The Giants only recorded one out. D\u00edaz scored to give the Padres a 5-1 lead. Should Seymour have thrown to the plate?<\/p>\n
\u201c(It\u2019s) probably the safest play at that point in time,\u201d Giants manager Bob Melvin said. \u201cIf he does make a good throw to second base, we might get the double play. So, you know, with the score of the game, maybe the easiest thing is to take the out at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
When you play the Padres this season, any run they tack on is a lethal dose. Nick Pivetta threw high fastballs past the Giants for six innings and the Giants received no relief or reward to get him out of the game. Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Robert Suarez each tossed a scoreless inning, allowing one baserunner between them, while protecting the Padres\u2019 5-1 victory and continuing what\u2019s been a suffocating run for San Diego relievers against their NL West opponent.<\/p>\n
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Jung Hoo Lee supplied the only Giants run of the game \u2014 a leadoff home run in the first inning. (Denis Poroy \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
The Giants haven\u2019t scored a run against San Diego\u2019s bullpen since June 4. The Padres\u2019 scoreless streak against the Giants is at 26 1\/3 relief innings. And only two of those innings have been thrown by new acquisition Mason Miller, the All-Star former A\u2019s closer whose 103 mph fastball drew audible gasps from the crowd when it registered on the scoreboard last week in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got good stuff and they throw a lot of strikes,\u201d Giants catcher Patrick Bailey said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the hardest throwing bullpens in the league. They all got good heaters that are definitely verty, throwing in the upper 90s to 100, and they\u2019ve all got pretty good offspeed pitches that they trust as well. They\u2019ve got one of the best \u2018pens in the league and we\u2019ve just got to do a better job one through nine sticking to our game plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Bailey compliments Padres relievers on their \u201cverty\u201d fastballs, he is speaking about induced vertical break \u2014 essentially, the amount of ride or late life that a pitcher creates independent of gravity. The Padres bullpen averages 17.7 inches of induced vertical break on fastballs, which is the most in the major leagues. The Los Angeles Dodgers are next with 17.1 inches.<\/p>\n
The Giants are sixth at 16.3 inches, but only one current reliever in their group, closer Randy Rodriguez, has a fastball that exceeds that average. Another, Hayden Birdsong, pitched in relief earlier this season before transitioning to the rotation \u2014 and then back to Triple-A Sacramento when his command and confidence abandoned him.<\/p>\n
A bullpen does not need to be super verty to be effective. The Giants\u2019 core four relievers, vital to winning three World Series championships from 2010-14, were mostly spin doctors who succeeded by winning platoon matchups and preventing barreled contact. Then again, the three-batter minimum wasn\u2019t on the books back then.<\/p>\n
These days, the most certain way to shut the door is to slam it closed. And the Padres, after adding at the trade deadline, have their assortment of door slammers all locked up for the foreseeable future. Suarez is the only one of their core relievers who can become a free agent after this season, assuming he opts out of the two years and $16 million remaining on his contract.<\/p>\n
The Giants have far, far less certainty. They subtracted from their bullpen at the trade deadline, trading closer Camilo Doval<\/a> and right-hander Tyler Rogers<\/a>. Rogers is coming up on free agency and there\u2019s always a chance he re-signs with the Giants this winter. But for now, the Giants don\u2019t have relievers (other than Rodriguez and Ryan Walker) who they could consider locks to open the season in next year\u2019s bullpen.<\/p>\n They also received more discouraging news about left-hander Erik Miller, who paused his rehab assignment because of recurring left elbow inflammation. Miller won\u2019t pick up a baseball for two weeks and it\u2019s looking less likely that he will ramp back up in time to pitch this season.<\/p>\n \u201cIt got back to the point where we have to be careful,\u201d Melvin said of Miller.<\/p>\n The Giants have had to exercise caution all year with Rodriguez, too, after the right-hander missed five weeks with elbow inflammation last season. Rodriguez was unscored upon in 40 of his first 43 appearances and was a deserving addition to the NL All-Star team, but it\u2019s been a little spotty since he was elevated to replace Doval in the closer role. He\u2019s allowed runs in three of seven appearances and his fastball velocity has been down a touch. With the Giants constantly trailing on the past two homestands, Rodriguez went nine days in between appearances.<\/p>\n Rodriguez\u2019s success is due in part to his judicious usage. He\u2019s made back-to-back appearances just six times this season and he hasn\u2019t appeared on three consecutive days. At some point, though, the Giants will have to find out how well Rodriguez can bounce back when pushed a little harder, as closers need to be from time to time \u2014 especially in the postseason.<\/p>\n \u201cWalker\u2019s closed really well too,\u201d Melvin said. \u201cEvery year is not going to look the same. Randy is still kind of transitioning to the closer role as well. But they\u2019re both really talented guys who should be pitching at the back end of the bullpen.\u201d<\/p>\n How the Giants go about constructing the rest of that bullpen is an open question. There will be high-profile choices in free agency other than (possibly) Suarez and Rogers; Mets closer Edwin D\u00edaz can opt out of his contract and Aroldis Chapman will be on the open market. But from Armando Benitez to Mark Melancon to smaller bets like Luke Jackson that turned messy, the Giants\u2019 recent investments in free-agent relievers would\u2019ve turned out better if they\u2019d put the money in a meme stock. This hasn\u2019t been the kind of problem that they have solved by throwing money at it.<\/p>\n Perhaps Birdsong finds a permanent home for his \u201cverty\u201d fastball in the bullpen. Perhaps Jose Butt\u00f3 can elevate his profile from the back-end role he filled with the Mets. Perhaps Keaton Winn can stay healthy and have success as a two-pitch guy in a relief role. Perhaps right-hander Trent Harris, a 26-year-old who was hurtling toward the big leagues before hitting a rough patch at Triple-A Sacramento, will reemerge as the next Ryan Walker type. Perhaps some of the lower-level arms in the system can advance quickly, but don\u2019t count on it.<\/p>\n