants, he won’t be available until after the All-Star break.

Hayden Birdsong could be an intriguing candidate down the line, but it’s likely too early to write him off as a starting pitcher. The stuff is absolutely there, but there’s still belief in the organization that he could be a middle of the rotation starter, if not more.

Free Agency?

There are still a handful of available free agents that could help this group. We highlighted a few fits here.

Final Thoughts

The Giants bullpen is clearly the weakest group on the roster. With a fully set starting lineup and starting rotation, this is the last piece of the puzzle.

With an offseason that was supposed to be headlined by adding pitching and defense, the Giants have done quite the opposite. The team’s two most notable signings were additions to the lineup—Luis Arraez and Harrison Bader.

Surely, Buster Posey and the front office will be hoping for significant development among young arms and steps forward from some inconsistent performers already in the group.

While a few names could step up and grab the closer role, San Francisco’s best bet is a return to form from Ryan Walker. His 2026 could be one of the bigger factors in determining this team’s overall fate.

If he shows flashes of the dominance we saw in 2024, then this isn’t even a conversation. If he’s the reliever we got in 2025, then the Giants are going to be in trouble.

With a Wild Card berth on the table, their closer situation will have to figure itself out sooner rather than later.